Religious police fight against dogs

Saudi Arabia’s religious police normally tasked with chiding women to cover themselves and ensuring men attend mosque prayers, are turning to a new target: cats and dogs

The police have issued a decree banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence.

The prohibition on dogs may be less of a surprise, since conservative Muslims despise dogs as unclean. But the cat ban befuddled many, since Islamic tradition holds that the Prophet Muhammad loved cats — and even let a cat drink from his ablutions water before washing himself for prayers.

The religious police, known as the Muttawa, have the role of enforcing Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic code. Its member's prowl streets and malls, ensuring unmarried men and women do not mix, confronting women they feel are not properly covered or urging men to go to prayers.

But the government also gives the Muttawa wide leeway to enforce any rules they deem necessary to uphold the social order.

The decree — which applies to the Red Sea port city of Jeddah and the holy city of Mecca — bans the sale of cats and dogs because “some youths have been buying them and parading them in public,” according to a memo from the Municipal Affairs Ministry to Jeddah's city government.

The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, urges city authorities to help enforce the ban.

Pet owning is not common in the Arab world, though dogs are kept for hunting and guarding. In large cities around the Middle East, stray dogs often wander the streets and are considered pests. Street cats are also plentiful, and people will often feed them or play with them — but it isn’t a widespread custom to keep one in the home, and many cannot afford it.

Owning pets is a fashion statement

However, in the past decades, owning dogs or cats has become a fashion statement among Saudis. Showing off a Doberman, pit bull or fancy breed of feline has became a status symbol.

Conservatives decry the trend as a Western influence, just like the fast food, shorts, jeans and pop music that have become more common in the kingdom, which is ruled by the puritanical Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. They say it should be fought because it is threatening the fabric of Gulf nations.

“One bad habit spreading among our youths is the acquisition of dogs and showing them off in the streets and malls,” wrote Aleetha al-Jihani in a letter to Al-Madina newspaper. “There’s no doubt that such a matter makes one shudder.”

“Then what’s the point of dragging a dog behind you?” he added. “This is blind emulation of the infidels.”

The decree has not been enforced yet, according to several pet shop owners and veterinary clinics in Jiddah. It applies only to selling dogs and cats, and there was no sign the Muttawa would confiscate pets.

The decree did not say whether the religious police would try to stop people from appearing in public with a dog or cat — or whether owners would be allowed to sell puppies or kittens born to their pets.

The ban distressed cat and dog lovers. Some have wondered why the religious police are focusing on this issue when the country has far more important challenges, such as terrorism and unemployment.

“I was shocked when I heard about it,” said Fahd al-Mutairi, who owns 35 cats. “What was even more shocking was to hear that the ban came from an authority that has nothing to do with such an issue.”

“I would understand if it came from the Health Ministry or anybody charged with ensuring pets coming from outside do not carry diseases,” added the 23-year-old flower-shop owner.

No other Arab country restricts pet ownership. But in Iran, ruled by Shiite clerics, religious police sometimes harass people seen outside with their dogs. Last year, Iranian police told people not to bring their dogs out in public, but the order was never backed up by law and dog-owners widely ignored it.

Prophet Muhammad was cat person

The inclusion of cats in the Saudi ban puzzled many, since there’s no scorn for them as there is for dogs in Islamic tradition.

One of the prophet’s closest companions was given the name Abu Huraira, Arabic for “the father of the kitten,” because he always carried a kitten and took care of it.

A number of hadiths — traditional stories of the prophet — show Muhammad encouraging people to treat cats well.

Once, he let a cat drink from the water he was going to use for his ablutions before prayers. Another time, Muhammad said a woman who kept a cat locked up without feeding it would go to hell.

Dogs — considered dirty and dangerous — are less lucky. According to one hadith, Muhammad said a Muslim loses credit for one good deed each day he keeps a dog and even said dogs should be killed unless used for hunting or protection.

cruise liner crash

A luxury cruise liner has crashed into a dock at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, killing three members of the crew, officials say.

At least four other people were hurt when the Costa Europa, carrying 1,473 passengers, came into the harbour during bad weather at 0445 (0145 GMT).

The dead sailors were an Indian, a Honduran and a Brazilian, the General Authority for Red Sea Ports said.

The injured reportedly include three British women and an Italian man.

They were in a stable condition in hospital, officials told the AFP news agency.

In a statement, Costa Cruises confirmed that the Costa Europa had damaged the starboard side of the hull, but said it was "now safely docked in port".

"We sadly have to confirm the deaths of three crew members," the Italian company said.

"The guests have been disembarked and are being accommodated in local hotels," it added.

Witnesses said Sharm al-Sheikh had been hit by fierce winds overnight and that the crash had left a 2m-wide hole in the hull.

The Costa Europa was on an 18-day cruise from Dubai to Savona, and had arrived in Sharm al-Sheikh from the Egyptian port of Safaga

The nation of facebook

The real politic party in Middle East

When it comes to Facebook, most users think of "poking", adding random "friends" or perhaps spying on an acquaintance on the popular social networking site. However, in some Middle Eastern countries where governments' grip on the media is tight Facebook has acquired social and political significance. For many Arab governments it is proving to be a challenge.

Syria has taken the lead in blocking the website. Users in Gulf countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are worried that their authorities could follow suit. In other Middle Eastern societies with a tradition of a free but fragmented media, like Lebanon, Facebook has been turned into a political platform by supporters of rival parties.

Syria

Lebanese Al-Safir newspaper said on 19 November that blocking the website in Syria was due to fears that Israelis are enlisting in the Syrian network, of which users have the option to become members when registering for the site.

"I do not believe this" said blogger Joshua Landis. "Facebook has become a virtual civil society in Syria. Many civic groups sprung up overnight and became popular with thousands; groups about preserving the old city, getting back the Golan Heights, supporting civil marriage, women's groups, art associations, and you-name-it," he wrote.

Another blogger, Golaniya, says Facebook has facilitated a cultural stirring in Syria because "people are starting to organize their interests in concerts, galleries, conferences, plays and screenings". "Even though I am not a big fan of this website, I along with some users learned how to use it to promote my projects," said the blogger. The Damascene blog mockingly notes: "Facebook has joined the windmills that our leaders in Syria are fighting. They want Syria's face to remain black."

A quick glance at the Syria network, which has more than 29,000 members, finds a vibrant online community discussing sensitive issues in Syria. One group called "Syria without Iraqis" bluntly discusses and complains about the problem of the Iraqi refugee influx into Syria. Another online petition calls on the Syrian authorities to intervene and rescue a woman allegedly threatened with an honour killing.

Many are linking the sudden cabinet reshuffle, which replaced the communications minister on 8 December, to criticisms over banning an increasing number of websites in Syria, from YouTube to Facebook.

Gulf, Egypt

Thousands have already joined groups like "Say no to blocking Facebook in the UAE" or "We hope they don't block Facebook in Saudi Arabia". Many of the groups and postings in Arab networks, which are predominantly in Arabic, voice support for governments or are religious in character; however, a minority are raising very volatile topics.

Taboos are being broken, not only politically but also socially. Facebook is facilitating social and sexual freedoms in very conservative societies. The "Single and Looking in Saudi Arabia" group has more than 1,600 members. Several Arab gay and lesbian groups have mushroomed to advocate rights or just simply create a space for the outlawed community. There is even more than one group solely for Saudi homosexuals.

On the other hand, religious users have a strong presence on the website's pages. In Egypt for example the most popular groups seem to be of a religious nature. The "I am Muslim and Proud" group has more than 76,000 members. In groups such as "the Quran is the most perfect book" and "God willing, gain a million rewards from Allah" members share religious videos, articles and prayers. They discuss topics ranging from whether abstinence "is practical in this day and age" to the hijab to how realistic it is to establish a Muslim caliphate.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, Facebook has been used as a platform for propaganda and political bickering by supporters of rival political groups. While one group thanks former Lebanese President Emile Lahhud, another discusses how Lebanon misses assassinated leader Rafiq al-Hariri.

A group called "Government versus the Opposition: The Race to 100,000" says that it is difficult to tell which political camp has more supporters in Lebanon. "No one can be sure but on Facebook we will find the answer," says the group's creator.

Other than groups, the 166,984-member Lebanon network has an active discussion board. Supporters of Lebanese parties exchange insults about their leaders. Even leaders' wives have not been spared the obscenities. The sectarian divide cannot be missed, with Sunnis accusing Shi'is of betrayal of Islam and Christians accusing Muslims of seeking to eliminate their role.

No such thing as Palestine?

A form of cyber warfare has also been fought on the pages of Facebook. As the Jerusalem Post reported on 9 October, there was confusion by Facebook administrators on whether to include "Palestine" on the list of countries from which users could choose when registering for the site. Facebook included it on the original list of countries "but mysteriously took it away in October 2006", said the newspaper.

This led to the fury of Palestinian supporters. Tens of thousands signed petitions and reacted by joining groups like ""Israel" is not a country! De-list it from Facebook" and "No Such Thing as Palestine?.. REALLY!?"

Facebook "re-added Palestine to the list of countries in early 2007. No press release was ever issued by Facebook regarding either the elimination or the reinstatement of Palestine", said the Jerusalem Post.

Facebook remains mostly a social networking site to write short messages, share photos and play games about pirates and zombies. The significance of the website's impact on cultural and political life in the Middle East is debatable.

Facebook defines itself on its homepage as "a social utility that connects you with the people around you". There is evidence that users in many Arab countries do not think their governments share the same goal.

Under authority of Hamas

The only time they felt hope when they were being bombed

The people of Gaza have suffered enormously since the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt following Hamas's coup, and particularly following Operation Cast Lead.... The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for

 immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts.... Despite ad hoc easing of the blockade, there has been no significant improvement in the quantity and scope of goods allowed into Gaza.... The crisis has devastated livelihoods, entrenched a poverty rate of over 70%, increased dependence on erratic international aid, allowed the deterioration of public infrastructure, and led to the marked decline of the accessibility of essential services.

This letter is remarkable not only because it directly challenges the policy of the Israel lobby--a challenge no doubt borne of the extreme crisis confronting Palestinians, in which the United States has played an extremely damaging role--but also because it links Israeli security to Palestinian well-being. The letter concludes, "The people of Gaza, along with all the peoples of the region, must see that the United States is dedicated to addressing the legitimate security needs of the State of Israel and to ensuring that the legitimate needs of the Palestinian population are met."

I was last in Gaza in August, my first trip since Israel's war on the territory one year ago. I was overwhelmed by what I saw in a place I have known intimately for nearly a quarter of a century: a land ripped apart and scarred, the lives of its people blighted. Gaza is decaying under the weight of continued devastation, unable to function normally. The resulting void is filled with vacancy and despair that subdues even those acts of resilience and optimism that still find some expression. What struck me most was the innocence of these people, over half of them children, and the indecency and criminality of their continued punishment.

The decline and disablement of Gaza's economy and society have been deliberate, the result of state policy--consciously planned, implemented and enforced. Although Israel bears the greatest responsibility, the United States and the European Union, among others, are also culpable, as is the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. All are complicit in the ruination of this gentle place. And just as Gaza's demise has been consciously orchestrated, so have the obstacles preventing its recovery.

Gaza has a long history of subjection that assumed new dimensions after Hamas's January 2006 electoral victory. Immediately after those elections, Israel and certain donor countries suspended contacts with the PA, which was soon followed by the suspension of direct aid and the subsequent imposition of an international financial boycott of the PA. By this time Israel had already been withholding monthly tax revenues and custom duties collected on behalf of the Authority, had effectively ended Gazan employment inside Israel and had drastically reduced Gaza's external trade.

With escalating Palestinian-Israeli violence, which led to the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit in June 2006, Israel sealed Gaza's borders, allowing for the entry of humanitarian goods only, which marked the beginning of the siege, now in its fourth year. Shalit's abduction precipitated a massive Israeli military assault against Gaza at the end of June, known as Operation Summer Rains, which initially targeted Gaza's infrastructure and later focused on destabilizing the Hamas-led government through intensified strikes on PA ministries and further reductions in fuel, electricity, water delivery and sewage treatment. This near daily ground operation did not end until October 2006.

In June 2007, after Hamas's seizure of power in the Strip (which followed months of internecine violence and an attempted coup by Fatah against Hamas) and the dissolution of the national unity government, the PA effectively split in two: a de facto Hamas-led government--rejected by Israel and the West--was formed in Gaza, and the officially recognized government headed by President Mahmoud Abbas was established in the West Bank. The boycott was lifted against the West Bank PA but was intensified against Gaza.

Adding to Gaza's misery was the decision by the Israeli security cabinet on September 19, 2007, to declare the Strip an "enemy entity" controlled by a "terrorist organization." After this decision Israel imposed further sanctions that include an almost complete ban on trade and no freedom of movement for the majority of Gazans, including the labor force. In the fall of 2008 a ban on fuel imports into Gaza was imposed. These policies have contributed to transforming Gazans from a people with political and national rights into a humanitarian problem--paupers and charity cases who are now the responsibility of the international community.

Not only have key international donors, most critically the United States and European Union, participated in the sanctions regime against Gaza, they have privileged the West Bank in their programmatic work. Donor strategies now support and strengthen the fragmentation and isolation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip--an Israeli policy goal of the Oslo process--and divide Palestinians into two distinct entities, offering largesse to one side while criminalizing and depriving the other. This behavior among key donor countries reflects a critical shift in their approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from one that opposes Israeli occupation to one that, in effect, recognizes it. This can be seen in their largely unchallenged acceptance of Israel's settlement policy and the deepening separation of the West Bank and Gaza and isolation of the latter. This shift in donor thinking can also be seen in their unwillingness to confront Israel's de facto annexation of Palestinian lands and Israel's reshaping of the conflict to center on Gaza alone, which is now identified solely with Hamas and therefore as alien.

Hence, within the annexation (West Bank)/alien (Gaza Strip) paradigm, any resistance by Palestinians, be they in the West Bank or Gaza, to Israel's repressive occupation, including attempts at meaningful economic empowerment, are now considered by Israel and certain donors to be illegitimate and unlawful. This is the context in which the sanctions regime against Gaza has been justified, a regime that has not mitigated since the end of the war. Normal trade (upon which Gaza's tiny economy is desperately dependent) continues to be prohibited; traditional imports and exports have almost disappeared from Gaza. In fact, with certain limited exceptions, no construction materials or raw materials have been allowed to enter the Strip since June 14, 2007. Indeed, according to Amnesty International, only forty-one truckloads of construction materials were allowed to enter Gaza between the end of the Israeli offensive in mid-January 2009 and December 2009, although Gaza's industrial sector presently requires 55,000 truckloads of raw materials for needed reconstruction. Furthermore, in the year since they were banned, imports of diesel and petrol from Israel into Gaza for private or commercial use were allowed in small amounts only four times (although the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, periodically receives diesel and petrol supplies). By this past August, 90 percent of Gaza's total population was subject to scheduled electricity cuts of four to eight hours per day, while the remaining 10 percent had no access to any electricity, a reality that has remained largely unchanged.

Gaza's protracted blockade has resulted in the near total collapse of the private sector. At least 95 percent of Gaza's industrial establishments (3,750 enterprises) were either forced to close or were destroyed over the past four years, resulting in a loss of between 100,000 and 120,000 jobs. The remaining 5 percent operate at 20-50 percent of their capacity. The vast restrictions on trade have also contributed to the continued erosion of Gaza's agricultural sector, which was exacerbated by the destruction of 5,000 acres of agricultural land and 305 agricultural wells during the war. These losses also include the destruction of 140,965 olive trees, 136,217 citrus trees, 22,745 fruit trees, 10,365 date trees and 8,822 other trees.

Lands previously irrigated are now dry, while effluent from sewage seeps into the groundwater and the sea, making much of the land unusable. Many attempts by Gazan farmers to replant over the past year have failed because of the depletion and contamination of the water and the high level of nitrates in the soil. Gaza's agricultural sector has been further undermined by the buffer zone imposed by Israel on Gaza's northern and eastern perimeters (and by Egypt on Gaza's southern border), which contains some of the Strip's most fertile land. The zone is officially 300 meters wide and 55 kilometers long, but according to the UN, farmers entering within 1,000 meters of the border have sometimes been fired upon by the IDF. Approximately 30-40 percent of Gaza's total agricultural land is contained in the buffer zone. This has effectively forced the collapse of Gaza's agricultural sector.

These profound distortions in Gaza's economy and society will--even under the best of conditions--take decades to reverse. The economy is now largely dependent on public-sector employment, relief aid and smuggling, illustrating the growing informalization of the economy. Even before the war, the World Bank had already observed a redistribution of wealth from the formal private sector toward black market operators.

There are many illustrations, but one that is particularly startling concerns changes in the banking sector. A few days after Gaza was declared an enemy entity, Israel's banks announced their intention to end all direct transactions with Gaza-based banks and deal only with their parent institutions in Ramallah, in the West Bank. Accordingly, the Ramallah-based banks became responsible for currency transfers to their branches in the Gaza Strip. However, Israeli regulations prohibit the transfer of large amounts of currency without the approval of the Defense Ministry and other Israeli security forces. Consequently, over the past two years Gaza's banking sector has had serious problems in meeting the cash demands of its customers. This in turn has given rise to an informal banking sector, which is now controlled largely by people affiliated with the Hamas-led government, making Hamas Gaza's key financial middleman. Consequently, moneychangers, who can easily generate capital, are now arguably stronger than the formal banking system in Gaza, which cannot.

Another example of Gaza's growing economic informality is the tunnel economy, which emerged long ago in response to the siege, providing a vital lifeline for an imprisoned population. According to local economists, around two-thirds of economic activity in Gaza is presently devoted just to smuggling goods into (but not out of) Gaza. Even this lifeline may soon be diminished, as Egypt, apparently assisted by US government engineers, has begun building an impenetrable underground steel wall along its border with Gaza in an attempt to reduce smuggling and control the movement of people. At its completion the wall will be six to seven miles long and fifty-five feet deep.

The tunnels, which Israel tolerates in order to keep the siege intact, have also become an important source of income for the Hamas government and its affiliated enterprises, effectively weakening traditional and formal businesses and the rehabilitation of a viable business sector. In this way, the siege on Gaza has led to the slow but steady replacement of the formal business sector by a new, largely black-market sector that rejects registration, regulation or transparency and, tragically, has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

At least two new economic classes have emerged in Gaza, a phenomenon with precedents in the Oslo period: one has grown extremely wealthy from the black-market tunnel economy; the other consists of certain public-sector employees who are paid not to work (for the Hamas government) by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Hence, not only have many Gazan workers been forced to stop producing by external pressures, there is now a category of people who are being rewarded for their lack of productivity--a stark illustration of Gaza's increasingly distorted reality. This in turn has led to economic disparities between the haves and have-nots that are enormous and visible, as seen in the almost perverse consumerism in restaurants and shops that are the domain of the wealthy.

Gaza's economy is largely devoid of productive activity in favor of a desperate kind of consumption among the poor and the rich, but it is the former who are unable to meet their needs. Billions in international aid pledges have yet to materialize, so the overwhelming majority of Gazans remain impoverished. The combination of a withering private sector and stagnating economy has led to high unemployment, which ranges from 31.6 percent in Gaza City to 44.1 percent in Khan Younis. According to the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, the de facto unemployment rate is closer to 65 percent. At least 75 percent of Gaza's 1.5 million people now require humanitarian aid to meet their basic food needs, compared with around 30 percent ten years ago. The UN further reports that the number of Gazans living in abject poverty--meaning those who are totally unable to feed their families--has tripled to 300,000, or approximately 20 percent of the population.

Access to adequate amounts of food continues to be a critical problem, and appears to have grown more acute after the cessation of hostilities a year ago. Internal data from September 2009 through the beginning of January 2010, for example, reveal that Israel allows Gazans no more (and at times less) than 25 percent of needed food supplies, with levels having fallen as low as 16 percent. During the last two weeks of January, these levels declined even more. Between January 16 and January 29 an average of 24.5 trucks of food and supplies per day entered Gaza, or 171.5 trucks per week. Given that Gaza requires 400 trucks of food alone daily to sustain the population, Israel allowed in no more than 6 percent of needed food supplies during this two-week period. Because Gaza needs approximately 240,000 truckloads of food and supplies per year to "meet the needs of the population and the reconstruction effort," according to the Palestinian Federation of Industries, current levels are, in a word, obscene. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program, "The evidence shows that the population is being sustained at the most basic or minimum humanitarian standard." This has likely contributed to the prevalence of stunting (low height for age), an indicator of chronic malnutrition, which has been pronounced among Gaza's children younger than 5, increasing from 8.2 percent in 1996 to 13.2 percent in 2006.

Gaza's agony does not end there. According to Amnesty International, 90-95 percent of the water supplied by Gaza's aquifer is "unfit for drinking." The majority of Gaza's groundwater supplies are contaminated with nitrates well above the acceptable WHO standard--in some areas six times that standard--or too salinated to use. Gaza no longer has any source of regular clean water. According to one donor account, "Nowhere else in the world has such a large number of people been exposed to such high levels of nitrates for such a long period of time. There is no precedent, and no studies to help us understand what happens to people over the course of years of nitrate poisoning," which is especially threatening to children. According to Desmond Travers, a co-author of the Goldstone Report, "If these issues are not addressed, Gaza may not even be habitable by World Health Organization norms."

It is possible that high nitrate levels have contributed to some shocking changes in the infant mortality rate (IMR) among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. IMR, widely used as an indicator of population health, has stalled among Palestinians since the 1990s and now shows signs of increasing. This is because the leading causes of infant mortality have changed from infectious and diarrheal diseases to prematurity, low birth weight and congenital malformations. These trends are alarming (and rare in the region), because infant mortality rates have been declining in almost all developing countries, including Iraq.

The people of Gaza know they have been abandoned. Some told me the only time they felt hope was when they were being bombed, because at least then the world was paying attention. Gaza is now a place where poverty masquerades as livelihood and charity as business. Yet, despite attempts by Israel and the West to caricature Gaza as a terrorist haven, Gazans still resist. Perhaps what they resist most is surrender: not to Israel, not to Hamas, but to hate. So many people still speak of peace, of wanting to resolve the conflict and live a normal life. Yet, in Gaza today, this is not a reason for optimism but despair.

Is that the end of game?

Turkish generals vs Erdogan

Two retired Turkish generals have been charged over an alleged plot in 2003 to overthrow the government, reports say.

Cetin Dogan, former head of Turkey's First Army, and Engin Alan, a former special forces commander, were both remanded in custody pending trial.

They are the most senior of 33 suspects charged so far over the alleged plot.

The case has increased tensions between the military and the Islamist-rooted ruling party. However, the military has denied any coup plot.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to punish conspirators.

"No one is above law, no one has impunity," he told a gathering of his Justice and Development Party

"Those conspiring behind closed doors to trample on the nation's will from now on find themselves facing justice," Mr Erdogan said.

More than 49 people were detained on Monday over the alleged coup plot, in an operation of unprecedented scale.

Among the 33 officers charged are including seven navy admirals and four army generals.

The former heads of the air force and navy and a general were freed on Thursday, having been questioned by prosecutors.

The three - retired air force head Ibrahim Firtina, former navy chief Ozden Ornek and former deputy army chief Ergin Saygun - have not been charged but remain under investigation, prosecutors said.

Ergenekon conspiracy

The army has intervened to overthrow elected governments four times since 1960.

Reports of the alleged plot first surfaced in the liberal Taraf newspaper, which said it had discovered documents detailing plans to bomb two Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea.

The army has said the plans had been discussed but only as part of a planning exercise at a military seminar.

The alleged plot is similar, and possibly linked, to the reported Ergenekon conspiracy, in which military figures and staunch secularists allegedly planned to foment unrest, leading to a coup.

Scores of people, including military officers, journalists and academics, are on trial in connection with that case.

Election for Iraq

the critical parliamentary elections slated for March 7

As Kuwaitis went through their annual ritual of marking the 19th anniversary of liberation from their northern neighbour (Iraq) a disgraceful watershed event which has left an indelible mark in the body of Arab politics they kept a wary eye on the campaigns in Iraq leading to the critical parliamentary elections slated for March 7

Seven years into the war, Iran's influence in Iraq seems to be in ascendance, while US influence seems to be abating. Iran looms large with its influence over many Shiite political groups, in addition to its leverage over the de-Baathification committee, which was highlighted by the commander of the US forces in Iraq.

In contrast, the US leverage in Iraq is on the wane. Christopher Hill, the US ambassador in Iraq, admitted recently to the Council on Foreign Relations that "we have to be mindful of the limited ability to affect the political situation in Iraq. Our leverage is not somehow threatening to withdraw troops or threatening to invade some boardroom with troops. Our leverage is to say: Iraq, if you want a good relationship with us a long-term relationship with us we need to make sure these elections are democratic".

This is alarming for its consequences on the security architecture of the region in the aftermath of the US military withdrawal.

According to General Raymond T. Odierno, the commander of US forces in Iraq, US troop numbers stand at 96,000. For the first time since the invasion seven years ago, the US troops are below 100,000, down from a peak of 166,000 in October 2007.

US combat forces will be reduced to below 50,000 by the end of next August with full US military withdrawal by the end of December 2011.

This is critical as Iraqis prepare to go to the polls after a two-month delay and in the midst of bickering over the de-Baathification. What is ironic and alarming is the clear accusation by General Odierno that Ali Al Lami, executive director of the Accountability and Justice Commission and Ahmad Chalabi, the commission's chairman, are "clearly influenced by Iran and are in close contact with Iran's Al Quds Force commander".

But what has emerged lately raises a lot of questions about the fragile state of affairs in Iraq. The US military is rethinking its withdrawal plans sort of having a ‘Plan B'. It is some kind of a contingency plan to delay or slow down the withdrawal of US combat forces in case the security situation deteriorates.

A new cycle of violence and bloodshed could be launched by those who lose the elections, and could be precipitated by political boycotts. These days Iraq seems to be living in an atmosphere similar to that which prevailed during the run-up to the 2005 elections, with political bickering, sectarian enmity and political rivalry all too evident.

Marc Lynch, professor at the George Washington University, pointed out: "There's been a mini-boom of late in commentary urging Obama to delay his timeline for drawing down US forces, or at least to do more."

The Washington Post opined recently: "With several major coalitions competing for power, US officials said they are bracing for a prolonged period of political instability in Iraq after the elections. Many predict a repeat of 2005, when it took Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki several months to form a government."

Hill told the Council on Foreign Relations last week that "how long this is going to take, this government formation, that is really the rub. There's a good reason why people are worried".

On the other hand, General Odierno admitted that the US was prepared to make changes to the withdrawal plans "if we run into problems".

It is important to point out that the timeline of US combat withdrawal is legally binding and could only be delayed if the Iraqi government requested a delay. Because of that, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was clear in reassuring everyone that the US was not in a mood to renegotiate the Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) with Iraq.

"We would have to see a pretty considerable deterioration of the situation in Iraq, and we don't see that, certainly, at this point," he said.

Once again Iraq seems to be facing the pangs of change. The country, still under reconstruction, is being built on a sectarian, ethnic and provisional faultline. This is a landmark election for Iraq, with a lot at stake for Iraqis and its neighbours are anxious to see the birth of the new Iraq at peace with itself and its neighbours .

We hope the new emerging Iraq will be united and contribute to the stability and the balance of power in our region which has suffered from chronic instability, wars and bloodshed.

Al Mabhouh used a drug called succinylcholine

There were injection marks on his leg

The assassins of senior Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh used a drug called succinylcholine to sedate him before suffocating him with a pillow.

Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Deputy Commandant of Dubai Police, told a press conference on Sunday that succinylcholine, also known as suxamethoniumchloride, was injected, traces of which were found on his leg

"There were injection marks on his leg. Forensic tests proved that the compound was used to tranquillise him because he was a big man, who would have been difficult to overpower and subdue. The results of the tests were available after a month," Major-General Al Mazeina said.

The drug was used to give the impression that Al Mabhouh had died a natural death and had not been assassinated. There were no signs of resistance by Al Mabhouh — something that proved that he was not electrocuted.

Al Mazeina denied a media report that there had been a previous assassination attempt on Al Mabhouh in Dubai.

Until Sunday, 26 suspects, all carrying the passports of four European countries and Australia, had been identified by Dubai Police.

Lieutenant-General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai Police Chief, on Sunday told journalists that another European suspect had been identified. These 27 suspects carried European and Australian passports.

"Another Palestinian man too has been identified as a suspect. Hence, with the Palestinian, there are now 28 suspects," Dahi said.

Dahi stressed that those who claim their identities were stolen and used by the assassins were not necessarily victims in this operation.

"They could be potential collaborators," he said.

The police chief clarified that there would be no change in visa rules involving Europeans coming into the country. Europeans get visas on arrival.

"European countries and Australia have close cooperation with the UAE," he said.

"The fault is not in the visa system but some exploit it. So why should all Europeans suffer for what Mossad is doing? Unfortunately, the Israeli government, throughout history, has created animosity and builds distrust," the Dubai Police Chief added.

Dahi said that immigration officers would undergo intensive training to study Jewish people and identify their traits, accents, body language and manners.

He said this was because most Jews have dual nationality and carry the passports of other countries.

Dahi said Mossad was exploiting this and said sophisticated equipment should be installed at all entry points to identify forged passports.

Security features

"Earlier immigration officials would not suspect that a European passport was forged because of the security features in the passport. However, today we are seeing a different story. Mossad is forging European passports and we need to be equipped to detect the fraud," he said.

Asked why the assassins did not use US passports, Dahi said America is a very close ally of Israel and had the killers used American passports, it would have caused friction between the two nations. The European countries implicated in this operation are not close allies of Israel.

"We hope that we will be able to arrest the suspects if they are in European countries based on the understanding we have with them on the exchange of information and with the help of the Interpol," he said.

"I met the general secretary of the Interpol [yesterday] and am confident of their assistance. Even if the suspects are in Israel, Interpol will work on getting them here," Dahi said.

He denied reports that the UAE was under pressure from Qatar to describe the killing as a natural death and hush it up

The price of Iranian girls in Gulf

the presence of Iranian girls as prostitutes in Arab Gulf

Sociologists have called this decade a decade of explosion of social destruction in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The trafficking of women and girls is perhaps the most tragic aspect of all the social damages.  As sex workforce in this market, women and girls are lured in various ways by different rings inside and outside of the country. 

 

Many experts have noted, the presence of Iranian girls as prostitutes in surrounding Arab countries of Persian Gulf is alarming while damaging to the good name of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The network of traffickers entrap young and attractive run-away girls and widows with deceiving promises of a better and prosperous life including marriage to rich men; then they are smuggled across boarders legally and illegally.

Traffickers send these girls to Dubai, Kuwaiti, and Sheikhdom of the Persian Gulf. Even other neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan are hosting these girls.

Upon arrival to these countries, women and girls are taken to hotels, motels, casinos, and clubs as maids or prostitutes; or they are taken to the houses of affluent men as temporary or permanent wives of the riches. The networks’ profit is collected in various forms of payments including checks and promissory notes.

These women and girls face coercion and threats while being stranded in strange countries, yet the hope for a flow of income keeps them from returning home.

These rings and networks are supported by certain people (officials) who create fraudulent documentation in order to transfer these women and girls across borders, place them in different countries, and use them for their business.

The enormous profit of this business creates a tremendous interest in these rings. At the same time, weak laws or lack thereof, has made combating the business of human trafficking, especially women and girls, very difficult. The arbitrary punishments for traffickers range from fines to prison terms based on the preference of the court.

Ali Farsad, a high ranking lawyer of Iran’s Ministry of Justice, says: “It has been noticed that criminals active in these rings are even using legal avenues to escape punishment. This means that in most cases, these criminals use legal channels such as Sharia law to justify their activities. Repeatedly, we see the girls from deprived border cities who are sent abroad after getting married. Also in many cases they are sent abroad on the false promise of finding employment in other countries.”

On the issue of trafficking of women and girls, a military Colonel says: “The exact statistics on trafficking of women and girls does not exist in Iran. However, according to statistics at hand, 4,000 people are crossing the borders on weekly basis under various pretenses. We have no control over them. Just a little a while ago, a network of trafficking Iranian girls was discovered in the Persian Gulf countries. There was a large number of corrupt prostitutes among them. These notorious women used to identify young women and girls from the families with financial difficulties, then under the pretext of happiness for these girls in Persian Gulf countries, they offered a ransom to the families and in a matter of 3 weeks with legal official passports they transferred these girls to Dubai. After arrival in Dubai, through their network, they introduced these girls to Arab businessmen. Each girl was sold for $5000 profit for their families and ten times the amount for the traffickers. The buyers used these girls for their sinister business.”

The Colonel adds: “The girls who run away from home have no idea what the future holds for them. We have 200 missing girls in Tehran, as we speak and we only know of the fate of a few. There are many rings lurking for these young women and girls. They use these run-a-way girls for stealing, trafficking and for illicit drugs and sex. Most of all they use these victims for their organs.”

Every once in a while bodies of unknown girls are found here and there in large cities, particularly in Tehran. Some of these bodies are identified; however most of them are buried without being identified because no one comes to claim their body.

The dealers of human organs are also trafficking girls by promising them a better life and transporting them across borders. Once taken to another country, the traffickers sell the girls’ body parts for enormous amounts of money.

The Colonel adds: “A little while ago, we arrested 15 people responsible for the network of trafficking girls. There were 10 man and 5 women among them who used to entrap girls and take them to Dubai. This ring had two houses in the residential area in the north and center part of the city. The deceived girls were taken to these houses before departing Iran. This criminal ring identified attractive women in Tehran and after arranging all the details transported 50 young girls to the United Arab Emirate on monthly basis. What was most interesting about this ring is that most of the entrapment was done by a young man whose main job was a taxi driver. He drove around town and identified run-a-way girls and took them to these houses. Then other people in the ring take over the cases of these girls and arrange for their visa and passport to go to the UAE. The travel details took no more than a month and were arranged under the pretext of tourism. While waiting for passport and visa, these girls were promised a better and prosperous life and marriage to Arab Sheikhs. However, after entering UAE, they ring members handed these girls over to brothels and prostitution networks.”

Golnaz, an Iranian girl who returned home after months, says: “When they came to our house with a marriage proposal they said they were from Zabol but would like to live in Mashhad. I left my house to relocate to Masshad but found myself in Pakistan. They took me to a city where I was able to use the phone in the neighbors’ house and call to notify my family. As my family was trying to rescue me I was sold to many different clients. They kept me in a house during the day and did not allow me to leave the house. They beat me up badly several times because of my protests.”

This girl was sold for $500 to the network of sex traffickers.

Where are the Blue Skies??

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