SanLuisObispo.com: Middle East

Gaza militants agree to halt rocket fire

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:21 PST

Hamas announced Saturday evening that it has reached an agreement with other militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at southern Israeli towns to prevent retaliatory attacks.

Hamas has mostly refrained from firing rockets since January when Israel ended a three week offensive in Gaza aimed at stopping almost daily militant attacks.

Other Gaza militant groups have since continued with rocket attacks, but on a much smaller scale than before.

Saudi: 4 pilgrims die of swine flu before hajj

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:01 PST

Saudi health officials announced the first deaths from swine flu of this year's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as four pilgrims succumbed to the disease soon after arriving in Saudi Arabia.

The Health Ministry said none of the victims had been vaccinated and all became sick within two to three days of arriving. Three of the victims were 75 years old, coming from Sudan, India and Morocco, and the fourth was a 17-year-old Nigerian.

The hajj, as the pilgrimage is known, is required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime. It attracts about 3 million people from 160 countries and begins this year on Nov. 26, as the winter flu season approaches in the Northern Hemisphere.

Iraq working for release of Americans held in Iran

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:11 PST

An Iraqi official says Baghdad has contacted Tehran in a bid to secure the release of three Americans detained in Iran, but has received no reply.

Foreign undersecretary Labid Abawi said Saturday that Iraq has sent messages and made "several efforts" to ensure the release of the Americans.

He said Tehran has not responded and there were no plans to hand them over to Iraq at the current time.

Iran to hold war games to protect nuclear sites

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:06 PST

By By ALI AKBAR DAREINI -- Iran will begin large-scale air defense war games Sunday aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from possible attack, a senior military commander said Saturday, reflecting the country's concern that Israel could make good on threats to strike militarily.

The drill comes as a top clerical official renewed his threat to target "the heart of Tel Aviv" should Israel attack Iran.

The five-day drill will involve Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard and the regular army and will cover 230,000 square miles - or about 600,000 square kilometers - of central, western and southern Iran, said air force Gen. Ahmad Mighani.

Mubarak vows not to tolerate attacks on Egyptians

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:56 PST

By By OMAR SINAN -- President Hosni Mubarak entered Egypt's bitter soccer row with Algeria on Saturday, vowing in a televised speech that attacks on Egyptians abroad will not be tolerated.

Mubarak did not mention Algeria by name in his previously scheduled address to parliament, but it was clear he was referring to the fierce soccer rivalry that boiled over into violence when the two Arab nations met in two crucial World Cup qualifiers on Nov. 14 and 18.

Egyptian fans incensed by media reports of Algerian attacks after Wednesday's match in Sudan rioted in central Cairo on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Clashing with hundreds of police in an attempt to reach the Algerian Embassy, they threw rocks and smashed car and shop windows.

Kidnapped Britons say Somali pirates may kill them

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:21 PST

By By DAVID STRINGER -- A retired British couple snatched from their yacht by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast Friday they fear they could be killed within a week or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom demand is not paid.

Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped last month by pirates who seized their 38-foot yacht - the Lynn Rival - as they sailed toward Tanzania.

In an interview with Britain's Channel 4 news program, the Chandlers are seen surrounded by armed men, some of whom have their guns pointed directly at the couple.

Iraqi parliament seeks to end election crisis

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:11 PST

By By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA -- Iraqi lawmakers on Saturday sought a compromise in a dispute over an election law that was vetoed by a vice president, throwing national polls slated for January into question.

Parliament had planned to vote Saturday on how to resolve the issue, but delayed the proceeding until Sunday while lawmakers attempted to find a solution acceptable to all political blocs in a nation marked by ethnic and sectarian divisions.

Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, vetoed the legislation earlier this week because he wants more seats allocated for Iraqis living abroad, most of whom are Sunnis who fled the war. The demand reflects a sense of insecurity among many Sunnis who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein, but now must contend with a resurgent Shiite majority.

Palestinians to set new date for elections

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:31 PST

By By DALIA NAMMARI -- Palestinian officials announced Friday that a new date for parliamentary and presidential elections will be set next month now that President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to postpone the January vote, though the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers maintain they will boycott the voting.

The elections were supposed to be a central component of an Egyptian-mediated effort to reconcile Abbas and his rivals in the Islamic militant group Hamas. Months of talks, however, have failed to produce a deal, and Abbas had decided to move ahead with elections anyway, angering Hamas.

The militant group has controlled the Gaza Strip since seizing power from forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007, leaving the president at the head of a Western-backed government that controls only the West Bank.

Iran to launch satellite on its own by late 2011

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:46 PST

By By ALI AKBAR DAREINI -- Iran plans to launch a communications satellite by late 2011 with no outside help, a top Iranian official said Friday, after Italy and Russia declined to put it into orbit.

The move reflected Tehran's frustration with the two countries as it tries to push ahead with an ambitious space program, which has worried world powers because the same rocket technology used to launch satellites can also be used for military purposes.

Israeli media have claimed that the new Iranian satellite, named Misbah, or "Lantern" in Farsi, is a spy satellite. Iran says the satellite, which is to be launched into a low-earth orbit, is to assist in data communication.

200 Web sites spread al-Qaida's message in English

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:36 PST

By By DONNA ABU-NASR and LEE KEATH -- Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings.

The U.S.-born al-Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based sermons often turning up on their computers.

"The point is you don't have to be an official part of al-Qaida to spread hatred and sectarian views," said Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator for the New York-based NEFA Foundation, which researches Islamic militants.

Lebanese diva accused of singing racist song

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:46 PST

By By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI -- A famous Lebanese pop singer, who normally stirs controversy for her seductive dresses and provocative dancing, has now been accused of singing a song with racist lyrics that compares black Egyptians to monkeys.

Haifa Wehbe, considered by many as one of the sexiest women in the Arab world, has the minority Nubian community in Egypt distraught over her latest children's album "Baby Haifa" and the community's activists have launched several lawsuits over the lyrics.

The Nubians took issue with a verse in the song "Where is Daddy?" in which Wehbe croons: "Where is my teddy bear and my Nubian monkey?"

Egyptian soccer fans riot against Algeria

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:02 PST

By By OMAR SINAN -- Egyptian soccer fans burned Algerian flags and rioted outside the Algerian Embassy in Cairo, smashing cars and shop windows, in an escalating row between the two countries over a bitter World Cup rivalry.

Egyptian fans - and the country's media - have been thrown into a frenzy over reports that Algerians attacked and injured Egyptians after their countries' teams squared off in a World Cup qualifier in the Sudanese capital Khartoum this week. Algeria won the game 1-0, giving them a spot in the 2010 Cup in South Africa.

Several hundred Egyptian fans rampaged in the streets around the Algerian Embassy overnight into the early hours Friday, scuffling with black-uniformed riot police. It began as a protest, with demonstrators beating drums, shooting jets of flame from aerosol cans and shouting obscenities and slogans against Algerians.

Iraq cleric's aide urges end to political crisis

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:41 PST

By By RYAN LUCAS -- A top aide to Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader on Friday urged the country's fractious political blocs to solve a crisis over a key election law that threatens to delay national polls planned for January.

Sheik Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie, the representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Karbala, told worshippers during his regular Friday sermon that failure to break the deadlock could lead to a "constitutional vacuum" that would create "great dangers for Iraq."

"I call upon all brothers in the political blocs to reach a reasonable solution so that elections can take place on time and avoid these consequences and dangers," al Karbalaie said.

Hassan Nasrallah re-elected as Hezbollah leader

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:41 PST

By By BASSEM MROUE -- The militant Hezbollah group announced Thursday that Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has been re-elected as the Shiite Muslim group's leader for a sixth term.

A Hezbollah statement did not say when the group's top officials voted to re-elect Nasrallah, who has held the post since an Israeli helicopter gunship killed his predecessor, Sheik Abbas Musawi.

No one ran against Nasrallah.

Tiny survivor doesn't remember Mumbai attack

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:03 PST

By By AMY TEIBEL -- Moshe Holtzberg celebrated his third birthday on Wednesday the way many Jewish children do - he got his first haircut. He appeared not to recall the tragic events of a year ago, when his parents were killed in a terror attack in Mumbai, India.

Surrounding the smiling tot were his grandparents and Sandra Samuel, the caretaker who brought him home to Israel after the attack on the Jewish outreach Chabad House in Mumbai. Hundreds joined them at the group's Israel center, a village outside Tel Aviv, to mark a year since the attack.

Six people were killed at the Chabad House, among 166 who died in the coordinated attack in several locations in Mumbai. Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, Moshe's parents, opened the house in 2003 as the local representatives of Chabad, which offers services and kosher food to Jews in many locations around the world.

Israeli aircraft hit Gaza after rocket attacks

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:58 PST

By By BEN HUBBARD -- Israeli aircraft struck a weapons-manufacturing facility and two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, in response to recent rocket attacks on Israel, the military said.

Palestinian security officials reported no injuries.

Israel went to war against militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza last winter to quash eight years of rocket and mortar fire that terrorized southern Israel and killed 18 civilians.