‘Now that you believe the Jews were oppressed, why should the Palestinian Muslims have to pay the price?’ TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that if Germany and Austria feel responsible for massacring Jews during World War II, a state of Israel should be established on their …
Read More »30 die in Baghdad bus bomb week before vote
BAGHDAD (Reuters) — A suicide bomber killed 30 people and wounded at least 25 on a Baghdad bus Thursday, in a bloody escalation of Iraq’s insurgency a week before elections. The second major suicide bombing in the capital in three days, after a lull of several weeks, snapped attention back …
Read More »Sunni Arabs step up calls for halt to US, Iraqi operations
BAGHDAD (AP) — Sunni Arab politicians stepped up demands Sunday for an end to US and Iraqi military operations, claiming they threaten Sunni participation in next month’s elections — a key US goal. The US command announced that three more American troops have been killed. Meanwhile, some 1,100 Iraqi lawyers …
Read More »Enterprising locals profit from Darfur conflict
NYALA, Sudan — Stepping into the leafy courtyard of the busy K2 restaurant, it’s hard to believe one is in Darfur, at the heart of a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and shocked the world. The restaurant caters for almost 11,000 aid workers in Sudan’s remote …
Read More »Arab reformists trapped between regimes, US
MANAMA — Arab activists meeting in Bahrain on Tuesday to press for democratic change find themselves caught between battling “dictator” regimes and US-led initiatives for reform, which are suspected of serving US interests. While some activists at a Manama conference insisted that Arab democratic movements are too weak to implement …
Read More »Egypt poll monitors ready despite obstacles
CAIRO — Omar Abdul Moneim, an Egyptian in his early 40s, listened carefully as the instructor summarised the purpose of the crash course, aimed at teaching students how to minimise election fraud on polling day. “Our country has a history of vote-rigging. I hope our presence at the polling stations …
Read More »2nd Saddam trial attorney shot dead
BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Gunmen killed a second defence lawyer acting in Saddam Hussein’s trial for crimes against humanity on Tuesday, renewing questions over whether the former president can get a fair trial amid Iraq’s daily violence. Another defence lawyer was slightly wounded in the attack on their car in Baghdad, …
Read More »West seeks Russian backing over Iran programme
VIENNA (AFP) — The United States and the European Union will hold off taking Iran before the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme until they get Russia to back them and may even allow Tehran to do some nuclear fuel work, diplomats told AFP. “If the Russians don’t come …
Read More »Saddam’s strategy for martyrdom
BAGHDAD — Saddam Hussein sat in the dock last Wednesday in the building which once housed the national and international headquarters of his Baath Party in Baghdad, looked up at the senior judge on the bench, and paused for a beat or two before answering his question. “I’ve said what …
Read More »Address by H.E. Dr. Mahmood Ahmadinejad President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
At the Sixtieth Session of the United Nations General assembly In the Name of the God of Mercy, Compassion, Peace, Freedom and Justice Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today we have gathered here to exchange views about the world, its future and our common responsibilities towards it. It is …
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