ISRAEL - PA TALKS RESUME OCT 23,11

GOLD CONFISCATION AND HOW TO AVOID IT WHEN GOVERNMENTS MAKE GOLD-SILVER WORTHLESS
http://www.usagold.com/gildedopinion/gold-confiscation-ganz.html

Israel accepts EU talks invitation
Today OCT 11,11 @ 09:15 By EUOBSERVER

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an EU offer to meet Palestinian leaders, his office announced Monday. The EU is trying to kickstart talks that have been frozen for over a year, with Israel refusing to accept a Palestinian demand that it halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Quartet Says Talks to Resume on October 23-Int'l mediators have set a date for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the PA, but it's not clear either side will attend.By Gavriel Queenann First Publish: 10/12/2011, 4:08 AM

International mediators have set October 23rd as the date for officials from Jerusalem and Ramallah to resume negotiations, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The move, seen by many as putting the diplomatic cart before the real politick horse, comes as Palestinian Authority officials continue to insist Israel stop construction in the disputed territories - Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem - and accept the pre-1967 lines as a basis for negotiations.So incensed have PLO officials been over the Quartet position that they have called for its spokesman, former British prime minister Tony Blair, to be replaced, saying he is unwelcome in PA administered enclaves.For its part, Israel has said it accepts the Quartet proposal to renew talks without preconditions and that reservations harbored by the two sides should subject to talks during negotiations.But a Foreign Ministry official who spoke to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity was quick to point out no formal consultations were made, saying it seemed premature to discuss a meeting when Abbas refuses to drop his preconditions.The Quartet - the European Union, Russia, United States, and United Nations - demanded the two sides return to the negotiating table on the eve of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' unilateral bid for statehood outside the accepted bilateral framework of the Oslo Accords at the United Nations in September.

Israeli and US officials maintain no lasting peace can be imposed and that the road to a lasting peace runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York.State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters international mediators are very hopeful the meeting will take place. She added officials from the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia want both sides to meet in Jordan on Oct. 23.That is exactly one month after those mediators set a 30-day deadline for the Israelis and Palestinians to hold preliminary talks aimed at resurrecting negotiations. The Quartet wants a peace deal by the end of 2012.Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, however, cautioned EU lawmakers on Monday that trying to force an agreement between Israel and the PA is an illusion that will not work.

Op-Ed: Turkey Threatens Med. Area Security, Not Just Israel Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 2:34 PM

Remarks by the representative of the Dutch delegation to the October 9th OCSE Conference in Dubrovnik. He writes to A7: This was not received well (an understatement) by the delegates from 56 countries. But what I said was true.MP Wim Kortenoeven, Holland

(Sent to Arutz Sheva by the speaker)Mister Chairman,I am addressing this meeting on behalf of the Dutch Party for Freedom.As we speak, the peace in the Mediterranean is being threatened by Turkish imperialism, by dangerous dreams to re-establish the Turkish Caliphate that was abolished in 1923.We are witnessing the death of Kemalism, the positive ideology that transformed Turkey into a valuable, responsible and respected member of the international community.But now, Turkey is sliding into the abyss of Islamic extremism and authoritarianism. This is visible on the inside and on the outside.For instance: the freedom of speech in Turkey is increasingly suppressed. Many journalists have been jailed for speaking out. The Turkish cartoonist Bahadir Baruter is to be tried for renouncing Allah in a cartoon. He might get a year in jail for that.Cyprus, a member State of the European Union, has been partly occupied by Turkey since the brutal invasion of 1974.And now the Erdogan regime is turning Turkey into a predator state, a rogue state, that apparently also wants to seize the oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. Reserves that it does not own.Threats are being issued in the direction of Cyprus. Strong Turkish military forces have been deployed on and near Cyprus.

Mister chairman,Turkey, a member state of NATO, is also increasingly belligerent towards the Jewish State of Israel. Threats and baseless accusations are issued against Israel - ever more frequently. And provocations are rampant. Israeli freighters are harressed by Turkish warships.Turkey also objects to Israel's legitimate desire to drill for natural gas in its own exclusive economic zone. Turkish warships are backing up threats against Israel's sovereignty.A simple mistake in this combustible situation might spark a military confrontation.Also troubling and dangerous are Turkey's sympathy for the Hamas terror organization and Turkey's attempts to undermine Israel's legitimate right to supervise the maritime routes to Gaza.Mr. Chairman,The situation is extremely dangerous.This irresponsible Turkish policy of threats, insults and provocations, this macho bellegerency, needs to be urgently adressed. As it is a clear and present danger to peace and security in the Mediterranean and even beyond.Therefore, I urge you to ad this Turkish threat to peace and security to the agenda of the Winter session of the OSCE.Thank you.

Op-Ed: Sarkozy's Monumental Mistake
Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 1:25 PM

Until President Sarkozy unequivocally retracts his anti-Zionist comment and embraces Ben-Gurion's statement - he will surely be tarred with uttering one of the most damaging comments ever made by a head of state on the Jewish-Arab conflict.David Singer

France’s President - Nicolas Sarkozy - has made a mistake of historic proportions - possibly dashing any hope of the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs coming to fruition - after he told the French magazine Le Canard Enchaîne:It is silly to talk about a Jewish state,President Sarkozy made this comment while referring to the Israeli demand that the Palestinian Arabs recognize Israel as the Jewish state in any peace agreement.He compounded this act of gross political ineptness by continuing:It would be like saying that this table is Catholic. There are two million Arabs in Israel.On the figures alone - President Sarkozy is demonstrably wrong.Latest statistics show the Arab population of Israel is 1,610,000 (20.5%). The President also fails to mention that the Jewish population numbers 5,874,300 (75.3%) and there are 323,000 not identified as Jews or Arabs (4.2%).Tables cannot be offended - but people certainly can. President Sarkozy’s statement is extremely offensive to the overwhelming majority of Jews wherever they live - but no doubt will be met with resounding applause by Jew-haters world wide.

His statement will also offend those tens of millions of Christians who support the right of the Jewish people to establish their own independent state in their ancient ancestral and legally recognized homeland.President Sarkozy in this one brief comment has abandoned French foreign policy pursued over the last 90 years - whilst also rejecting international law principles formulated during that period - which France was instrumental in establishing.In so doing President Sarkozy has caused great damage to France’s reputation and honor. He is coming up for re-election soon.
It was France - together with Britain, - that laid down the legal framework for the Jewish people’s right of return to Palestine pursuant to the Treaty of Sevres signed on 10 August 1920 - which allocated 99.999% of the captured Ottoman Empire to the Arabs and provided for the remaining 0.001% be set aside as a national home for the Jewish people.Article 95 of the Treaty specifically provided:The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust, by application of the provisions of Article 22, the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory to be selected by the said Powers. The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2, 1917, by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

France endorsed this decision together with all other 50 other countries in the League of Nations by unanimously approving the creation of the Mandate for Palestine in 1922 - which recognized:the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.France signed the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 and subsequently ratified its coming into operation on 24 October 1945.The Charter contains article 80 - which preserved the rights vested in the Jewish people under the Mandate - to ensure they did not disappear with the pending demise of the League of Nations - which finally occurred on 12 April 1946..France was among the 33 countries that voted in favor of the UN Partition Plan on 29 November 1947 calling for the partition of Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State.President Sarkozy is apparently unsympathetic to Israel’s demand to be recognized as the Jewish State - just as Article 20 of the Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization denies the Jews any such right in the following dismissive and highly offensive terms:Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.The Chairman of the PLO - Mahmoud Abbas - is a frequent visitor to Paris and is received with full honors by President Sarkozy who can now only be seen to be openly endorsing this despicable and racist viewpoint - which Chairman Abbas resolutely refuses to change.

Hamas is as equally strident in wanting to destroy the Jewish State.How can a peace agreement between Jews and Arabs be successfully concluded whilst such attitudes are maintained by the PLO and Hamas? What effect will President Sarkozy’s viewpoint have in encouraging the PLO and Hamas to maintain their rejectionist stances? Should President Sarkozy not be urging the Palestinian Arabs to accede to Israel’s request if they ever hope to attain their own independent State? President Sarkozy needs to read and digest what David Ben-Gurion told the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine on 7 July 1947:What is the meaning of a Jewish State? As I told you before, a Jewish State does not mean one has to be a Jew. It means merely a State-where the Jews are in the majority, otherwise all the citizens have the same status. If the State were called by the name Palestine, - I said if, - then all would be Palestinian citizens.If the State would be given, another name - I think it would be given another name, because Palestine is neither a Jewish nor an Arab name. As far as the Arabs are concerned, and we have the evidence of the Arab historian, Hitti, that there was no such a thing as Palestine at all: Palestine is not an Arab name. Palestine is also not a Jewish name.When the Greeks were our enemies, in order not to annoy the Jews, they gave different names to the streets. So, maybe the name of Palestine will be changed. But whatever the name of the country, every citizen of the country will be a citizen. This is what we mean. This is what we have to mean.We cannot conceive that in a State where we are not in a minority, where we have the main responsibilities as the majority of the country, there should be the slightest discrimination between a Jew and a non-Jew.Until President Sarkozy unequivocally retracts his comment and embraces Ben-Gurion's statement - he will surely be tarred with uttering one of the most damaging comments ever made by a head of state on the Jewish-Arab conflict - effectively prolonging the dispute rather than helping to resolve it.

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
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CNBC VIDEOS
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HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED OCTOBER 12,2011

09:30 AM +2.43
10:00 AM +65.50
10:30 AM +113.60
11:00 AM +97.29
11:30 AM +123.16
12:00 PM +123.16
12:30 PM +121.55
01:00 PM +148.72
01:30 PM +158.56
02:00 PM +153.11
02:30 PM +174.22
03:00 PM +166.07
03:30 PM +144.25
04:00 PM +102.55 11,518.85

S&P 500 1207.25 +11.71

NASDAQ 2604.73 +21.70

GOLD 1,680.20 +19.20

OIL 85.37 -0.44

TSE 300 12,030.00 +154.40

CDNX 1542.77 +31.61

S&P/TSX/60 688.39 +7.36

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow +61 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +1 points at low today.
Dow +132 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,684.30.OIL opens at $85.85 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow +1 points at low today so far.
Dow +206 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow +1 points at low today.
Dow +206 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,902.60 (NOT AT CLOSE)

CRUDE OIL - THU DUE TO HOLIDAY WEEK
GASOLINE
DISTILLATE INVENTORIES

EU starts collecting fingerprints for visa applications Today OCT 12,11 @ 18:13 By Valentina Pop

The EU on Tuesday (11 October) started collecting fingerprints of visa applicants in north African countries, as part of a new data base connecting all 25 countries that are part of the border-free Schengen zone. The system should be rolled out in all EU consulates around the world by 2014, but is already two years behind schedule.The Visa Information System (VIS) connects fingerprints to digital pictures and personal information of each applicant for a Schengen visa, so as to avoid fraud. Having a shared data base on visa applications will also allow governments to check if the person is not also applying for visas or has already been denied entry in another Schengen state - something that cannot be verified at the moment.From now on, foreigners wishing to visit the EU will benefit from clearer, more precise, transparent and fairer visa application rules. The new system will also allow visas to be issued and verified in a more efficient and secure way, home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement.Fingerprinting will prevent identity theft or renting a passport, a practice that according to EU commission sources is quite frequent among Asian visitors. We have the problem of lookalikes, for instance from Asia. For €2,000, they can rent a passport with a multiple entry visa to the Schengen area, pretend they are that person and once they are here, mail it back to Asia so it can be used again,one EU official told journalists on Tuesday.

The European Commission admits, however, that for the new system to deliver on its advertised goals, some two more years have to pass until the system is rolled out in all the 2,500 Schengen consulates around the world. According to a decision taken by interior ministers in 2009, after the first countries where the new system is being rolled out - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia - the VIS will then be rolled out in the Gulf region and Asia, but an exact calendar has yet to be established.This after the France's Steria and the American giant HP which should have created the system by 2009 ran into technical difficulties and was fined by the commission €7.5 million for the delay. But member states too had problems in getting their national systems up and running, so it's not exclusively the fault of the external contractors,an EU source said.The total cost of the VIS system at a central level - not the national databases paid by local budgets - amounts to €91 million. Maintenance of the main data server in Strasbourg and its backup in the Austrian Alps will cost another €20 million. But with 13 million Schengen visas issued each year at a cost of €16 each, the revenue surpasses largely the cost of this data collection system which has already been put in place in the US, EU officials stress.

Unlike the US, however, VIS is not linked automatically with other data collection programs such as the Schengen Information System listing cross-border crime suspects and stolen goods. Police and intelligence services in Schengen states can access the data only if they have a specific case going on. British, Irish and Cypriot police are excluded, as their countries are not part of the Schengen area. Romanian and Bulgarian authorities have their national systems ready for VIS deployment, once they are accepted as Schengen members.British Liberal MEP Sarah Ludford, who drafted the European Parliament's position on the VIS system, said the roll-out was good news,but the two-year delay is dismaying.A staunch defender of privacy rights, the EU legislature managed to incorporate strong data safeguards in the system, given that personal details, including fingerprints of around 70 million visa applicants, will be stored at any one time. I also insisted that states should be liable for any data protection breaches even if information collection is outsourced to a private contractor,Ludford added.

EU may cancel top-level Ukraine meeting after Tymoshenko verdict Today OCT 11,11 @ 14:30 By Andrew Rettman

The EU may un-invite Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from an upcoming trip to Brussels after the jailing for seven years of his political rival Yulia Tymoshenko.
Yanukovych, who has hired US public relations advisors, on a previous EU visit with Barroso (Photo: ec.europa.eu)A senior EU source said the diplomatic snub cannot be excluded after a Ukrainian court on Tuesday (11 October) sentenced the former prime minister to prison, a $188 million fine and to be ineligible to run in upcoming elections. The judge - believed by EU institutions to take orders from the president - said she exceeded her powers in signing a gas contract with Russia in 2009.The 27 EU countries in a formal statement added that plans to sign an EU-Ukraine trade and association pact in December are in jeopardy.The way the Ukrainian authorities will generally respect universal values and rule of law, and specifically how they will handle these cases, risks having profound implications for the EU-Ukraine bilateral relationship, including for the conclusion of the Association Agreement,they said.

Yanukovych is due to come to Brussels to meet with European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy on 20 October to discuss final details of the treaty.He will have a chance to repair damage on 18 October, when the Ukrainian parliament considers changing the law to decriminalise the charges against Tymoshenko. If the Verkhovna Rada passes the legal amendments, Yanukovych could sign them into life the same day or up to 15 days later, letting Tymoshenko walk free.The Ukrainian foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. But foreign minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko is in the EU capital on Tuesday to give his side of the story. A Ukrainian diplomat told EUobserver last week the court is independent and Yanukovych is trying to set a precedent that no one is above the law.Meanwhile, Tymoshenko allies are to launch an appeal against the Pecherskiy district court verdict in the coming days. They can also appeal at a higher court down the line if the first appeal is thrown out.Her former deputy prime minister Hyorhiy Nemyria told this website from Kiev on Tuesday that the EU should give Yanukovuch an ultimatum.
[They] need to make clear there can be no signing of the [association] agreement unless the situation is remedied. I would say it's time to give a clear deadline [for him to free Tymoshenko], not just to say again that we expect this or that, he said.He added that Brussels should set wheels in motion to impose travel bans and asset freezes on anti-Tymoshenko prosecutors on the model of Belarus in order drive the message home: He doesn't understand diplomatic niceties. But when he sees that sanctions are being applied against his subordinates and he becomes aware that he could also be punished for this political trial - this is action he would understand.
The sanctions idea was dismissed as unrealistic by EU sources.

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Op-Ed: The Heinous Crime Against Egyptian Coptic Christians Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 7:49 AM

Egyptian authorities committed a heinous crime against Coptic Christians this week. Where is the UN? Elias Bejjani-The Military Egyptian authorities with no mercy and in cold blood committed a heinous and barbaric massacre against unarmed Coptic Christian civilians who were just protesting in a peaceful and civilized manner the shameful atrocity of burning one of their churches by fundamentalists in the village of Elmarinab in Edfu, Aswan.This is a shame and disgrace for the civilized world.On Sunday, Egyptian military forces attacked the Coptic demonstrators savagely using all kinds of weapons including armored vehicles, tanks and tear gas.Initial reports indicated that at least 35 Copts were killed and more than 300 injured. The number of the victims could rise dramatically as many bodies are still unidentified and disfigured beyond recognition.We strongly condemn this savage crime of hatred and barbarism and call upon the Egyptian authorities to assume their full responsibilities and once and forever stop justifying their anti-Copt crimes with false fabrications and empty accusations of foreign conspiracies.An immediate and thorough judicial investigation must be carried out without any delay under international supervision.All officials and military personnel who instigated and executed the criminal attack must be held responsible and put on trial.Apparently, the ruling Egyptian Military Council has completely abandoned its governing responsibilities, negated its security obligations and together with the Salafist fundementalists, is openly persecuting and murdering the Copts.The last crime is a huge insult to the military Egyptian rulers and to all the Arab countries .

It has become a must that the persecuted, threatened, scared and abandoned Copts call on the UN and Free World countries to step in and protect them from their own rulers, army and people.The Free World countries and UN have a moral obligation to intervene by all available means and on all levels in a bid to protect the Egyptian Copts and to condemn the escalating anti-Copt stances that the military rulers of Egypt are taking, while the fanatical Muslim Salafists are attacking the Copts, invading their homes, killing them, burning their churches and threatening to kill their clergy.We offer our heartily felt condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in Egypt and wish a quick recovery to those who were injured. Our thoughts are with all those were affected by the savage crime.In conclusion, it’s the national duty of the Egyptian state and people to produce an effective legal, social and security apparatus through which the safety, freedom, faith, churches and property of the Copts are safeguarded from the savagery of the Salafists and other fanatics.Meanwhile, all Copt rights as equal Egyptian citizens should be fully honored without racism, discrimination or injustice.And most importantly, both Article Two of the Egyptian constitution and the Hamayoni Decree (a clause in the Egyptian law, dating back from Ottoman rule, February 1856) that regulate Church construction and maintenance, MUST be abolished.

Iran ready to equip Lebanese Army
Press TV October 11, 2011

Speaking in a meeting with Lebanon’s Defense Minister Fayez Ghusn in Beirut on Monday, Ghazanfar Roknabadi added that developing stronger defense cooperation was necessary given the daily violations of Lebanese airspace by the Israeli fighter jets.Ghusn, for his part, praised Iran’s support for Lebanon and its defense of the rights of the Arab and Muslim world and said Lebanon is proud of having Iran’s support.The Lebanese minister also expressed readiness to travel to Iran in the near future.Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman recently announced the country was awaiting Iran’s official response to Beirut’s request for the expansion of bilateral defense cooperation.This comes as Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi had said on February 5, 2011 that Tehran was ready to start defense cooperation with Beirut upon the Lebanese side’s request.Whenever the Lebanese side is ready to start this cooperation it will submit its request, IRNA quoted him as saying.

U.S. Accuses Iranians of Plotting to Kill Saudi Envoy-Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador, was said to be the target of an assassination plot involving a Mexican drug cartel.By CHARLIE SAVAGE and SCOTT SHANE Published: October 11, 2011

WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday accused Iranian officials of plotting to murder Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States in a bizarre scheme involving an Iranian-American used-car salesman who believed he was hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million.The alleged plot also included plans to pay the cartel, Los Zetas, to bomb the Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Saudi and Israeli Embassies in Argentina, according to a law enforcement official.The plotters also discussed a side deal between the Quds Force, part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and Los Zetas to funnel tons of opium from the Middle East to Mexico, the official said. The plans never progressed, though, because the two suspects — the Iranian-American and an Iranian Quds Force officer — unwittingly were dealing with an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who announced the murder plot at a news conference in Washington, said it was directed and approved by elements of the Iranian government and, specifically, senior members of the Quds Force. He added that high-up officials in those agencies, which is an integral part of the Iranian government, were responsible for this plot.The charges heightened tensions in an already fraught relationship between Iran and the United States.

The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee, said his nation was outraged about the accusations. In a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Khazaee said that Iran strongly and categorically rejects these fabricated and baseless allegations, based on the suspicious claims by an individual.Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in a bitter regional rivalry, one that has intensified as they have jockeyed for influence since the political upheavals of the Arab Spring. The Saudi Embassy in Washington denounced the plot against the ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir, as a despicable violation of international norms, standards and conventions.Mr. Holder’s assertion and the F.B.I.’s account of official Iranian involvement in the plot, reportedly code-named Chevrolet, provoked puzzlement from specialists on Iran, who said it seemed unlikely that the government would back a brazen murder and bombing plan on American soil.Investigators, too, were initially skeptical about ties to Iran, officials said. They said, though, that the F.B.I. monitored calls to Iran about the plot and found money had been wired from a Quds Force bank account. In addition, the Iranian-American accused in the scheme, Mansour J. Arbabsiar, correctly identified a known Quds Force officer from a photo array, and his cousin — who he said recruited him for the plot — is another Quds official.It remained unclear, though, whether the plot was conceived by a rogue element or had approval from top officials of the Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian government.It’s so outside their normal track of activity, said a senior law enforcement official who had been involved in the investigation and would speak only on the condition of anonymity. It’s a rogue plan or they’re using very different tactics. We just don’t know.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed her incredulity in an interview with The Associated Press.The idea that they would attempt to go to a Mexican drug cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador, nobody could make that up, right? she asked, also saying that the plot crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for.

The State Department issued an alert on Tuesday for Americans traveling or living abroad regarding the potential for anti-U.S. actions following the disruption of the plot, which it said may indicate a more aggressive focus by the Iranian government on terrorist activity.Mr. Arbabsiar, 56, a naturalized American citizen who lives in Corpus Christi, Tex., was named in a federal criminal complaint in New York along with Gholam Shakuri, whom the Justice Department identified as a member of the Quds Force.Mr. Arbabsiar, who one official said sold used cars for a living, was arrested Sept. 29 at Kennedy International Airport in New York; Mr. Shakuri remains at large and is believed to be in Iran.Minutes after the Justice Department laid out the charges, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against five people — including four senior members of the Quds Force, which the United States designated as a terrorist group in 2007.White House officials said President Obama called the Saudi ambassador on Tuesday to express solidarity, saying the president underscored that the United States believes this plot to be a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law, and reiterated our commitment to meet our responsibilities to ensure the security of diplomats serving in our country.Mr. Arbabsiar, who has lived in Texas for many years, made a brief appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, dressed in a blue checked shirt and with a pronounced scar on his left cheek. He did not enter a plea, but his lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said after the hearing that if he is indicted, he will plead not guilty.The case began in May, when a Drug Enforcement Administration informant with ties to high-level leaders of Los Zetas told agents of a bizarre conversation. He had been approached, he said, by an Iranian friend of his aunt’s in Corpus Christi — Mr. Arbabsiar — with a proposition to hire the cartel to carry out terrorist attacks inside the United States. Mr. Arbabsiar believed that the informant was an actual member of Los Zetas.

Over the next two months, Mr. Arbabsiar and the informant worked out a deal under which Mr. Arbabsiar would pay $1.5 million to Los Zetas to kill the Saudi ambassador at a restaurant in Washington, officials said. The complaint quotes Mr. Arbabsiar as making conflicting statements about the possibility of bystander deaths; at one point he is said to say that killing the ambassador alone would be preferable, but on another occasion he said it would be no big deal if many others at the restaurant — possibly including United States senators — died in any bombing.There was never any risk, officials said, because the informant was working for the drug agency, and their meetings in Mexico and telephone conversations, were being recorded by law enforcement authorities.In early August, on a visit to Iran, Mr. Arbabsiar wired nearly $100,000 to the informant’s bank account as a down payment, according to court documents. In late September, he flew to Mexico City from Iran, intending to serve as human collateral to ensure that Los Zetas would be paid the rest of their money after killing the ambassador.But the government of Mexico, at the request of the United States, denied entry to Mr. Arbabsiar and put him on a commercial flight with a stopover in New York, where he was arrested.On Tuesday, the Justice Department released a letter to the court saying Mr. Arbabsiar had repeatedly waived his right to be quickly brought before a judge and to have a lawyer present during questioning. The letter said he had confessed to his role in the plot and had provided extremely valuable intelligence.Mr. Holder said the United States is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions but declined to answer a question about Iranian officials’ motivation for the alleged plot.Experts on Iran expressed astonishment at both the apparently clumsy tradecraft and the uncertain goal of the intended mayhem on United States soil.Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian-American scholar who studies the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said he thought it unlikely that the plot was approved at a high level by Iranian officials. It’s not typical of the Quds Force or the I.R.G.C. to operate in the U.S., for fear of retaliation, Mr. Nafisi said. Iran’s last lethal operation on American soil, he said, was in 1980, when a critic of the Islamic government was murdered at his Bethesda, Md., home.Mr. Nafisi said it was conceivable that elements of the Revolutionary Guards might have concocted the plot without top-level approval, perhaps to prevent reconciliation between Iran and the United States.But Iran’s Islamic government has a long history of attempts to eliminate enemies living overseas, said Roya Hakakian, author of Assassins of the Turquoise Palace, a book on the murder of four Iranians in a Berlin restaurant in 1992. A German court found that the murders were approved at the highest levels of the Iranian government.
The gunman in the Berlin killings was also accused of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador to Sweden, Ms. Hakakian said.Reporting was contributed by Anthony Shadid from Beirut, Lebanon; Eric Schmitt, Steven Lee Myers and Mark Landler from Washington; J. David Goodman and Benjamin Weiser from New York; and Randal C. Archibold from Mexico City.

Israel agrees historic deal with Hamas to free Shalit-1,000 Palestinian prisoners to be swapped for soldier held captive in Gaza for five years By Richard Hall
Wednesday, 12 October 2011

What could prove a historic deal to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza has been agreed between Israel and Hamas, concluding five years of negotiations that have repeatedly collapsed in acrimony and violence.The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he had telephoned the parents of Gilad Shalit, the soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid in 2006, to tell them that their son would be home within days.Mr Netanyahu said that a deal with Hamas was initialled last Thursday and signed yesterday, adding that he got the best deal we could get. He had earlier been quoted by an Israeli television station as saying the window has been opened for a historic deal.

Hamas leader Khalad Meshal confirmed the deal and said that it would see 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in two stages, the first 450 within a week. The group would include 315 serving life sentences and all Palestinian women in Israeli prisons, he said, hailing the deal as a national accomplishment and declaring those to be released were heroes who would come back to freedom and struggle against occupation.A delegation led by a top Hamas official, Mahmoud Zahar, had arrived in Cairo on Monday night from the group's headquarters in Syria. A source involved in the talks said the deal had been mediated by Egypt.There were conflicting reports last night over whether Marwan Barghouti, a former top local commander of Fatah, would be part of the deal. If so, it would be a hugely significant step as the release of Barghouti, the most prominent imprisoned Palestinian who is serving multiple life terms for his role in deadly attacks against Israelis, has long been a sticking point in negotiations.German and Egyptian mediators have tried to broker deals between Israel and Hamas over the past five years. Those talks have repeatedly broken down, and Israel has carried out a number of military strikes and imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, partly to pressure Hamas over the case of the soldier. In 2009, it was reported that an exchange was close on similar terms to those which have now reportedly been agreed.The deal collapsed, however, after disagreements over the release of a number of heavyweight prisoners held by Israel, who were accused of planning terrorist attacks on the country. Other sticking points have been whether prisoners would be allowed to return to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or be sent into exile.

If agreed, the deal would see the release of Sergeant Shalit, 25, after five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip.He was 19 when he was captured in June 2006 by Palestinian militants who burrowed into Israel and took him into Gaza. His prolonged captivity has been an emotive issue in Israel, where military service is mandatory for Jewish citizens, and many Israelis have identified with the Shalit family's predicament.

Key captives...Gilad Shalit

The Israeli and French national was a 19-year-old sergeant in the Israeli army when he was captured by Palestinian militants and taken to Gaza in 2006. Since his capture in a cross-border raid, the only contact between Shalit and the outside world has been three letters, an audio tape and a DVD video.

Marwan Barghouti

Even though he is a long-time Fatah leader, Barghouti is seen as a possible unifying figure among Palestinians. Despite being imprisoned by Israel in 2002 for five counts of murder, he is considered a strong candidate to succeed Mahmoud Abbas as President of the Palestinian Authority.Richard Hall

Israel's long fight: How prisoners triggered a campaign

With conscription a fact of life in Israel and with a perception that the country is surrounded by enemies fuelling a strong sense of the need for national solidarity, the government in Jerusalem always faces a difficult calculus when determining how far to go to bring back a captured soldier.That Israel is prepared to go to extreme lengths to bring back its young conscripts alive is indicated by the numbers of Palestinian prisoners that Benjamin Netanyahu was prepared to release for Gilad Shalit. But if Mr Netanyahu and his cabinet were seen to be reluctant to make the necessary sacrifices for the soldier's freedom, the political costs could be significant.In the past, limits on Israel's willingness to bargain have been defined by whether those up for exchange have blood on their hands. The steps soldiers are instructed to take to prevent a snatch are also unusual. Under the so-called Hannibal Directive, it is said that Israeli forces would be ordered to fire upon anyone abducting one of their soldiers even at the cost of the life of the victim.A soldier's death can be borne, the reasoning goes, but his lengthy incarceration can be disastrous for national morale.Archie Bland