Iraqi hero forced to seek refuge in America

WASHINGTON — Two years ago, President Bush hailed Najim al Jabouri as a symbol of success in the battle to curb Iraq's sectarian violence. Today, Jabouri is a symbol of how uncertain that success is.

Last month, Jabouri quietly left Tal Afar, an ancient city near Iraq's desert border with Syria where he was the police chief and the mayor, collected his wife and four children and flew to safety in the United States .

"There was no other choice," Jabouri, 52, a retired Iraqi army lieutenant general, said in a recent interview that was translated by his eldest son, Omar, 21. "I had been serving my homeland, the Iraqi people and Iraqi soil my whole life. I decided I had to do something for my own family. I saw that their lives were in great danger."

Jabouri risked his life for three years working alongside U.S. and Iraqi commanders to maintain communal calm after helping to quell ferocious atrocity-fed fighting between Shiite and Sunni Muslims that was fueled by al Qaida in Iraq .

His decision underscores the fragility of the relative calm that's settled on Iraq , obscuring the unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions, political infighting and anger at the U.S. occupation, economic paralysis and continuing terrorism.

Al Qaida in Iraq's death threats against Jabouri were unrelenting. His wife and children were terrorized out of their Baghdad home and went to live under Kurdish protection in far northern Iraq .

The Interior Ministry , dominated by hard-line Shiites loyal to a pro- Iran political party, repeatedly tried to run Jabouri — a secular Sunni and a former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party — out of his job as the mayor of Tal Afar. The ministry withdrew most of his bodyguards and relieved him of authority over local security forces.

Meanwhile, all but a handful of U.S. forces withdrew from Tal Afar and pulled out of the neighborhood outposts that were key to the September 2005 operation that drove al Qaida in Iraq out of the city and became the model for last year's U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad .

So when a Pentagon policy institute offered him a job in Washington , Jabouri jumped at it.

"I had no friends beside me, and the government left me facing al Qaida without anyone to protect me," he said, the stress of recent years unmistakable in his puffy eyelids. "I decided (to leave) after I noticed the number of coalition forces in Tal Afar were becoming less day by day."

Jabouri remains confident that Iraq can flourish as a stable democracy, but he said it would take years to become one. He expressed deep concern over a proposed U.S. troop withdrawal by the close of 2011, calling it too soon.

" Iraq is a big cake right now. Everyone wants the biggest slice, and they are just waiting for that opportunity," he said. "If the guard, the United States , is gone . . . they will take what they want."

Tal Afar was a free-fire zone when Jabouri, an Arab from the northern city of Mosul , became its police chief in the spring of 2005. More than 60 others had refused the job.

The 220,000 residents are mainly ethnic Turkomen, 70 percent of them Sunnis who lost power under the Shiite-dominated Baghdad government. Many joined the insurgency. Some were nationalists enraged by the U.S. occupation; others allied with al Qaida in Iraq and, joined by foreign radicals who infiltrated from Syria , attacked American forces and murdered local Shiites, who struck back.

Al Qaida in Iraq took over the local hospital. It emptied the schools. It left decapitated corpses in the streets. One young boy's body was rigged with explosives that killed his father when he tried to retrieve his son's corpse. U.S. troops came under constant attack.

"Life had stopped. Not even a single bird sat in the trees in Tal Afar because of the shooting," Jabouri recalled. "When I got to Tal Afar, people asked me, 'Are you crazy? Why have you come here?' "

Jabouri took over a force of 200 Shiite officers — 400 Sunnis had quit — who were too terrified to leave their headquarters in the Ottoman-era castle that dominates the city center; some were suspected of slipping out at night to participate in death-squad executions of Sunnis.

A U.S. commander and his 1,200 troops arrived about the same time as Jabouri, as did the local Iraqi army commander and his newly minted brigade of 1,200 men.

"All of us were new. We were all trying to figure this place out," recalled Col. Christopher Hickey , who commanded the 2nd Squadron of the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment , based at Fort Carson, Colo. "We met at the castle. You could tell he (Jabouri) was overwhelmed. You could tell he felt he was in a bum deal."

Hickey and Jabouri spent months rolling under fire through densely packed neighborhoods in Hickey's Bradley armored vehicle, learning the structures of the area's more than 80 tribes and working to earn their sheiks' trust. They struggled to bring old rivals together, escorting them to meetings on neutral ground with tanks and building their own credibility over endless cups of tea.

"I know how to talk to the Iraqi people," said Jabouri, who wears a 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment pin in his lapel. "The Iraqi doesn't talk with his mind. The American forces think the best way is to talk with the mind. No. You talk with them with the heart."

"After a while, the American officers found out that I was very honest with them. They found out that everything I told them was true," he continued. "We made a team."

That August, Tal Afar's mayor was fired as a suspected collaborator with al Qaida in Iraq , and Jabouri took the job.

As he and Hickey forged a close partnership, they came to discern the insurgency's makeup and to think that it might be possible to reconcile the Iraqi nationalists and crush the Islamists, many of whom were from Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Their efforts paid off in September 2005 , when U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a house-to-house pincer movement that drove al Qaida in Iraq out of its lairs in the Surai neighborhood, the heart of the city's old Sunni area.

The operation began after a 12-mile-long dirt wall was built around Tal Afar. Suspected terrorists had been filtered out from tens of thousands of residents, who left Surai and were channeled along a concertina-wire pathway into temporary housing.

American and Iraqi forces moved into 29 outposts across Tal Afar, and Jabouri and Hickey helped launch a major reconstruction effort, working with Shiite and Sunni sheiks to fix damaged homes and businesses. Their confidence restored, residents began to return. Roads, schools, utilities and a Sunni-Shiite police force were rebuilt.

"Najim and I would go visit the schools," Hickey remembered. "He'd go in there and look at the kids and ask, 'Sunni or Shia?' And of course the kids didn't answer. He'd repeat it. And then he would shout, 'Iraqi!' And they would then shout, 'Iraqi!' He'd do it at the schools and at the police stations."

"There were a couple of times when he'd go out to a police station in a police car and he'd be attacked," Hickey said. "I was very upset, but he was very nonchalant. I'd tell him he was one of guys holding this place together. He was a very large target for them to kill. One of my main missions was to keep him alive."

"He's a hero, an absolute hero," said Hickey, 44, who's now based in Germany .

Slowly, violence abated and local government began to function again. Jabouri and his colleagues assumed greater responsibilities, and Iraqi forces began to operate alone, allowing the Americans to play mostly advisory roles.

Despite the achievements, Jabouri said, Shiite hard-liners in the Interior Ministry in Baghdad tried repeatedly to get him fired, a charge that Hickey confirmed. Hickey recalled an incident in which the ministry demanded Jabouri's resignation after Jabouri ordered a policeman to remove a picture of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr from his uniform.

Hickey's unit left Tal Afar in the spring of 2006. Jabouri stayed, despite death threats against his family and him from al Qaida in Iraq . He moved them from Baghdad to Dohuk, in northern Iraq , where they lived under the protection of the Kurdish regional government.

President Bush marked the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion with a speech on March 20, 2006 , in Cleveland in which he held up Tal Afar as a turning point in the war. He praised Jabouri's courage and said the United States was "proud to have allies like Mayor Najim."

Last year, the Jabouris' home in Mosul was blown up, and even U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's intervention with the Interior Ministry failed to halt the pressure on Jabouri to quit, he said.

Bombings blamed on al Qaida in Iraq still rip through Tal Afar periodically. The extremists, Jabouri said, seek to avenge their ouster from the city and are determined to reignite sectarian bloodletting in order to regain control.

He said that his "heart wanted to burst from my chest" when he and his family left Iraq , but he thinks that they'll return eventually.

"The future of Iraq will be good, but it needs time," he said. "We need more education, more election education, and we need to make the right choices."

Pakistan: Severe earthquakes leave thousands homeless

Magnitude 6.4
Date-Time

* Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 23:09:58 UTC
* Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 04:09:58 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 30.653°N, 67.323°E
Depth 15 km (9.3 miles) set by location program
Region PAKISTAN
Distances 60 km (35 miles) NNE of Quetta, Pakistan
185 km (115 miles) SE of Kandahar, Afghanistan
195 km (120 miles) NNE of Kalat, Pakistan
640 km (400 miles) WSW of ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 6.1 km (3.8 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST=130, Nph=130, Dmin=460.8 km, Rmss=1.23 sec, Gp= 25°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source

* USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2008yscs

* This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

29 Oct 2008 14:29:21 GMT
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland

Geneva/Islamabad (ICRC) – Thousands of people have been made homeless and hundreds have been killed or injured by three earthquakes, which rocked southwest Pakistan before daybreak on Wednesday.

The consecutive quakes, with magnitudes of 6.2, 6.2 and 6.4 on the Richter scale respectively, hit the Balochistan province and were followed by aftershocks.

"There is no clear information yet on the number of dead or injured but initial reports indicate that hundreds of people may have been wounded or killed and that thousands may be without shelter," said the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) sub-delegation in Quetta, Andrew Bartles-Smith.

Two ICRC teams have reached the affected area and are on the spot assessing the situation and needs.

They say aftershocks are continuing and that frightened residents are staying outdoors in the cold.

The affected districts are Pashin, Ziarat and Killa Saifullah.

It is a hilly region and several roads are reported to be blocked.

The total population of Ziarat district, reportedly the hardest hit, is estimated at around 50,000.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has sent two teams to the earthquake-hit region to distribute relief supplies for 100 families.

The team includes 28 staff and volunteers, as well as two mobile health teams.

The ICRC intends to send medical kits to the region.

A surgical and medical team will fly from Peshawar early on Thursday.

The ICRC is working closely with the PRCS and stands ready to increase its humanitarian response to those in need.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is also sending a support team to the region, including a disaster management expert, a health specialist and an information officer.

The ICRC is also in contact with military and government authorities, as well as local officials, regarding the humanitarian response to the disaster.


For more information, please contact:
Carla Haddad Mardini, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 2405 or + 41 79 217 3226
Simon Schorno, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 79 251 9302
Marco Succi, ICRC Islamabad, tel: +92 300 850 81 38

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

Government and aid agencies respond in Pakistan’s quake-affected province
31 Oct 2008 22:08:40 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
wvmeero logo
By Syed Haider Ali & Andrea Swinburne-Jones

After consultation with the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum consortium and assessing needs and the government's and general NGO capacity, World Vision has decided not to respond to the earthquake now.

Yesterday afternoon, the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, an emergency consortium, of which World Vision Pakistan is a member, met to discuss the earthquake. Numerous PHF members provided information from some initial assessments conducted. Information gathered indicated that the current disaster was not large scale.

'Four INGOs that were on the ground prior to the disaster are currently providing assistance, and the government and military have mobilised a good response. Based on this information, World Vision Pakistan has decided to not respond to this disaster for the time being,' said Graham Strong, World Vision Pakistan Country Director.

Relief efforts in terms of blankets, tents and food are being provided. Most of the organisations who responded immediately were those already working in Balochistan.

World Vision does not have any programs in the affected province of Balochistan.

The 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck about 70 kilometres north of Quetta, just after 4am local time Wednesday.

The official death toll from the earthquake is 215, with 500 people injured and more than 15,000 displaced. Some 170 people, mainly women and children, were killed in Ziarat alone.

Some 2-3,000 houses have been reported damaged and 500 have collapsed. In the city of Ziarat, houses are either partially or severely damaged. Dozens of schools, hospitals, government buildings and mosques have been destroyed and the roads linking Ziyarat with affected villages were blocked by landslides.

The main areas affected by the earthquake are Harnai, Qilla Abdullah, Vaam, Kelli Zargoom, Bolan, Sibi, Pishin, Loralai, Kohlu, Mastung, Kalat, Dera Murad Jamali, Sani Shooran, Chaman, Toba Achakzai, and Zhob.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has requested 2,000 tents and 5,000 blankets so far, to assist survivors.

PHF has developed a web-based co-ordination system, allowing the consortium to determine the category and level of any given disaster in Pakistan. According to PHF members, the current disaster was classified as a Category 1 with a Level One Response. The situation will be reviewed on a regular basis and if new information becomes available PHF will re-classify the disaster.

The emergency consortium, developed following the October 2005 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people and injured a similar number. World Vision assisted more than 116,000 people in the past 3 years through its earthquake relief and rehabilitation project, to rebuild their lives.

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


Pakistani quake surviors beg for shelter from cold
02 Nov 2008 12:32:04 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Gul Yousafzai

WAM KHAZI, Pakistan, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Villagers in a southwest Pakistani region hit by a powerful earthquake demanded shelter on Sunday saying they need help before a bitter winter sets in or their children could die.

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest but poorest province on Wednesday, destroying or damaging thousands of mud homes and killing at least 215 people.

The epicentre was in Ziarat district, a picturesque valley framed by mountains and one of the region's main tourist spots. But night-time temperatures in the relatively high-altitude area are falling below freezing.

"We've got food, we've got relief, but we don't have tents which can save our children from the cold," said Rehmat Kakar, a 70-year-old farmer standing by the rubble of his house in Wam Khazi village.

"We want those tents urgently. Please save our children, don't let them die," said Kakar, who said that four of his seven children were killed in the quake.

The disaster struck just over three years after 73,000 people were killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake hit Pakistan's northern mountains. Last year, the worst floods on record in Baluchistan killed hundreds.

Scores of aftershocks, some nearly as strong as the original quake, have jolted the region since Wednesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), one of several organisations helping with relief, appealed for $7.7 million to step up its emergency operations.

"Our priority will be to provide shelter as winter sets in," said Pascal Cuttat, head of the ICRC delegation in Islamabad.

"Because of continuing aftershocks, many people decided to sleep outdoors at altitudes of 2,000 to 2,500 metres (6,500-8,200 feet)," he said.

"GIVE US THE MONEY"

Another villager said with winter just weeks away, government aid efforts would be too slow.

"They should just give us money and let us rebuild our own houses," said Abdul Wahid.

There have been no reports of outbreaks of disease since the quake but aid officials say without proper shelter, people, especially children, will be vulnerable to common health risks.

A doctor from the paramilitary Frontier Corps helping with the relief effort said he was seeing many people, most of them children, with upper respiratory tract infections.

"We're receiving about 100 patients daily and the number may go up in coming weeks because of the cold," said the doctor, Usman Ahmed, in a clinic set up in Wam Khazi.

"Medical facilities are here but we need to do something urgently to keep people warm," he said.

The quake is one more headache for a government struggling with a balance of payments crisis and a surge of militant violence, but allies have promised help.

Saudi Arabia is giving $100 million while the United States and China had promised $1 million each for rehabilitation work.

Japan and several other countries had also promised help while the World Health Organisation said it was sending two truckloads of essential medicines and supplies.

The World Food Programme said it would provide 700 tonnes of dry food rations in initial relief supplies for an estimated 20,000 homeless.

But one aid group complained of poor coordination.

"There's duplication, like two agencies doing similar jobs in the same place," said Hafizullah Khan of the Muslim Hands international aid group. (Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Sami Aboudi)

Iraqi Shi'ite says not too late to save U.S. pact

Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:08pm

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It is not too late for the United States and Iraq to salvage a draft pact allowing U.S. troops to stay until 2011, one of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite leaders said on Monday.

Ammar al-Hakim denied that Shi'ite parties in the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were stalling approval of the pact, which was reached earlier this month after months of painstaking negotiations with Washington.

"We think there is still a chance for consultations or negotiations by the Iraqi and American delegations," said Hakim, who runs the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), while its nominal leader, his father, suffers from poor health.

"There is sincerity from both sides to reach common wording," he said. "Iraqi security leaders still believe we need (the U.S. forces') help in order to continue building security institutions ... It should get legal cover -- either through the pact or through the United Nations."

The pact was negotiated by a team of advisers hand-picked by Maliki and gave Iraq important concessions, such as a firm 2011 withdrawal date and the power to try U.S. troops in its courts for crimes committed while off duty.

But days after a "final draft" was announced this month, the ruling Shi'ite coalition which includes ISCI and Maliki's Dawa Party announced it would seek amendments to it.

Washington has indicated that it would listen to proposals for minor adjustments in wording but does not want to renegotiate the main terms of the accord.

If the pact is not passed by December 31, Iraq says it will seek a renewal of a U.N. Security Council mandate for the U.S. troops. Washington has threatened to keep all its forces on bases and cut off services such as air traffic control if neither the pact nor an extended U.N. mandate is agreed in time.

IRAN'S DISAPPROVAL

Iran strongly opposes the U.S. pact, which it says would give its American arch foes a foothold in the region.

ISCI and other Shi'ite parties in the American-backed government in Baghdad have strong ties to Iran, where Hakim's father Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim lived for many years in exile.

The decision over the pact is widely seen as requiring Shi'ites to choose between their new friends in Washington and their old friends in Tehran. But Hakim denied that Iran was behind his party's request for amendments to the pact.

"Iraq's interest remains the basis for the decisions of (Iraqi) leaders," he said.

However, he also said that one of the changes ISCI is seeking to the pact is language that would make clearer that Iraqi territory would not be used as a base for attacks on neighboring states, which Iran calls its main concern.

"The Iraqi negotiating team saw that there is flexibility in some articles, which could in some cases allow Iraq to be used as a route or a base for operations ... against regional states," he said.

"This is one of the issues that needs developing, so that we can convince everybody that Iraq is a place for peace and building relationships," he said.

A raid on a village in Syria on Sunday is likely to attract more calls from Tehran to oppose the pact. Iran and Syria both complained on Monday after what they said were U.S. military helicopters struck a Syrian village near the border with Iraq.

Washington has declined to comment on the raid. Iraq says it targeted a staging ground of militants but has not said who carried it out.

(Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Caroline Drees)

Third of Pakistanis eat less as prices rise-survey

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Thirty-two percent of Pakistanis say they have cut down on food because of rising prices, for which 70 percent of the population blame the government, a research group said on Friday.

Soaring food prices and shortages of staples mean about 77 million of Pakistan's 160 million people are food insecure, a 28 percent increase over last year, according to U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) estimates.

The survey, of 1,732 people in rural and urban areas, conducted in early August, also found that 56 percent of people said rising costs of food, fuel and electricity had had a severe impact on them and their families.

"It might be a serious concern for the government to know that 70 percent of Pakistanis blame the food price hike on government policies as opposed to other factors such as global price trends," said the Pakistani Institute of Public Opinion, which carried out the survey.

The institute is the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International.

Like most emerging economies, Pakistan was badly hit by soaring global oil and food prices over the past year and the country was facing an economic crisis even before the global financial crisis developed.

Pakistan is facing inflation at close to 25 percent, a balance of payment crisis and foreign reserves falling by $1 billion a month.

With no external funding, analysts say the country will most likely have to agree to help from the International Monetary Fund.

International organisations say about a third of Pakistanis live in poverty and an increasing number of them are turning up at food centres set up by charity organisations.

"If we don't tackle the problem, we'll start finding dead bodies," said Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of one of Pakistan's main private aid groups, the Edhi Foundation. "We'll find entire families dead from hunger."

Another charity, the Sailani Welfare Trust, says more than 30,000 people come to its 25 free food centres in the city of Karachi every day. (Reporting by Aftab Borka; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)

Apna Hyderabad tho Apna Hyderabad hai

Once Hyderabadi, Always a Hyderabadi...
1. Your address reads as 23-404-32/67A-43 (New MCH number
56-678/4A/B-22),while you actually live in the second house beside
zamzam cafe in lane behind Anand Theatre on SP Road.

2. You end up buying only a salwar kameez, whether it is a theatre
workshop, food mela, consumer expo, designer jewellery show, science
show or an automobile convention.

3. Your street has at least one roadside mobile hotel that serves
Chinese delicacies such as ' Vegetable soft needles', 'Navrotten
Kurma', 'Chicken Manchewurea' or 'American Chompsee'.

4. Your answer is 'seedha chale jao' when somebody asks you for
directions,whether it is to Malakpet, Masab Tank, Malkajgiri or
Moosapet.

5. You come across tailors sporting the board: 'Immidiot delivery in
two days onli'..

6.You can speak Hindi, Urdu, hyderabadi hinglish, except Telugu, fluently.

7.You ask the waiter to get you some 'Aam ka achaar' (avakaya) even if you are
sitting at a lavish continental banquet dinner with exotic Chinese,
Mexican, Italian and Lebanese cuisines.

8. You order for a tea just after having had a Caramel custard.

9. You have at least one Srinivas, Prasad, Raju, Rao or Venkatesh
within six square feet. OR you have at least one cousin, friend,
colleague or acquaintance with these names.

10. You have at least one cousin, friend, colleague or acquaintance in
the US in software.

11. Every time somebody gives you a piece of good news, the first
thing you ask them is 'Party kab hain ?'

12. Refer to any past as 'parso', be it yesterday or long before
three hu ndred years.

13. You call 11 AM as subah subah.

14. You label your boss as 'Dimakh Kharab' ( dimakh thintaadu , saale gadu)

15. And it doesn't matter where in the 'Gulf/middle east' you are
leaving you always tell you are going to 'Dubai '. (I know of one
family who still keep telling everyone their son is in 'uno Dubai mein
hai' but he is physically in Yemen for the past 5 years. J]

16. You are 15 minutes late and you feel you are on time.

17. You look at the fixed pr ice stand and still ask 'dene ka bolo'

18. If you do not eat rice at least once a day you will die.(Nothing
other than Rice is considered as a meal)

19. You feel offended by someone looking at you (Kaiku ghoor raa be?)

20. You think you are a born shayer and use some typical filmi batein
in stylish urdu and crack some romantic jokes.

21. While someone does the above, you say to yourself 'chubbe saale
,mooh dekh aaine mein, tere ku kaun pat thi, pataaney waala tho main
hi hoon'

22. You can say the typical 'Light le le baap' (light teesko) and be cool without
analyzing what the situation is.

23. You feel its legal and your Nizami birth right to show your hand
and stop the traffic (better than a traffic police) while you cross
the road whenever and wherever you like.

24. You can hang out in a Irani cafe the whole day after ordering one
cup tea and a empty saucer for yourself and your dear friend and you
chat like thats the last day with each other.

25. You eat Paradise Biryani or bawarchi Biryani atleast once in a month

26. You go to the Petrol Bunk and say 'Panch Point Single Oil maaro
yaaro' and hand over 15 bucks.

27. You can relate the words ' naako', ' houllegadu' ' 'Kaiku' ,'hallu' and make
these the integral part of your vocabulary.

28. You tell your friend that you will 'just come back' ('abbhi aathu
mein') and your friend knows that you will take a couple of hours or
not come back at all.

29. You end up watching every movie you come across , and end up
saying oh! that was good , but it could be better if it was made that
way

30. You are reading this and secretly admitting that you are, after
all, a true blue Hyderabadi [J] You know one thing.....
Apna Hyderabad tho Apna Hyderabad hai..

ArshiRaza

Dow sinks 514 on louder warnings of a recession

By ELLEN SIMON, AP Economics Writer Ellen Simon, Ap Economics Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago
Stocks tumble on worries about earnings forecast Play Video AP – Stocks tumble on worries about earnings forecast

* Financial Crisis Slideshow: Financial Crisis
* Stimulus Plan Sequel Play Video Video: Stimulus Plan Sequel ABC News

Related Quotes Symbol Price Change
KMB 57.22 -4.45
MCD 54.18 -0.95
MRK 28.01 -1.96
WB 5.71 -0.38
WLP 39.80 -2.05
Trader Paul Maguire works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, AP – Trader Paul Maguire works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Richard …

NEW YORK – Now what? After three days of relative calm, turbulence returned to Wall Street on Wednesday. Louder warnings of a deep recession and weak corporate earnings took the Dow Jones industrial average down 514 points amid fears that government intervention won't be enough to prevent global economies from faltering.

Previous dramatic drops — two of them more than 700 points — were followed by rebounds. If that doesn't happen this time, the Dow could slip closer to closing below the 8,000 mark, which hasn't happened since March 31, 2003.

Wednesday's sell-off came after poor earnings from large companies in disparate sectors — Wachovia Corp., Boeing and Merck & Co. — illustrated how wide the economic downturn has spread. One bright spot was McDonald's Corp., where third-quarter profits rose thanks to the strength of its low-priced meals.

Even with the aggressive steps the government has already taken, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told interviewer Charlie Rose on Tuesday that Americans would "have a number of difficult months ahead of us in terms of the real economy."

Since stocks began tumbling on Sept. 15, the Dow has plunged as low as 8,451.19, its close on Oct. 10. On Wednesday, it closed at 8,519.21.

Big rallies last Monday and Thursday were enough to send all the major indexes higher, giving Wall Street its best week since 2003. The Dow gained 4.75 percent for the week — a gain that was erased in Wednesday's trading alone.

This week, the Dow had climbed 413 points Monday, then dropped 231 points Tuesday.

On Wednesday, most major indexes fell 5 percent or more, with the Standard & Poor's 500 down 6 percent. Oil prices hit lows last seen in June 2007, trading below $67 a barrel on worries about weakening demand.

Stocks dropped across Asia and Europe, falling even harder in South America, where Brazil's Bovespa index and Argentina's Merval had losses near 10 percent. Argentina's president announced plans to nationalize private pension funds to protect retirees from the financial crisis.

Mutual funds, pension funds and individual investors lost $700 billion in Wednesday's trading. It was the fifth time since Sept. 29 that the broadest measure of U.S. stocks, the Dow Jones Wilshire 5,000, had lost more than 5 percent in a day. During the prior 25 years, it had only eight days that bad.

For the week, the Dow is up 3.76 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 4.65 percent and the Nasdaq composite is down 5.58 percent.

World leaders will gather in Washington on Nov. 15 to discuss the meltdown. A senior administration official said Wednesday that the forum will be the first in a series of international meetings to discuss what economists predict could be a long and deep downturn.

For many U.S. companies, the damage has already begun.

Wachovia, which is being bought by Wells Fargo for about $14 billion in stock, said it lost $23.89 billion in the third quarter, down from earnings of $1.62 billion a year ago. Boeing reported its earnings slumped 38 percent as a strike halted production of commercial jets.

Merck & Co. said it will slash 7,200 jobs as part of a new restructuring program. The drugmaker's third-quarter profit plunged 28 percent, partly due to flat sales. Earnings also fell at paper company Kimberly-Clark Corp., insurer WellPoint Inc. and drug developer Wyeth.

"We are going into what is very clearly a recession mode," Blake Jorgensen, Yahoo's chief financial officer, said in a Tuesday interview. Yahoo is slashing 1,500 jobs while it prepares for a deep downturn likely to extend well into 2009.

"Right now we have 9 million Americans out of work. That's up from 6 million this time last year, and to every trader on the floor, to every trader upstairs, that's the most important number" because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the economy, said Alan Valdes, vice president of trading firm Hillard and Lyons.

The official arbiter of recessions, the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research, has not called the current downturn a recession.

Bad times have been good for McDonald's. Chief Executive Jim Skinner said that the company is "recession-resistant" and "operating from a position of strength."

McDonald's third-quarter profits rose 11 percent and same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, were notably strong in the third quarter, rising 7.1 percent globally and almost 5 percent in the U.S.

Credit markets have showed some signs of a thaw. Yields on Treasury bills and the interest rates banks charge each other have both fallen back to late-September levels. Bank-to-bank lending rates fell sharply overnight.

The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, on three-month loans in dollars fell to 3.54 percent from 3.83 percent, dropping for an eighth straight day. Libor is important because many mortgage and credit card rates are pegged to it and it's a good barometer of banks' willingness to lend.

Despite declining rates, the volume of loans remained weak.

"We're making slow progress and confidence is returning, but we're still not there yet," said Christopher Cordaro, chief investment officer at RegentAtlantic Capital LLC in Chatham, N.J.

Meanwhile, members of Congress are moving forward with efforts to overhaul the regulatory system. The changes could be the most sweeping since the 1930s, when Congress revamped how the financial system was regulated in response to the 1929 stock market crash and a wave of bank failures.

Democrats in Congress are also pushing efforts to assemble a second economic stimulus program that could total $150 billion or more. On Monday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said a "significant" stimulus package is appropriate. The White House has yet to endorse the idea, but has said President Bush was at least willing to consider a second stimulus measure.

___

Associated Press writers Tim Paradis, Madlen Read and Lauren Shepherd in New York, Michael Liedtke in San Francisco and Martin Crutsinger in Washington contributed to this report.

Competition Between Iraqi Shiites Gains Strength

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro



Tribal Support Council Election
Enlarge

Spencer Platt

Iraqis vote in an election for a Tribal Support Council in the East Doura district of Baghdad on March 6. The councils reflect the ethnic makeup of a neighborhood and act as a local government. Getty Images



All Things Considered, October 22, 2008 · In Iraq, two of the country's main Shiite political parties are locked in a bitter struggle ahead of provincial elections set for early next year.

Dawa, the party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq are allies at the national level as partners in the ruling coalition in Baghdad. But at the local level, in the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq, competition between the two parties is increasingly fierce — and local tribal leaders are finding themselves caught in the middle.

Empowering The Tribes

On one particular day, dozens of men with deeply lined faces framed by checkered headdresses chant in support of their sheik, Nabeel al-Ubadi, the head of the al-Fatla tribe. Ubadi has gathered his people to protest in the southern province of Diwaniyah.

"Last Monday, our house was raided," Ubadi says. "There was no legal reason for it."

The sheik was hosting a celebration to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan when six vehicles bearing Iraqi special police forces surrounded the mudhif, or tribal reception hall. Ubadi says they were targeted because he recently joined a tribal support council.

Sponsored by Prime Minister Maliki, these newly created councils are made up of members of important tribes across the south. The councils are funded and directed by Maliki's office, and their ostensible aim is to give the tribes a role in maintaining local security and the provision of services.

Ubadi says the creation of the councils has caused trouble.

"Those that oppose these tribal councils believe that they are biased, favoring Maliki's Dawa party," he says.

He and other tribal leaders believe Dawa's main rival, the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq, was behind the police raid and others that have targeted the tribal councils.

The Supreme Council currently controls many of the provincial governments in the south, including the local police forces.

Supreme Council leaders have called Maliki's move to establish the tribal councils a blatant attempt to garner votes for the Dawa party.

Sheik Mukhles al-Budairi, the deputy head of one the tribal councils, says that a tribe's endorsement of a particular party or candidate can have a huge effect.

"The tribes are the base of society here, and without them no one can get to power," Budairi says. And now, he says, the tribes are at the center of the struggle between the two Shiite parties. "They are trying to provoke us and intimidate us to vote one way or another."

A Test Of Iraq's Democracy

The upcoming provincial elections, tentatively set for the end of January, will be a test of Iraq's nascent democracy. There has already been a rise in the number of political assassinations in the south ahead of the vote, which is a source of concern, says Maj. Gen. Michael Oates. Oates oversees southern Iraq for the U.S. military.

"When the results are announced, some people who currently hold power will no longer hold power," Oates says. "Do they transfer power peacefully, or do the people who were voted out of office decide to hold onto it by other means?"

The Supreme Council was founded in Iran in the early 1980s by Shiites who had fled the oppression of Saddam Hussein's regime. It has extensive funding, vast power in the provinces and maintains close ties with the Iranian government.

But it's now being blamed for many of the continuing problems in the south — the lack of infrastructure, few services and grinding poverty.

Maliki's party has been gaining in popularity of late, thanks largely to a string of successful security operations ordered by the prime minister in the south and in Baghdad's Sadr City.

With the additional backing of the tribes, Dawa could do very well at the polls. And Supreme Council officials are now demanding that the support councils be disbanded.

"These support councils are illegal and unconstitutional," says Abdurrazzaq al-Nasrawi with the Supreme Council in the southern Babil province. "We do not want the tribes to become politicized."

Back at the tribal reception hall, the head of the al-Fatla tribe, Ubadi, says he expects more trouble.

"It is an election period, so the rivalry between the two parties is going to increase," he says. "Each side is going to try and win in any way possible."

He has already made up his mind though — he will vote for candidates belonging to Maliki's party. And he will tell the members of his tribe to do the same.

Ashoora Ziarat-زيارة الى الامام الحسين علية السلام في يوم عاشور

هذه زيارة الى الامام الحسين علية السلام في يوم عاشور


السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أبَا عَبْدِاللهِ ، السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللهِ ، السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ابْنَ أمِيرِ المُؤْمِنينَ ، وَابْنَ سَيِّدِ الوَصِيِّينَ ، السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ابْنَ فاطِمَةَ الزّهراءِ سَيِّدَةِ نِساءِ العالَمِينَ ، السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ثَارَ اللهِ وابْنَ ثارِهِ وَالْوِتْرَ المَوْتُورَ ، السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى الارْواحِ الّتي حَلّتْ بِفِنائِكَ ، وَأنَاخَتْ بِرحْلِك عَلَيْكُمْ مِنّي جَميعاً سَلامُ اللهِ أبَداً ما بَقِيتُ وَبَقِيَ الليْلُ وَالنَّهارُ.




أبَا عَبْدِ اللهِ ، لَقَدْ عَظُمَتِ الرَّزِيَّةُ ، وجَلّتْ وعَظُمَتْ المُصِيبَةُ بِكَ عَلَيْنا وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أهْلِ الاسْلام ، وَجَلَّتْ وَعَظُمَتْ مُصِيبَتُكَ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ عَلَى جَمِيعِ أهْلِ السَّمَوَاتِ ، فَلَعَنَ اللهُ اُمَّةً أسَّسَتْ أساسَ الظُّلْمِ وَالجَوْرِ عَلَيْكُمْ أهْلَ البَيْتِ ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ اُمَّةً دَفَعَتْكُمْ عَنْ مَقامِكُمْ وَأزالَتْكُمْ عَنْ مَراتِبِكُمُ الّتِي رَتَّبَكُمُ اللهُ فِيها ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ اُمَّةً قَتَلَتْكُمْ ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ الْمُمَهِّدِينَ لَهُمْ بِالتَّمْكِينِ مِنْ قِتالِكُمْ ، بَرِئْتُ إلى اللهِ وَإلَيْكُمْ مِنْهُمْ وَمِنْ أشْياعِهِمْ وَأتْباعِهِمْ وَأوْلِيائِهِمْ.


يَا أبَا عَبْدِاللهِ ، إنِّي سِلْمٌ لِمَنْ سالَمَكُمْ ، وَحَرْبٌ لِمَنْ حارَبَكُمْ وَوليٌ لِمَنْ والاكُم وعدوٌّ لِمَنْ عَاداكُمْ إلى يَوْمِ القِيامَةِ ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ آل زِيَاد وَآلَ مَرْوانَ ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ بَنِي اُمَيَّةَ قاطِبَةً ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ ابْنَ مَرْجانَةَ ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ عُمَرَ بْنَ سَعْد ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ شِمْراً ، وَلَعَنَ اللهُ اُمَّةً أسْرَجَتْ وَألْجَمَتْ وَتَهيّأتْ وَتَنَقَّبَتْ لِقِتالِكَ ، بِأبِي أنْتَ وَاُمِّي لَقَدْ عَظُمَ مُصابِي بِكَ ، فَأسْالُ اللهَ الّذِي أكْرَمَ مَقامَكَ ، وَأكْرَمَنِي بِكَ ، أنْ يَرْزُقَني طَلَبَ ثارِكَ مَعَ إمام مَنْصُور مِنْ أهْلِ بَيْتِ مُحَمَّد صَلّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ.


اللهمّ اجْعَلْني عِنْدَكَ وَجِيهاً بِالحُسَيْنِ عَلَيهِ السَّلأم فِي الدُّنْيا وَالاخِرَةِ مِنَ المقَرّبينْ.
يَا أبَا عَبْداللهِ ، إنِّي أتَقَرَّبُ إلى اللهِ تعالى ، وَإلَى رَسُولِهِ ، وَإلى أمِيرِ المُؤْمِنينَ ، وَإلَى فاطِمَةَ ، وإلى الحَسَنِ وَإلَيْكَ بِمُوالاتِكَ ، ومُوالاةِ أَوليائِك وَبِالْبَرَاءَةِ مِمَّنْ قَاتَلَكَ وَنَصبَ لَكَ الحَربَ ، وبالْبَرَاءةِ مِمَّنْ أسَّسَ أساسَ الظُّلْمِ وَالجَوْرِ عَلَيْكُمْ ، وَعلى أشياعِكُم وَأبْرَأُ إلى اللهِ وَإلى رَسُولِهِ وَبِالبراءِةِ مِمَّنْ أسَّسَ أساسَ ذلِكَ ، وَبَنى عَلَيْهِ بُنْيانَهُ ، وَجَرَى في ظُلْمِهِ وَجَوْرِهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَلَى أشْياعِكُمْ ، بَرِئْتُ إلى اللهِ وَإلَيْكُمْ مِنْهُمْ ، وَأتَقَرَّبُّ إلى اللهِ وَإلى رَسولِهِ ثُمَّ إلَيْكُمْ بِمُوالاتِكُم وَمُوالاةِ وَلِيِّكُمْ ، وَبِالْبَرَاءَةِ مِنْ أعْدائِكُمْ ،وَالنَّاصِبِينَ لَكُم الحَرْبَ ، وَبِالبَرَاءَةِ مِنْ أشْياعِهِمْ وَأتْباعِهِمْ ، يا أبا عَبدِ الله إنِّي سِلْمٌ لِمَنْ سالَمَكُمْ ، وَحَرْبٌ لِمَنْ حارَبَكُمْ ، وَوَلِيٌّ لِمَنْ والاكُمْ ، وَعَدُوٌّ لِمَنْ عاداكُمْ ، فَأسْألُ اللهَ الّذِي أكْرَمَني بِمَعْرِفَتِكُمْ ، وَمَعْرِفَةِ أوْلِيائِكُمْ ، وَرَزَقَني البَراءَةَ مِنْ أعْدائِكُمْ ، أنْ يَجْعَلَني مَعَكُمْ في الدُّنْيا وَالاخِرَةِ ، وَأنْ يُثَبِّتَ لي عِنْدَكُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْق في الدُّنْيا وَالاخِرَةِ ، وَأسْألُهُ أنْ يُبَلِّغَنِي الْمقامَ الْمَحْمُودَ لَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللهِ ، وَأنْ يَرْزُقَنِي طَلَبَ ثَارِي مَعَ إمَام مَهْدِيٍّ ظَاهِر نَاطِق بالحقِّ مِنْكُمْ ، وَأسْألُ اللهَ بِحَقِّكُمْ وَبِالشَّأنِ الَّذِي لَكُمْ عِنْدَهُ أنْ يُعْطِيَنِي بِمُصابِي بِكُمْ أفْضَلَ ما يُعْطِي مصاباً بِمُصِيبَتِهِ ، يا لَها منْ مُصِيبَة مَا أعْظَمَها وَأعْظَمَ رَزِيّتهَا فِي الاسْلامِ وَفِي جَمِيعِ أهلِ السَّموَاتِ وَالارْضِ.
اللهُمَّ اجْعَلْني في مَقامِي هذا مِمَّن تَنالُهُ مِنْكَ صَلَواتٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ.


اللهُمَّ إنَّ هَذا يَوْمٌ تَبَرَّكَتْ بِهِ بَنُو اُمَيَّةَ وَابْنُ آكِلَةِ الاكْبادِ ، اللعِينُ بْنُ ال لعِينِ عَلَى لِسانِكَ وَلِسانِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ في كُلِّ مَوْطِن وَمَوْقِف وَقَفَ فِيهِ نَبيُّكَ ـ صَلّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ ـ.
.gif (http://www.tibneen.com/ziyaretAshoura_files/image001.gif)اللهُمَّ الْعَنْ أبَا سُفْيانَ وَمُعَاوِيَةَ وَيَزيدَ بْنَ مُعَاوِيَةَ وآلَ مَرْوَانَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْكَ اللعْنَةُ أبَدَ الابِدِينَ ، وَهذا يَوْمٌ فَرِحَتْ بِهِ آلُ زِيَاد وَآلُ مَرْوانَ عَليهِمُ اللَّعْنةُ بِقَتْلِهِمُ الحُسَيْنَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلأم. اللهُمَّ فَضاعِفْ عَلَيْهِمُ اللعْنَ وَالعَذابَ الالِيم.


اللهُمَّ إنِّي أتَقَرَّبُّ إلَيْكَ في هذَا اليَوْمِ ، وَفِي مَوْقِفِي هَذا ، وَأيَّامِ حَيَاتِي بِالبَرَاءَةِ مِنْهُمْ ، وَاللعْنَةِ عَلَيْهِمْ ، وَبِالْمُوالاةِ لِنَبِيِّكَ وَآلِ نَبِيِّكَ عَلَيِه وعَلَيْهِمُ السَّلأمُ.


ثمّ يقول:
اللهُمَّ الْعَنْ أوّلَ ظالِم ظَلَمَ حَقَّ مُحَمَّد وَآلِ مُحَمَّد ، وَآخِرَ تَابِع لَهُ عَلَى ذلِكَ ، اللهُمَّ الْعَنِ العِصابَةَ الَّتِي جاهَدَتِ الْحُسَيْنَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلأم وَشايَعَتْ وَبايَعَتْ وَتابَعَتْ عَلَى قَتْلِهِ. اللهُمَّ الْعَنْهم جَميعاً ( يقول ذلك مائة مرّة).


ثمّ يقول:





السَّلأمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أبا عَبْدِاللهِ وَعلَى الارْواحِ الّتي حَلّتْ بِفِنائِكَ ، وَأنَاخَت برَحْلِك عَلَيْكَ مِنِّي سَلامُ اللهِ أبَداً مَا بَقِيتُ وَبَقِيَ الليْلُ وَالنَّهارُ ، وَلا جَعَلَهُ اللهُ آخِرَ العَهْدِ مِنِّي لِزِيَارَتِكُمْ ، أهْلَ البَيتِ السَّلأمُ عَلَى الحُسَيْن ، وَعَلَى عَليِّ بْنِ الحُسَيْنِ ، وَعَلَى أوْلادِ الحُسَيْنِ ، وَعَلَى أصْحابِ الحُسَينِ الذينَ بَذَلُوا مُهَجَهُم دُونَ الحُسين

( يقول ذلك مائة مرّة ).




ثمّ يقول:


اللهمَّ خُصَّ أنْتَ أوّلَ ظالم بِاللّعْنِ مِنِّي ، وَابْدَأْ بِهِ أوّلاً ، ثُمَّ الثَّانِي ، وَالثَّالِثَ وَالرَّابِع.
اللهُمَّ الْعَنْ يزِيَدَ خامِساً ، وَالْعَنْ عُبَيْدَاللهِ بْنَ زِيَاد وَابْنَ مَرْجانَةَ وَعُمَرَ بْنَ سَعْد وَشِمْراً وَآلَ أبي سُفْيانَ وَآلَ زِيَاد وآلَ مَرْوانَ إلَى يَوْمِ القِيامَةِ.


ثم تسجد وتقول:


لَكَ الحَمْدُ حَمْدَ الشَّاكِرينَ لَكَ عَلَى مُصابِهِمْ ، الحَمْدُ للهِ عَلَى عَظِيمِ رَزِيّتي.
اللهُمَّ ارْزُقْني شَفاعَةَ الحُسَيْن عَلَيهِ السَّلأم يَوْمَ الوُرُودِ ، وَثَبِّتْ لي قَدَمَ صِدْق عِنْدَكَ مَعَ الحُسَيْنِ وَأصْحابِ الحُسَيْن الّذِينَ بَذَلُوا مُهَجَهُمْ دُونَ الْحُسَيْن عَلَيْهِ السَّلأم.
قال علقمة: قال أبو جعفر ( عليه السلام ) وإن استطعت أن تزوره في كل يوم بهذه الزيارة من دارك فافعل فلك ثواب جميع ذلك.

Top Muslim cleric group back Qaradawi over Shi'ites

18 Oct 2008 15:11:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
RIYADH, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A leading group of Muslim clerics has called on Sunnis and Shi'ites to desist from efforts to win converts from the other, but blamed Shi'ite Iran for stoking sectarian tensions in Arab countries.

Fears of a growing sectarian rift have bubbled since Iraq's Sunni Muslim leader Saddam Hussein was toppled by U.S.-led forces in 2003 and replaced by a Shi'ite-controlled government backed by Shi'ite power Iran.

Leading Sunni cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi said in remarks to Egyptian and Saudi newspapers last month that Shi'ites now had a voice in traditional Sunni countries like Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco through proselytisation. He said this could lead to violence.

Qaradawi's comments stirred controversy in Iran where he was attacked in the media and among Shi'ite communities in the Arab world, which are mainly concentrated in Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

The International Union of Muslim Scholars, which met in Qatar this week to discuss the issue, said Iran bore responsibility for "sectarian strife" and urged each sect to respect the other's dominant position in different regions.

"Organised attempts by the minority sect to proselytise in areas where the other is dominant should stop, as part of mutual respect between the sects," it said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran should bear its responsibility to end sectarian strife."

"His (Qaradawi's) statements came from his legitimate responsibility to warn the Islamic nation about the efforts to revive sectarian conflict," the statement published on Qaradawi's website (www.qaradawi.net) said.

It also called for an end to sectarian fighting and for protection of minorities. Iraq and Lebanon have witnessed sectarian fighting in recent years. Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia complain of second class status, and Sunnis say their brethren in Iran and Iraq are persecuted.

The ageing Qaradawi currently heads the Union, which groups Sunni and Shi'ite scholars from around the world. Saudi daily al-Watan reported disputes this week among members with some favouring a more conciliatory line towards Shi'ites.

The scholars who framed the statement included prominent Saudi Sunni Salman al-Awdah and Ali Fadlallah, son of prominent Shi'ite cleric in Lebanese group Hezbollah Hassan Fadlallah.

Politically, Sunni governments are concerned that non-Arab Iran and its allies including Hezbollah are gaining respect among ordinary Arabs for championing resistance against Israel and U.S. political and military influence in the region. (Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Sami Aboudi)

170 Daeth Toll of Orakzai Suicide Blast on Anti-taliban Tribal Field Jirga

Mamozai tribes blamed for Orakzai suicide blast
Updated at: 1240 PST, Saturday, October 18, 2008
PESHAWAR: Alikhel tribes on Saturday accused Mamozia tribes of carrying out suicide attack on the jirga which killed at least 170 people and injured several others in Orakzai Agency.

Mamozai tribes have started to flee from the area to avoid any possible action from the Alikhel tribes.

According to sources, hundreds of families of Mamozia tribes are leaving the area due to tense situation and to avoid the suspected strike from Alikhel tribes. They are seeking shelter in Kohat, Jurmah, Hangu and other parts.

About 170 people were killed and more than 200 wounded when a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into an anti-Taliban jirga of Alikhel tribes on October 12, 2008.

Days of the American evil empire are numbered

Shortly after the invasion of Iraq by the American Barbarians on March 20, 2003, I checked with two leading Shiite and Sunni religious authorities concerning the possibility for issuing a Fatwa calling for a Jihad as a Muslim country has been invaded by the Christo-Zionist crusaders. Despite the massacres and the destruction that was inflicted, both of these indicated that God has sent the brutal Americans to test our patience! Aside from Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini, Lebanese Sayyd Hassan Nassurlallh and Archbishop Makarius of Cyprus, rarely there was a revolution led by religious people. As we see today in the behaviours of the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia who is afraid of mentioning the corruption and betrayal of the Saudi Royal family and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar of Egypt who flatly refuses to criticise Egyptian Mubarak for his pro-USraeli and anti-Arab policies. For this reason, I called on Zeus, the king of all Greek Gods, to assist Hezbullah in defeating the Israelis in 2006. It was a very difficult mission as Israel was supported by Bush America and Blair Britain. I must say that I was not disappointed. Recently I have called on Zeus to punish the USraelis and their allies for the destruction of Iraq and the killing of its people on behalf of Israel. Again, the current financial and economic collapse of the Americans and their Zionist allies is of a Herculean proportion; sending them crying for help and making a mockery out of all their interventions. The Egyptians have a song which says “the day of the ruthless will eventually come". As Ahmedinejad predicted, it seems that days of the American evil empire are numbered.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times

Anger against US as Iraq Shiites bury slain MP

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer
36 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Thousands of supporters of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr marched through eastern Baghdad on Friday to mourn the killing of a Sadrist lawmaker and hear a statement from the anti-U.S. cleric blaming occupation and terrorism for the loss.

The crowd walked through the sprawling Shiite slum of Sadr City behind a car carrying the casket of politician Saleh al-Auqaeili. The body was then taken to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to be buried.

Al-Auqaeili was traveling in a convoy with other Shiite lawmakers on Thursday when a roadside bomb struck it in eastern Baghdad. He died later at a hospital.

As the Friday procession reached the al-Sadr movement's local office, a statement from the cleric was read out mourning al-Auqaeili as a martyr. It called on the Iraqi government to investigate the killing.

"The hand of heinous occupation and terrorism assassinated another martyr of freedom," said the statement, read out by al-Sadr aide Jalil al-Sarkhi. It praised al-Auqaeili for dedicating himself to "get the occupier outside Iraq" and refusing to sign a long-term agreement with U.S.-led forces.

The Sadrists oppose negotiations for a security agreement that would extend the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq beyond this year, and some of the victims' allies blamed U.S. and Iraqi forces for Thursday's blast.

Suspicion also fell on Shiite splinter groups — some with suspected links to Iran, which has sheltered al-Sadr for nearly 18 months — raising fears of new internal Shiite bloodshed ahead of regional elections expected in January.

The convoy of Al-Auqaeili, considered a moderate within al-Sadr's movement, was about 200 yards from an Iraqi army checkpoint in mostly Shiite eastern Baghdad when the bombing occurred, a colleague said.

One commuter on a motorcycle was also killed in the blast, police said.

Al-Sadr's followers have long opposed the U.S. military presence in Iraq, and some of them cited their opposition to a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that has been under negotiation for months as a motive for the assassination.

Sadrist spokesman Ahmed al-Massoudi said Thursday that "occupation forces sent us a message by staging this attack because of our stance against the agreement."

Later, however, the Sadrist political department called the killing a "terrorist act of criminal gangs," a phrase often used to describe renegade Shiite militants that the U.S. believes are trained and armed by Iran. Tehran denies links to Iraqi Shiite militants.

Maj. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Baghdad command, said the attack appeared to have been carried out by "unaligned" Shiite groups.

Police said they had detained 14 people for questioning, including 12 members of a government-run security force that protects a power station near the blast site.

The attack reflects tension within the Shiite community following the splintering of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which fought U.S. and Iraqi troops for weeks in Baghdad's Sadr City district until a cease-fire last May.



4 minutes ago



BAGHDAD (AFP) - Mourners shouted anti-American slogans as gunfire gripped the Baghdad Shiite district of Sadr City ahead of the burial on Friday of a radical member of parliament killed in a roadside bombing.

Residents said firing was heard overnight in Sadr City where Iraqi troops and the US military stepped up security after Thursday's bombing that killed 41-year-old MP Saleh al-Ogayly.

"Americans get out. Americans get out," shouted mourners as relatives hugged each other and wept while the wooden coffin of Ogayly was brought out of his home early on Friday draped in the tri-colour Iraqi flag.

The coffin was carried by mourners to the local office of the radical movement of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, of which Ogayly was a member.

The coffin was then was placed on top of a white sports utility vehicle to be driven to the main Shiite cemetery in the central shrine city of Najaf.

Iraqi security officials said there were no casualties from the overnight gunfire and that the shooting died down as US troops took up positions at the entrance to the impoverished district where two million people live.

"There was shooting at Iraqi forces, but no casualties," a security official said. "Buildings were hit."

Mourners remember Muslim soldier who died in Afghanistan

2nd Lt. Mohsin Naqvi one of four killed by roadside bomb

By SCOTT WALDMAN, Staff writer
Last updated: 3:46 p.m., Monday, September 22, 2008

COLONIE -- Mohsin Naqvi, a Muslim who joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and then died in an Afghanistan roadside bombing last week, was mourned by more than 100 people at a Central Avenue mosque today.

Male mourners left the prayer room at the al-Fatima Islamic Center about 20 minutes before the start of the 1 p.m. ceremony so that the female members of the mosque could pay respects to Naqvi, who was 26 years old.



The men gathered in the hall and bowed their heads in silence as wailing could be heard through the closed doors of the prayer room. Some of the women chanted Naqvi's first name.

Naqvi joined the Army shortly after the terror attacks and hoped to bridge the divide between America and the Muslim world, friends and relatives say

"Our message is we have chosen this country. We are going to live here. We are going to die here. We are going to contribute in every respect," said Haider Khwaja, the mosque's vice president.

"He has sacrificed his life for the country."

Naqvi was among four U.S. Army soldiers killed Sept. 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in eastern Afghanistan. He died during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Naqvi grew up near Newburgh. He was born in Pakistan and came to the U.S. as a young child. The second lieutenant had joined the Army Reserve near Newburgh days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and used his language skills to communicate with Afghans and reassure them about American intentions.

His wife, Raazia, lives with his sister, Tasneem Ali, in Mechanicville.

Six soldiers carried Naqvi's coffin into the mosque this afternoon as mourners filed in.

Following Muslim tradition, the soldiers all removed their shoes before carrying Naqvi's casket into the al-Fatima Islamic Center.

Once the casket was placed inside the mosque, Naqvi's brother, Hassan, 18, cried and kneeled before the coffin. The University at Albany pre-med student held his brother's military identification tags in his hands.

"He was so full of energy, so happy. I have not seen people so happy, laughing all the time," family friend and mosque President Imdad Imam said, describing Naqvi and his wife, Raazia, at their wedding three months ago.

Naqvi was deployed the next day. His funeral is being held at the same mosque where he was married.

Naqvi graduated from Newburgh Free Academy and was a prominent member of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association. His death comes during a spike in violence in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has sustained 122 deaths in 2008, more than any year since the U.S. first invaded in 2001.

Naqvi was buried in Evergreen Memorial Park in Colonie.


(Hassan Naqvi, right, is comforted by a family member as he listens to Iman Hashim Raza, left, say a prayer over the body of his brother Mohsin Naqvi )

Mourners picked up the coffin from the back of the hearse and carried it 50 yards to the grave. Following Muslim custom, they sat it down three times and passed it along the line of men.

Women sobbed as the soldier was carried to them. Soldiers fired a 21-gun salute and handed a folded American flag to Naqvi's widow.

Men reached inside the coffin to clutch the shrouded body and pray.

Family members grabbed handfuls of dirt to throw on the coffin and mourners picked up shovels to scoop up the earth.

They clutched each other as the grave was covered.


Mourners pray for fallen soldier Mohsin Naqvi at his funeral ceremony at al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie on Monday, Sept. 22.
prayer led by Imam Hashim Raza Ghadiri (From London)
(Skip Dickstein / Times Union)


Hassan Naqvi, brother of fallen soldier Mohsin Naqvi, is overcome with emotion before the funeral ceremony at al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie on Monday, Sept. 22 (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)


The coffin carrying the body of Mohsin Naqvi is carried by a U.S. Army color guard from the al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie following Naqvi's funeral on Monday, Sept. 22. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Govt plans to build Green Zone in Islamabad

Updated at: 1253 PST, Thursday, October 09, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The government has planned to set up a heavily guarded Green Zone in the federal capital.

According to sources, an Iraq-like Red Zone will be set up in Islamabad’s red zone area over security situation, while Capital Development Authority (CDA) has already started work in this regard.

Sources said diplomatic enclave, president house, PM offices, Pakistan secretariat and other important places will be guarded by the International Zone (Green Zone) in Islamabad.

A concrete wall surrounding around G-5 and F-5 sectors from Khayban-e-Soharwardi to Margala road will be erected in the capital city.

Al-Qaeda has already announced that America has been defeated in Iraq and asked most of its highly-experienced cadre to head for Pakistan and to North Africa. It is clear that the most effective weapons aginst the Americans and their agents are the car bombs, road-side bombs and suicide belts. As they were effective in Iraq they will be effective in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. The Americans want to drive a wedge between Al-Qaeda and the Taleban, but in vain, as Mullah Omar and the Taleban depend to a large extent on the finances and the sophistication of Al-Qaeda. All efforts must be exerted to ward defeating the bankrupt Americans in order to free Arab and Muslim lands from USraeli occupations.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times