Maravot's News of the World: news headlines and trends

12.18.04 Afghan warlord assets frozen

Iran has frozen bank accounts belonging to a former Afghan warlord suspected of joining forces with Taleban and al-Qaeda militants, the UN says. The chairman of one of the UN's sanction committees says Iran has frozen "considerable assets" under the control of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. His Hezb-e-Islami group is suspected of carrying out attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Iran has also apprehended a number of al-Qaeda operatives, Mr. Munoz says. However, he did not give the names of those arrested or the amount of assets frozen. [More>>BBC.co.uk]

12.18.04 Yukos affair a test of Bush imperialism

This story involves the question whether a foreign nation's courts can preside over the domestic courts of another nation. Daniel Guilleau, a prominent French legal expert, says the Houston court blatantly interfered in Russian domestic affairs with its verdict on the Yukos case. The Houston verdict has no legal force in Russia, but there are concerns that the decision can enable seizure of Yukos assets in the US (if there are any) and may foster a reluctance in future American investment in Russian companies. Guilleau says the Houston verdict does not comply with International legal norms and encroaches on Russia's sovereignty. [More>>rian.ru]
For background click here.

One may wonder how far one country can go to meddle in the affairs of another. If the US can attach funds of foreign companies held in the US by ignoring international laws, it leads to the possibility that foreign companies may be at risk by receiving American investments.

12.18.04 War crimes trials begin with Chemical Ali

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18 – War crimes trials against Saddam Hussein and his closest lieutenants moved forward on Saturday when his feared cousin known as "Chemical Ali" was the first to face a formal interview with the chief investigating magistrate. The trial is in its investigative phase, after which it will proceed to the formal hearing. [More>>Reuters]

12.18.04 Gaddafi waiting for Bush to fulfill promise

The Jerusalem Post obtained a copy of an interview to be aired on Italian TV of Libya's Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi complains that he gave up his nuclear weapons program in exchange for forthcoming rewards promised by President Bush that never came. "What kind of example does this set for Korea and Iran?" he asks. He addresses the issue of Palestine and Israel, saying that the land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is not big enough to support two countries – even if they are friends. He argues that they have to learn to live together as one country. He'd like to be leader of Italy. He says the Italians deserve a true democracy where there are no middlemen, etc. [More>>Jerusalem Post]

12.18.04 Gulf states hold their annual summit next week

The oil-rich Gulf states hold their annual summit next week amid a persistent threat from Islamic militants and growing differences between regional giant Saudi Arabia and its smaller neighbors. Leaders of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who will convene in Bahrain Dec. 20-21, are also expected to focus on developments in Iraq where landmark elections next month are set to empower the country's long oppressed Shiite majority, reinforcing the influence of Shiite Iran.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia criticized its smaller Gulf neighbors for forging separate economic and security agreements with foreign powers, accusing them of weakening Gulf solidarity.

In September, tiny Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, signed a free-trade agreement with the United States. Kuwait, Oman and the U.A.E. are all also in the process of negotiating free-trade deals with the U.S. [More>>dailystar.com]

12.18.04 US spent $65 million to fund Ukrainian opposition groups

Kaleem Omar reports that the Bush administration spent $65 million to fund presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko's campaign. The money, according to US officials, is part of the $1 billion the State Department spends each year trying "to build democracy worldwide." An Associated Press news agency report quotes US officials as saying that no US money was sent directly to Ukrainian political parties. In most cases it was funneled through organizations like the Carnegie Foundation or through groups aligned with Republicans or Democrats that organized election training, with human rights forums or with independent news outlets, the report says.

But, the report adds, US officials acknowledge that some of the money helped train groups and individuals opposed to the Russian-backed government presidential candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich – people who now call themselves part of the "Orange Revolution."

The AP report quotes White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan as saying: "Thereπs accountability in place. We make sure that money is being used for the purpose for which itπs assigned or designated." [More>>jang.com.pk]

12.18.04 Bugging device found in Salon Français of United Nations

GENEVA, Dec. 17 – The United Nations said on Friday it recently found a bugging device at its European headquarters in Geneva. The device was about 3 to 4 years old and contained parts of Russian and/or Eastern European origin. It was found in the Salon Français (French Hall). The spacious room, with a high ceiling and fancy mirror on one wall, was used by a French delegation during a meeting of foreign ministers in September 2003 from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States to discuss Iraq, the diplomat said. Franceπs President Jacques Chirac also used the room, which is next door to the main Council Chamber where top-level discussions are held, in January when he met his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to discuss famine. The French diplomat, however, dismissed the notion that France had been the target of the listening device, noting that whoever put it there had probably been more interested in UN discussions between New York and Geneva. The Salon Français is often reserved for bilateral meetings between all of the countries because it is the most beautiful room in the "Palais des Nations" the name of the UNπs Geneva headquarters the diplomat said. [More>>jang.com.pk]

12.17.04 Conscientious Objector Witnessed Abuse, Killing of Iraqi Detainees at Abu Ghraib

Dec. 17 – Amy Goodman and Juan Ganzalez interview Aidan Delgado, an army reservist who was enlisting on 9/11, at the moment planes were crashing into the World Trade Center. After arriving in Iraq he filed for Conscientious Objector status and then was reassigned to Abu Ghraib in the Motor Pool. At Abu Ghraib he was also assigned communications duties, through which he came to witness abuse and killings. This is a portion of the interview:

AIDAN DELGADO: Yeah, I had given in my weapon long ago. So, but everyone else in my unit went out there, because there was a prisoner demonstration that had become out of control. They were throwing tent stakes and pieces of stone and debris. And they had struck one of the soldiers with a rock. He wasn't seriously injured, but he was annoyed. And so in response, they had asked for the permission to use lethal force. It was still unclear afterwards, in the military's very cursory investigation, whether they actually got the order to use lethal force-- it was obscure. So, they opened fire with a heavy machine gun and they killed five prisoners-- several of whom took several days to die. This is something that I learned about from the horse's mouth when they came back and told me, ≥Oh, here is a photo of the guys we killed. I killed three, I killed two. My guy took three days to die, I shot him in the groin with a machine gun.≤ And the command had even posted these photographs in our headquarters, and they had been very ghoulishly circulating them. It was very much a trophy-taking thing. And I remember just sort of questioning the guy, saying, ≥Do you really feel proud of having shot an unarmed man who threw a stone?≤ He was like, ≥Well, I'm doing my job.≤ It was a very machismo thing, to have killed someone. I felt this immense loathing and this immense disgust for the whole incident.

The interview is well worth reading and is at democracynow.org.

12.17.04 China, Pakistan to strengthen defense ties

BEIJING, Dec 16 – China assured Pakistan on Thursday of greater defence cooperation, especially in the supply of military hardware. Briefing newsmen on his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People , Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he also had an important meeting with the Chinese defence minister.

"Traditionally, there has been great cooperation between Pakistan and China in the defence sector. My meeting with the defence minister was also in the same direction. But, significantly, President Hu expressed the desire to further strengthen the defence ties, which already benefit all the armed forces - the army, the navy and the air force - of Pakistan," he said. [More>>Dawn]

12.17.04 Turkey agrees to recognize Cyprus' Greek-led government

Mark Oliver reports: "EU and Turkish leaders struck a deal today on the vexed question of Turkish recognition of Cyprus that had threatened to derail its membership talks. The Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, said Ankara would sign an accord extending its existing trade agreement with the EU to the bloc's 10 newest members, including Cyprus.

In doing so, Turkey will effectively recognize the Greek Cypriot-led government in the southern two-thirds of the divided island, though the Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, insisted it was 'not a formal legal recognition.'" [More>>guardian.co.uk]

12.17.04 Bush signs 9/11 intelligence reform

WASHINGTON. Dec. 17 — President Bush signed legislation today overhauling the nation's intelligence operations and warned that the United States continues to face new threats from terrorists of "stateless networks" and "killers who hide in our own cities."

His signature on the measure capped a contentious, five-month legislative battle to respond to the recommendations of the commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks. [More>>latimes]

12.17.04 Crystal Cathedral conductor kills himself

GARDEN GROVE, Calif., Dec. 17 – (AP) The Crystal Cathedral, a huge, sprawling structure of glass and steel not far from Disneyland, is home to the Rev. Robert Schuller's international Crystal Cathedral Ministries and claims a congregation of more than 10,000 members. The internationally televised "Hour of Power" is broadcast from there. As the congregation prepared for a Christmas pageant, Conductor Johnnie Carl, 57, had barricaded himself in a bathroom and shot himself. Four shots were fired at the end of a nine-hour standoff between him and police. No one was hit from his gunfire. [More>>http://www.abcnews.go.com]

12.17.04 23 year-old mother murdered, fetus removed from her body

SKIDMORE, Mo. Dec. 17 – Authorities looking for an infant cut from the womb of its mother expanded their search outside of Missouri on Friday as they maintained hope the baby might still be alive. The search for the baby started after a 23-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant was killed Thursday and the fetus was taken from her body, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies were investigating the afternoon killing of Bobbie Jo Stinnett and they were searching for the baby, who they believe could have survived. [More>>thebostonchannel.com via topix.net]

12.17.04 Antigovernment feeling running high in Uzbekistan

ANKARA, 17 December (IRIN) - This week in Central Asia the BBC reported that anti-government feeling is still running high in Uzbekistan's markets and bazaars after an unprecedented outbreak of violence in the republic last month. In early November, merchants in the Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan's most populous region, set fire to cars and chased customs police out of bazaars after officials tried to impose a series of new trading restrictions.

Now some voices in the international diplomatic community warn that the anger in the markets could spread. Markets and bazaars are a key part of economic activity in Uzbekistan. [More>>Reuters via tajikistannews.net]

12.17.04 Yukos sale proceeding despite court ruling

MOSCOW, Dec. 17 – The auction of Yukos' major production unit Yuganskneftegaz will go ahead as scheduled despite a US court ruling imposing a temporary injunction to block the sale, an official with the Russian Federal Property Fund said Friday. "We are a specialized state agency and act according to Russian law," Alexander Komarov said, adding that the sale would be held on Sunday as planned, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. "We follow decisions made to this day by Russian authorities," he stressed.

Russia's gas giant Gazprom confirmed on Friday that it would not withdraw from the auction this weekend despite the American court ruling suspending transactions with Yukos assets, Interfax news agency reported. [More>>Xinhuanet]

Kommersant reports: "Yesterday it was learned that the consortium of creditor banks refused to sign a €10 billion loan agreement with Gazprom for participating in the auction to sell Yuganskneftegaz. The banks, especially the American J.P. Morgan Bank, are awaiting the verdict of the Houston court where YUKOS, the owner of Yuganskneftegaz, has filed for bankruptcy. If the situation with the creditors is not settled today, Gazprom will have to take its chances: it will go to the December 19 auction without guarantees of financing for the future purchase." [More>>kommersant.com]

12.17.04 Neoconservatives on the way to Damascus

Jim Lobe collates recent media reports on a possible invasion of Damascus, Syria by the Bush hawks. Bush's Bible-toting saviors of Fallujah seem intent in spreading their message of peace to Damascus. Lobe begins, "Just when it appeared that Syria was complying in earnest with US demands to secure its border with Iraq, and even making unprecedented peace overtures to Israel, key neoconservative opinion shapers are calling on President George W. Bush to take stronger measures against Damascus, possibly including military action. [Article at atimes.com]

12.17.04 Syria & Iran rebut Iraqi minister's charge

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Thursday dismissed Shaalan's accusations as "baseless." "Syria sees the repeat of fabricated accusations as reflecting the wish of some people to hide the real reasons behind the deterioration of the situation in Iraq, and to mislead the public opinion," the ministry said in Damascus. The ministry said Syria wanted "to work within our capabilities to control the [Syrian-Iraqi] borders" against foreigners trying to infiltrate into Iraq. "We have already declared our readiness to cooperate and coordinate with the interim Iraqi government in this regard and in other security aspects," it said. Iraq's stability is not only in Iraq's interest, "but also in the interest of Syria and the entire region," it said.

For his part, Iran's Interior Minister Abd al-Wahid Mousavi-Lari said in response to Shaalan's comments: "It seems he has a mission to say such things."

"I have always thought his remarks were because he was young, inexperienced and immature. But now I believe he has been ordered by his masters to say such things," he said. Iran condemned the US-led invasion of Iraq last year, and Iranian officials have accused Iraqi officials of being mouthpieces for their "US masters." Tehran says Iraqis alone should determine the fate of their country and "occupation forces" should leave the nation. [More>Al-Jezeera]

12.16.04 Iraq accuses Syria and Iran of backing terror

Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan Wednesday accused neighboring Iran and Syria of supporting terrorist activities in Iraq ahead of legislative elections. Shaalan, who already accused Tehran of interfering in Iraq's affairs, described Iran as the biggest enemy of Iraq and all the Arabs. [More>>bignewsnetwork] U.S. President George W. Bush warned Iran and Syria Wednesday against "meddling" in Iraq after that country's defense minister accused them of helping insurgents and terrorists spread deadly chaos. [More>>dailystar.com]

Note to file: Subsequent to Shaalan's announcement, President Bush made a similar announcement, and that announcement was replayed 12.19.04 on George Steffanopolis' program.

12.16.04 President Bush looking at deficit as cause of weak dollar

Washington, Dec. 16 — President Bush pledged Wednesday to work with Congress to reduce the governmentπs huge budget deficit as a key step in assuring the world that his administration supports a strong dollar. ≥Weπll do everything we can in the upcoming legislative session to send a signal to the markets that weπll deal with our deficit, which, hopefully, will cause people to want to buy dollars,≤ Bush told reporters. [More>>denverpost.com via topix.net]

12.16.04 US man involved in smuggling arms to Israel and possibly Iran

HARTFORD, Connecticut, Dec. 16 – (AP) A New York City businessman admitted Wednesday to participating in an arms-smuggling ring that shipped missile and fighter jet components from the United States to Israel and possibly on to Iran. Leib Kohn pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting only that he knew the weapons parts were bound for Israel. Investigators allege an Israeli arms dealer may have been relaying the equipment to Iran. "At least some of the parts were ultimately destined for Iran," U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor said. "We're not in a position to say definitely which parts or whether the parts ultimately made it there." [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

12.16.04 North Korea threatens Japan with war

North Korea provided false information to the Japanese government concerning Japanese kidnapped by North Korea during the Cold War. The Japanese have responded with the threat of sanctions. North Korea responded that if Japan attempts to apply any kind of sanctions it will regard them as acts of war and answer with an effective physical response. The North Korean Foreign Ministry also threatened to try to exclude Japan from six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear arms programs if a provocative campaign under way in Japan against the communist country continued. [More>>bignewsnetwork; see also economist.com]

12.16.04 Pakistan-India nuclear arms talks end with no resolution

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 15 – Indo-Pakistan talks on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures (CBMs) ended here on Tuesday without any tangible outcome despite exhaustive negotiations on formalizing an agreement on pre-notification of missile flight-testing.
Although both sides worked hard on the text of the draft agreement, it could not be finalized due to some technical glitches, it is learnt. "Due to varying interpretations of the scope and technical parameters involved, the two delegations decided to reflect further and consult their respective systems," sources told Dawn. [More>>Dawn.com]

12.16.04 British judge says holding detainees without trial violates human rights laws

Dec. 16 – Detaining foreigners without trial under emergency anti-terror powers breaks European human rights legislation, law lords ruled today. A specially-convened committee of nine law lords upheld an appeal by nine foreigners who have been detained without charge or trial, most of them in Belmarsh prison, south-east London, for around three years. [More>>guardian.co.uk]

12.16.04 Rumsfeld under attack from right

Howard Kurtz writes: "If Don Rumsfeld has lost Bill Kristol, he's losing his conservative base. Kristol, after all, is a leading foreign-policy hawk. Editor of the Weekly Standard and Fox talking head. Former Republican strategist and White House chief of staff for Dan Quayle. Major backer of the war in Iraq. Which is why the town is buzzing about Kristol's Washington Post op-ed yesterday, in which he called for Rummy to be thrown overboard." [More>>washingtonpost.com]

12.16.04 Bush urges Social Security reform

WASHINGTON (AP) Dec. 16 – President Bush said Thursday that "now is the time to confront Social Security" to deal with a projected $3.7 trillion, 75-year shortfall and give younger workers the ability to invest some of their contributions. Bush also promised to send Congress "a tough budget" early next year to hold the line on federal spending. "You will see fiscal discipline exercised inside the Oval Office this coming budget cycle," the president told a White House economic conference. [More>>Freep/AP]

12.16.04 New bin Laden tape

CAIRO, Egypt, Dec. 16 – (AP) A man identified as Osama bin Laden, speaking on an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site today, praised an attack earlier this month on a U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia and criticized the Saudi regime as weak and controlled by the United States. The voice sounded like the al-Qaida terror chief's, and the tape, which was more than an hour, was posted on a site known as a clearinghouse for militant Islamic comment. The identity of the voice, however, could not be independently confirmed. [More>>latimes.com]

12.16.04 Saddam Hussein visits with lawyer for 4 hours

Saddam Hussein had a four-hour meeting with a lawyer Thursday after judges confirmed that trials of his lieutenants are to open next week, his defence counsel said. [jang.com.pk]

12.16.04 Putin sends President of Finland in circles

In a long-awaited meeting on the Russian-Finnish border, the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, was kept waiting in the air. Her plane was instructed to land after the President of Russia's plane had landed, and while this would not have been too much of a problem, the fact is Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersberg, Russia are only a few minutes flight-time apart. Russia's President Putin was running about 40 minutes late and thus the protocol required the Finnish president to wait in the air for 40 minutes until Putin's plane had landed. Halonen was more concerned, however, about Putin's future visit to her country. It had been such a long time since he visited Finland. The Finns aren't that excited about Russians, however, and discussions in the Putin-Halonen meeting moved to the subject of the discrimination towards Russians living in the Baltic states. [More>>kommersant.com]

12.14.04 US Trade Deficit hits new record

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 – (AFP) The US trade deficit exploded unexpectedly to a record 55.5 billion dollars in October, sparked by the soaring cost of oil imports, the government said Tuesday. The gap grew from 50.9 billion dollars in September. Wall Street analysts had predicted an October shortfall of about 53 billion dollars. Over the first 10 months of 2004, the US trade deficit amounted to 500.5 billion dollars, already surpassing the entire annual deficit for the previous year. [More>>inq7.net]
See "Concerns," article on twin deficits.

12.14.04 Friends of the Earth Europe ask EU to get rough with US over Kyoto Treaty

BRUSSELS – In a statement coinciding with the 10th annual UN climate change conference in Buenos Aires, Friends of the Earuth Europe said the EU should "get rough" over the US rejection of the Kyoto Protocol. "Substantially deeper (greenhouse gas) emission cuts are necessary to avert a catastrophe," Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Jan Kowalzig said. "Yet the United States, as the world's largest emitter contributing a quarter of all emissions, still refuses to act," he said.

In Buenos Aires, the EU "must get rough with the United States, including threatening to introduce import taxes on energy-intensive US products as long as the US refuses to fight climate change," Kowalzig said.

Some 5,000 scientists, environmental activists and government officials from nearly 190 countries including the United States are attending the UN conference in the Argentinian capital. [More>>jang.com.pk; also see article, "Convention on Climate Change..."

12.14.04 Former security chief of Taleban captured

Afghan security forces have captured fugitive Taleban leader Mullah Omar's former security chief, officials say. Mullah Naqibullah Toor is reported to have been picked up with another Taleban commander on Monday in the southern city of Kandahar. Provincial government spokesman Khalid Pashtun confirmed the arrests. Officials hope documents found on the men could help find Mullah Omar or Osama Bin Laden, but some observers doubt the significance of the arrests. [More>>BBCNews.com via tajikistannews.net/]

12.14.04 China arresting internet news reporters

Paul Mooney reports the Chinese government's latest attempt to gag intellectuals.: "On Monday, authorities in Beijing detained at least three prominent intellectuals: Yu Jie, Liu Xiaobo, and Zhang Zhuhua. They were held for questioning, presumably about alleged anti-state activities, then released on Tuesday. The message was clear; the media recently were directed not to give publicity to Yu Jie, a well-known writer, and several other intellectuals who published critical views. Liu Xiaobo is a longtime campaigner for democracy and Zhang Zhuhua is a former official of the Communist Youth League. Their detention and release were reported by the international media. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Yu was told to stop posting articles on the Internet.

Liu is president of China PEN, which in October bestowed the Free Writing Award on Zhang Yihe, author of the banned best-seller, The Past Is Not Like (Dissipating) Smoke, about Mao Zedong's 1957 anti-rightist purge of intellectuals. At that time, Mao had encouraged intellectuals to speak out and freely air their constructive criticism. Many were jailed and severely punished for their audacity." [More>>atimes.com; see also topix.net]

12.14.04 Israel and Egypt sign trade accord

CAIRO, Dec. 14 – Nearly twenty years after signing their peace treaty at Camp David, Israel and Egypt entered an agreement to establish trade zones in Egypt with duty-free import status in the US on articles produced through their partnership. [More>>Jerusalem Post]

12.14.04 Crown Prince of Dubai says "change or lose power"

The crown prince of the Gulf emirate of Dubai warned Arab rulers they risk losing power if they fail to introduce wide-ranging reforms in their countries. Speaking at the opening of the three day Arab Strategy Forum in Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum said: "I say to my fellow Arabs in [power]: if you do not change, you will be changed."

His stark warning was delivered to an audience of leading Arab and world figures, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Washington's former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The forum is aimed at discussing various challenges facing Middle East governments but is primarily focused on the issue of political reform. [More>>The Daily Star.com]

12.14.04 Demonstrations planned against Saudi monarchy

Anti-monarchy protest marches planned for Riyadh and Jedda are expected to draw tens of thousands of supporters, according to their Saudi dissident organiser. Saad al-Faqih told Aljazeera.net on Tuesday that his radio stations – that reach over two thirds of the Saudi population - have been preparing for the demonstrations for over six weeks. "The Saudi regime is unreformable. This event will involve a series of civil activities whose purpose is clear – to remove the current regime," al-Faqih told Aljazeera.net. [More>>Al-Jezeera]

12.14.04 Google to scan libraries for internet

Google announced Tuesday that it had entered into agreements with some of the nation's leading research libraries and Oxford University to begin converting their holdings into digital files that would be freely searchable over the Web. [More>>New York Times]

12.14.04 Trains collide in India, 34 dead

MUKERIAN, INDIA, Dec. 14 – In the second major train accident in six months, 34 people, including 11 women and a child, were today killed and about 50 injured, 16 of them seriously, when Ahmedabad-bound Jammu Tawi Express collided head-on with a local train here, about 40 kms from Jalandhar. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who visited the accident site, termed the collision as a "murder" and said station masters of Chak Kalan and Bangara would be charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under IPC on the charge of allowing the two trains to travel on the same track. [More>>Press Times of India via CRI online]

12.14.04 Six bird species with avian flu found in Thailand

Six species of birds have contracted avian influenza, the Livestock Department said Monday. The six are pigeons, Asian hornbills, a dove known as ≥nok khao fai≤, and three local species: ≥nok kratib khee moo≤, ≥ka nam lek≤ (small cormorant) and ≥sang seao≤ (drongo). Wire reports on Tuesday, however, said there were at least nine bird species that contacted the deadly strains. The reports quoted an unnamed source. [More>>asianewsnet.net]

12.14.04 Aide to Zaqawi killed, 2 arrested

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 14 – An aide to Iraq's most-wanted man, Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been killed in Iraq and two others captured, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Tuesday. "I have been told that an individual by the name of Hassan Ibrahim Farhan Zyda from Zarqawi's group has been killed and that two of his deputies have been arrested," Allawi told the interim national assembly.
The two detainees were suspected to have "beheaded innocents," he added, in a possible reference to the murders of hostages that have been claimed by Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda linked group. [Agence France Presse (AFP), inq7.net]

12.14.04 US War games to invade Iran

The U.S. Defense Department reportedly held simulations to determine the effectiveness of an attack on Iran, the Middle East Newsline reported Sunday. The Atlantic Monthly revealed the Pentagon held simulations of a U.S. military strike on Iranian bases and nuclear facilities. The war games also included a ground invasion. [Middle East Newsline via bignewsnetwork.com]