Pakistan blast kills 12 at Shiite mosque

By Abdul Sattar Qamar

MULTAN — At least 12 people were killed and more than 25 wounded Thursday in an apparent suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Pakistan, in the latest sectarian attack to rock the country, police said.

Police officials said the explosion ripped through a crowd of people converging on the mosque in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, in the central Punjab province, shortly before a religious gathering was expected to start.

“It seems to be a suicide attack because there is no crater on the ground. Usually if a bomb is planted it would create a crater,” Shaukat Javed, the highest ranking police commander in the province, told AFP.

“At least 12 people are killed and more than 25 were injured. The blast occurred when a group of about 50 Shiite Muslims were returning to the mosque after visiting a nearby place,” he said.

“The explosion occurred just 50 feet (15 meters) short of the mosque. It is a terrorist attack aimed at Shiites to create unrest,” Javed added.

The powerful blast caused serious damage to the mosque and another nearby Shiite holy place in the town, said local police official Mohammed Ahsan.

“I have so far counted 11, 12 bodies and 20 wounded,” Doctor Pervez Haider, the head of the local hospital, told AFP by telephone.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, police were swift to blame sectarian extremists following a wave of similar violence in Pakistan, an overwhelmingly majority Sunni Muslim country.

Shiite Muslim faithful are observing the last week of a 40-day mourning period to commemorate the death of their revered Imam Hussein, who was killed at Karbala, in present day Iraq, in 680 AD.

Shiites account for about 20 percent of Pakistan’s population of 160 million and although fellow Muslims usually coexist peacefully, more than 4,000 people have died in outbreaks of sectarian violence nationwide since the late 1980s.

Thursday’s powerful blast triggered panic in the area as people rushed in different directions for shelter, said police official Pir Bakhsh.

The bomb disposal squad had been scrambled to conduct an investigation at the scene of the blast, he added.

Two days ago, an explosion ripped through a Sunni Muslim mosque in the northwest town of Dera Ismail Khan, killing one person and wounding 18 others.

A flood of militant attacks across Pakistan, where extremists have slammed the government’s decision to join the US-led “war on terror” following the September 11, 2001 attacks, has killed more than 1,500 people in 19 months.

The unrest has fuelled international fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed Islamic republic, where Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants are entrenched in the country’s northwest border areas with Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, Seven soldiers were wounded on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near a military convoy in a remote tribal town near the Afghan border, local officials said.

The remote-controlled device was planted in Kandaro town in the Mohmand region, where Pakistan launched a military operation two months ago to flush out Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, a security official said.

It went off while paramilitary soldiers conducted a routine patrolling mission, he said. Seven soldiers were wounded, he added.

A local administration official confirmed the blast and said the wounded soldiers were not in danger.

Pakistan’s rugged tribal regions have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants fled across the border to escape the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

Tribesmen protest US drone attacks

Tribesmen protest US drone attacks

WANA—The tribesmen of Gangi Khel in South Waziristan Agency on Thursday took out protest demonstration and staged a ‘sit-in’ against the US drones’ attacks in tribal areas.
The protest demonstration was attended by large number of tribesmen, who chanted slogans against US and Pakistan govt. They were holding various placards inscribed with various slogans against the drones’ attacks in FATA.
The protesters expressed their profound grief and sorrow over the killing of innocent people in the attacks and demanded the immediate halt to attacks. The tribal elders held an important meeting with political agent, Abdul Ghafoor.
Addressing the protesters, Malik Bara Khan, Malik Pir Mohammad, Malik Khan Sahib, Malik Mohammad Akbar, Malik Sail Khan, Malik Shahab-ud-Din, Malik Shahzad, Malik Sanaullah, Malik Mashal, Malik Sher Dil and former councilor Said Anwar said the US president got nothing by killing our innocent people.
They demanded of the US government to immediate stop drones attacks and said that if the Pakistani government could not stop the attacks then it should pay compensation to the victims and take steps for the education of their children.

US Brands PKK’S Iran Branch, PJAK, “Terrorist Organization”

IN MAJOR FOREIGN POLICY CHANGE, US STOPS USING PJAK IN COUNTER-INSURGENCY, BRANDS IT TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

US Brands PKK’S Iran Branch, PJAK, “Terrorist Organization”

Journal of Turkish Weekly (JTW)

U.S. Department of Treasury branded PEJAK, PKK’s branch in Iran, as terrorist organization.

A press release issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury on Wednesday said that in line with their decision any assets PJAK has under U.S. jurisdiction, were frozen, and U.S. citizens were prohibited from engaging in any transactions with PJAK.

“With today’s action, we are exposing PJAK’s terrorist ties to the PKK and supporting Turkey’s efforts to protect its citizens from attack,” said Stuart Levey, U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

The press release said PKK leaders authorized certain Iranian-Kurdish PKK members to create a PKK splinter group that would portray itself as independent from but allied with PKK, underlining that PJAK was created to appeal to Iranian Kurds.

According to the press release, PKK formally institutionalized PJAK in 2004 and selected five KGK members to serve as PJAK leaders and PKK leaders also selected the members of PJAK’s 40-person central committee.

Department of Treasury also said, as of April 2008, PKK leadership controlled PJAK and allocated personnel to the group and PJAK members have carried out their activities in accordance with orders received from PKK’s senior leaders.

Report Of Mehsud Fighter In Waziristan

Footage of Pashtun in Waziristan talks about Pakistan army

US turns to Uzbekistan for ISAF supplies

See: Russia, Central Asian Leaders Form Rapid Reaction Force

* US envoy says country has no intention of re-establishing military presence in Uzbekistan
* Uzbek nationals known to be part of insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The US is quietly rebuilding ties with leaders of Uzbekistan despite its grim human rights record, a Christian Science Monitor report from Uzbekistan said on Wednesday.

The need for a more reliable land link was highlighted when the Taliban blew up a bridge on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Highway on Tuesday. With 80 percent of all supplies flowing through this route and with attacks on convoys increasing, Washington is moving to repair relations with Afghanistan’s other neighbours. Uzbekistan evicted the US military in 2005 after Washington and other Western governments called for an inquiry into the reported massacre of hundreds of civilians during a protest in Andijan. Stalled relations have served neither Uzbekistan nor the West, says US Ambassador Richard Norland. He insists, though, that the US is not turning a blind-eye to human rights abuses.

No military: Norland stresses that the US has no intention of re-establishing a military presence in Uzbekistan, adding that there is no offer of US bases nor are there any requests. The report claims that Uzbekistan hopes to receive more money and greater economic cooperation from the West as Russia’s economic prospects decline.

Uzbek role: Ethnic Uzbeks dominate northern Afghanistan. Also, members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which calls for the creation of an Islamic state in Uzbekistan, found refuge in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and later allied with Al Qaeda. Many have been killed, but Uzbek nationals are still known to be part of the insurgency in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Russia, Central Asian Leaders Form Rapid Reaction Force

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has announced agreement to create a rapid reaction force as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO. Presidents of the member states: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Russia Announces Military Initiatives in Eurasia
By Peter Fedynsky Moscow 04 February 2009

From left, Armenian Pres. Serge Sarkisian, Kazakh, Russian leaders Nursultan Nazarbayev, Dmitry Medvedev, 04 Feb 2009

Three international military initiatives have been announced in the Kremlin over the past two days, one of them involving an important Central Asian air base used to support U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. These developments appear to represent an attempt to increase Russian influence in the Eurasia region.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has announced agreement to create a rapid reaction force as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO.

Presidents of the member states: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – held a Kremlin summit in which Mr. Medvedev says they discussed mechanisms to confront what he called a wide range of challenges and threats.

The Russian president says all of the leaders agree on the necessity of adopting the appropriate decision, and agree to create a collective force.

New force will combat terrorism, crime

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan notes the new force will strengthen the CSTO’s military component, although the new structure’s announced purpose is to combat terrorism and international crime, including drug trafficking.

On Tuesday, President Medvedev and his visiting Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to create a new joint air-defense system involving five air force and 10 missile units. But Russia’s Kommersant business newspaper reports Mr. Lukashenko’s agreement was conditioned by demands for Russian weapon subsidies and Russian orders from Belarusian defense industries.

In a separate meeting at the Kremlin Tuesday, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said his country will close the U.S. air base near Bishkek that American forces have used supply military operations in Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This was accompanied by an announcement that Russia will give Bishkek a $2 billion loan as well as a $150 million aid grant.

Kyrgyz National Security Council head Adakhan Madumarov says the United States would have 180 days to leave the air base after receiving official notification to do so. But the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek said in a statement it has not received any eviction notice.

Russia hopes to end US military presence in Bishkek

Independent Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer says Russia has long resented the U.S. presence in Central Asia and paid the Kyrgyz big money to drive the Americans out.

Felgenhauer says Moscow is pursuing its long-standing policy of consolidating the post-Soviet realm into a sphere of privileged interests. He says Russia is trying to turn the CSTO into a genuine military union and to squeeze out the Americans, so all [of these initiatives] are strategically linked.

But the reliability of Moscow’s new partners is in doubt. Analysts point to the material incentives provided to gain Belarusian and Kyrgyz support, and also to Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon’s last minute decision to visit Moscow, after he indicated he would stay away in what was seen as a bid to get more Russian financial support for his impoverished nation.

The Interfax news agency reports that Uzbekistan signed the rapid reaction force accord with unspecified reservations. Tashkent has strained relations with its CSTO neighbors.

Felgenhauer also questions how the new force will be used, noting that the constitution of Belarus prohibits foreign deployment of its military, and that the Central Asian nations today face no genuine military threats.

10 Nato supply trucks torched

By Ibrahim Shinwari
LANDI KOTAL, Feb 4: Ten trucks of a convoy returning from Afghanistan after delivering Nato supplies were torched on the Peshawar-Torkham highway in Khyber Agency.

The vehicles were stranded near Ali Masjid where a bridge had been blown up by militants.

Jamrud’s Assistant Political Agent Fida Bangash said the National Highway Authority had built an alternative route under the damaged bridge for light traffic, adding that heavy traffic between Peshawar and Torkham would be restored soon.

According to officials, at least 15 rockets were fired during the night on an army camp from hilltops in Gagra. A subedar of Khyber Rifles was injured. A van was damaged when a rocket hit a house outside the camp.

Local authorities imposed a fine of Rs20 million on the Shinwari tribe for its failure to surrender two wanted men, Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Nabi, who had claimed responsibility for attacks on Nato supplies.

The fine was imposed under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) during a jirga held in Landi Kotal on Wednesday.

Eight elders of the Khogakhel tribe, who had assured the administration that they would surrender the wanted tribesmen, had earlier been taken into custody for failing to fulfil their promise.

Notices were also issued to the Sultankhel tribe to hand over people involved in blowing up the bridge on the Peshawar-Torkham highway.

Investigators see Bangladesh link in Mumbai terror attacks

By Baqir Sajjad Syed and Mohammad Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: Pakistani investigators probing into the Mumbai attacks are closing in on a Bangladeshi connection to the terrorist strike and are said to have evidence of not only the involvement of a banned militant organisation, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami, Bangladesh (HuJI-B), but also of its role in planning the attack and training the terrorists.

A reference in this regard is likely to be made in the report of the country’s premier investigation agency, FIA, that will be shared soon with India as findings of preliminary investigations.

The report is likely to indicate that the Mumbai attack was handiwork of an ‘international network of Muslim fundamentalists’ present in South Asia and spread all the way to Middle East; and may build the case for regional anti-terror cooperation.

Although contents of the report are being kept as a tightly-guarded secret by the interior ministry, sources privy to it say it would emphasise that the Mumbai incident is not strictly a Pakistan-India issue.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hassan indicated in a recent interview that investigations had revealed the terrorist attack was not planned in Pakistan. “Pakistani territory was not used so far as the investigators have made their conclusions,” Mr Hassan had said in the interview. “It could have been some other place.”

He did not say which place he was referring to. However, his remarks were dismissed by both Prime Minister Gilani and Foreign Minister Qureshi as ‘hasty’.

The investigators were intensely probing, the sources said, if at least one of the Mumbai attackers was of Bangladesh origin.

A senior western diplomat confirmed this and said there was a strong possibility that one of the attackers was a Bangladeshi national.

It has already been established that Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman involved in the Mumbai attacks, was of Pakistani origin; but the identity of the other nine terrorists killed in the incident is yet to be finally determined, although India has been claiming that they were Pakistanis.

Although the Bangladesh connection has emerged quite prominently in the investigations, there are also clear indications that some of the planning for the attacks was done in Dubai and there is also an element of local Indian support. Investigators believe it would have been almost impossible to plan and execute an attack of this proportion and sophistication without the local Indian support — a fact India is shying away from.

The sources say that the two sets of questions given to India by Pakistan also touched this aspect. India has responded to only one set and that also indirectly through US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), while reply to the second set of questions is awaited.

In a related development, the FBI is reported to have sought access from the Indian authorities to two militants, Fahim Arshad Ansari and Sabbauddin, who were arrested by Uttar Pradesh police some time between February and March last year for having made reconnaissance of several sensitive places and were later questioned for the Mumbai attacks.

The investigators also suggest that the attack may be remotely linked to Al Qaeda’s international terror network. It should be recalled that the HuJI-B, now being suspected of involvement in the attack, had been established in 1992 with material assistance and inspiration from Osama bin Laden’s International Islamic Front (IIF).

FIA-FBI cooperation

High-level exchange of notes between FBI and FIA, copies of which are available with Dawn, reveal that the two agencies had been actively cooperating in the Pakistani probe into the Mumbai attack.

Among other issues, the FIA had sought FBI’s assistance in getting information from Google Inc and Yahoo! regarding email accounts deccanmujahideen@gmail.com and drmoazam@ymail.com, used by the terrorists. The FBI was also requested information from Callphonex regarding the calls made or received by the attackers

Unreleased Pentagon Report Urges Afghanistan War Escalation

February 3, 2009, Washington, DC – A classified Pentagon report urges President Barack Obama to shift U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan, de-emphasizing democracy-building and concentrating more on targeting Taliban and al-Qaida sanctuaries inside Pakistan with the aid of Pakistani military forces.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has seen the report prepared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but it has not yet been presented to the White House, officials said Tuesday. The recommendations are one element of a broad policy reassessment under way along with recommendations to be considered by the White House from the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, and other military leaders.

In an interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams on Tuesday Obama didn’t specifically comment on the report but said it was “encouraging” that there is now a “convergence between myself and the joint chiefs and my national security team about what we have to do” on a variety of national security questions, including Afghanistan.

There is a shared view among the joint chiefs, Obama said, that “Afghanistan is getting worse, not getting better.”

“We have to have a comprehensive strategy that not only deals with the military side but also the diplomacy,” Obama said, “how are we doing development, how do we make sure that the Afghan people have a stake in change in that country which they don’t have right now.”

A senior defense official said Tuesday that it will likely take several weeks before the Obama administration rolls out its long-term strategy for Afghanistan.

More than U.S. can handle?
The Joint Chiefs’ plan reflects growing worries that the U.S. military was taking on more than it could handle in Afghanistan by pursuing the Bush administration’s broad goal of nurturing a thriving democratic government.

Instead, the plan calls for a more narrowly focused effort to root out militant strongholds along the Pakistani border and inside the neighboring country, according to officials who confirmed the essence of the report. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan publicly.

The recommendations are broadly cast and provide limited detail, meant to help develop the overarching strategy for the Afghanistan-Pakistan region rather than propose a detailed military action plan.

During a press conference Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs noted ongoing reviews of Afghan policy, but did not say when they would be made public. Obama intends, he said, to “evaluate the current direction of our policy and make some corrections as he goes forward.”

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not comment Tuesday on the details of the Joint Chiefs’ report, but acknowledged that the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is a critical component for success in Afghanistan.

“When you talk about Afghanistan, you can’t help but also recognize the fact that the border region with Pakistan is obviously a contributing factor to the stability and security of Afghanistan, and the work that Pakistan is doing to try to reduce and eliminate those safe havens, and the ability for people to move across that border that are engaged in hostile intentions,” Whitman said.

Working with Pakistan
Part of the recommended approach is to search for ways to work more intensively and effectively with the Pakistanis to root out extremist elements in the border area, the senior defense official said.

The heightened emphasis on Pakistan reflects a realization that the root of the problem lies in the militant havens inside its border – a concern outlined last week to Congress in grim testimony by Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen.

‘Art of the possible’
“The bottom line is we have to look at what the art of the possible is there,” said a U.S. military official who has operated in Afghanistan. The official, who has not seen the Joint Chiefs’ report, said the challenge is to craft a strategy that achieves U.S. goals of stabilizing the region and constraining al-Qaida, but also takes into account the powerful tribes that resist a strong central government and the ties among ethnic Pashtuns on either side of the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The Joint Chiefs’ report advises a greater emphasis on U.S. military training of Pakistani forces for counter-terror work.

Pakistan’s government is well aware of growing U.S. interest in collaborating to improve its military’s muscle against al-Qaida and Taliban elements in the border areas. The topic has been broached repeatedly by senior U.S. officials, including Mullen.

The training efforts also would expand and develop the Afghan army and police force, while at the same time work to improve Afghan governance.

The report also stresses that Afghan strategy must be driven by what the Afghans want, and that the U.S. cannot impose its own goals on the Afghanistan government.

During discussions about a new Afghanistan strategy, military leaders expressed worries that the U.S. ambitions in Afghanistan – to stabilize the country and begin to build a democracy there – were beyond its ability.

And as they tried to balance military demands in both Iraq and Afghanistan, some increasingly questioned why the U.S. continued to maintain a war-fighting force in Iraq, even though the mission there has shifted to a more support role. Those fighting forces, they argued, were needed more urgently in Afghanistan.

Military leaders have been signaling for weeks that the focus of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan would change.

Gates wants focus on terrorists
Gates told armed services committees in Congress last week that the U.S. should keep its sights on one thing: preventing Afghanistan from being used as a base for terrorists and extremists who would harm the U.S. or its allies. He bluntly added that the military could not root out terrorists while also propping up Afghanistan’s fledgling democracy.

“Afghanistan is the fourth or fifth poorest country in the world, and if we set ourselves the objective of creating some sort of Central Asian Valhalla over there, we will lose,” Gates said, a mythology reference to heaven.

Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that he was briefed last week on the military’s proposed new Afghan strategy, which he called evolving but headed in the right direction.

“There will be no Anbar awakening,” McCain, R-Ariz., told The Associated Press, referring to the tribal uprising against al-Qaida in Iraq’s Anbar province that triggered a turnaround in that conflict. “It will be long, hard and difficult.”

The Joint Chiefs report’s overall conclusions were first reported Saturday by The Associated Press. Politico reported additional details of the report Tuesday.

The U.S. is considering doubling its troop presence in Afghanistan this year to roughly 60,000, in response to growing strength by the Islamic militant Taliban, fed by safe havens they and al-Qaida have developed in an increasingly unstable Pakistan.

Obama is expected to announce soon his decision on a request for additional forces from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan. Several officials said they believe the president will approve sending three additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, totaling roughly 14,000 troops.

More Fuel For Zionist Regime’s Anti-Hezbollah Fire

Lebanon: 5 rockets found near Israel border

BEIRUT: A senior official from the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon says five rockets have been found near the Israeli border.

Milos Strugar says the rockets were discovered along with a launching pad by a patrol of peacekeepers Wednesday near the town of Naqoura where the U.N. force is headquartered. They were not set to be fired.

Strugar said Lebanese army units were called in and an investigation was under way.

The militant group Hezbollah, which has a strong presence in south

Lebanon, has a large rocket arsenal, but is not believed to have used them against Israel since their 2006 war.

Rockets from Lebanon were fired into Israel on two occasions during Israel’s Gaza offensive. Palestinian militant groups are suspected of firing them.

As Expected, Mossad False Flag Attack to Implicate Hezbollah

Worldwide Condemnation Pours Down On Venezuela After Synagogue Attack in Caracas

In the wake of the still unsolved attack on a Caracas synagogue, shock and outrage rained down upon Venezuela from around the world, as the government — and even Chavez himself — sought to put the blame on the Opposition and even the Jewish community.

By Jeremy Morgan & Russ Dallen
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

CARACAS – Reaction from around the world to the attack Friday by a group of 15 armed men who commandeered and vandalized a synagogue in Caracas at gunpoint for 4 hours — including attacking, overpowering and tieing up the guards — continued Wednesday with critics squarely pointing the finger at increasingly vitriolic statements by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

In the meantime, even after 5 days, eyewitnesses and video, criticism began to mount on government authorities who have not yet identified the perpetrators of the attack and 4 hour long occupation.

While the government publicly denied that investigations had yet to support claims that its supporters were involved in the attack, a source close to the investigation in the government security services confirmed to the Latin American Herald Tribune that a group of Palestinian and Arab supporters in Venezuela were responsible.

Chavez for his part, in a live interview on CNN on Monday continued a government strategy that sought to put responsibility for the attack on the Opposition in Venezuela. “Here what we have is a tremendous blackmail of some media that are owned by the bourgeoisie. What happens is that there is is a laboratory that creates these incidence of violence and then points the finger at the government.”

Other officials in and out of the government had chimed in, echoing this strategy of blaming the opposition or even the victims themselves. For example, Susana Kalil, a member of the Organization for the Relief of the Palestinian People, pointed the finger at Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. She claimed that Mossad had done it in order to damage the image of Chavez’ revolutionary process. She went on to claim that the attack on the Jewish house of worship is typical of Mossad and the Zionist movement worldwide, “putting bombs in their own synagogues and then accusing the rest of anti-Semitism.”

But the Venezuelan president, who is seeking an amendment to allow for his indefinite re-election in a referendum to be held on the 15th of February, did condemn the attacks. “The case of the synagogue is condemned,” said Chavez. “We condemn it and have a team investigating all the details.”

A spokesman for the Jewish community said that they were not convinced and placed the blame squarely on the president and his violent rhetoric.

In 2005, Chavez began what many onlookers believe to be a campaign against Jews by saying “The world is for all of us, then, but it so happens that a minority, the descendents of the same ones that crucified Christ, the descendents of the same ones that kicked Bolivar out of here and also crucified him in their own way over there in Santa Marta, in Colombia. A minority has taken possesion all of the wealth of the world, a minority has taken ownership of all of the gold of the planet, of the silver, of the minerals, the waters, the good lands, oil, of the wealth then and have concentrated the wealth in a few hands.”

Since then he has twice raided Jewish schools and community centers — always close to or on the eve of a visit by the Iranian President — in a continuing campaign that analysts trace back to one of his mentors, the un-repentant anti-semite and Holocaust-denier Norberto Ceresole.

Natan Zaidman said that when the president made such statements, incidents such as the attack on the Maripérez synagogue naturally followed. Such attacks affected not only the Jewish community, but Venezuelan society as a whole, he warned – and could spread to other countries in the region, where no synagogue had been profaned since the arrival of Columbus.

Requests that the authorities would guarantee the protection of Jewish citizens had been sent to the government, but no reply had been received, Zaidman added.

Fedecámaras, Venezuela’s largest business organization, added its voice to the chorus of complaint. Fedecámaras President José Manuel González called for a debate on violence in Venezuela.

González also condemned the “discourse of violence” in the country, in apparently another reference to Chávez’ speeches. “Words that give incentive to things like this must disappear from daily life,” he said.

Student leaders rejected the attack. “These things have never been seen in our democratic history,” said Ángel Medina. People were seeing things that were the “product of threats and attempts to divide by the government,” he added.

Medina lambasted the government as “indolent and of a fascist character” – much the same sort of epithet Chávez and senior officials such as Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami have used in describing leaders of student marches against the president’s intended removal of constitutional limits on elected terms of office.

The attack came just one day after Chávez claimed last Thursday that it had been an “honor” for his “socialist government” that Venezuelan diplomats had been expelled by Israel.

Last week, Israel expelled the two Venezuelan diplomats – Roland Betancourt, accredited to Israel, and Jonathan Velasquez, to the Palestinian National Authority.

His remarks were reported from Belem in north Brazil, where he was attending a World Social Forum.

Once again, he accused Israel of committing “genocide” during its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. After waiting in the hopes that things would get better, Israel had finally last week declared Venezuela’s highest ranking diplomat in Tel Aviv — the commercial attaché — as “persona non grata” after Chávez expelled Israeli Ambassador to Venezuela Schlomo Cohen on January 6.

That was in protest against Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. This time there was talk of Caracas breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel entirely.

In 2006, Chávez lambasted Israel as being “worse than Adolf Hitler” when Venezuela withdrew its charge d’Affaires from Tel Aviv.

Chávez claimed that “we’ve been waiting for this to happen,” referring to the expulsion of diplomats led by the commercial attaché, who had been Venezuela’s highest diplomatic representative in the Israeli capital. “We’ll receive them with jubilation,” he declared. They were duly met with ceremony on their return.

Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro dismissed the Israeli expulsion order as “weak and late.”

Maduro claimed that Israel’s actions had violated the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1993 by kicking out their diplomat accredited to the Palestine National Authority. “It’s a demonstration that for Israel there is no Palestinian state,” he said.

In the meantime, worldwide condemnation continued to pour scorn onto Venezuela. US Congressman Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere that covers Venezuela, wrote to Chavez condemning the attack on a synagogue. The letter, which was cosigned by Subcommittee Chairman Engel, Ranking Member Connie Mack, and 14 other members, described the attack as the result of a climate of fear and intimidation inspired by the Venezuelan government.

“The time has come to speak out strongly and clearly against the climate of fear and intimidation against the Venezuelan Jewish community which President Chavez has created,” Chairman Engel said.

“We urge you in the strongest possible terms to end the bullying and harassment of the Jewish community of your country, to extend the community the robust protection it deserves in light of the threats it faces, and to tone down your harsh rhetoric against the state of Israel to a level appropriate for diplomatic dialogue,” the letter states.

“The total disrespect of a Jewish house of worship reflects the escalating climate of hostility towards Jews in Venezuela and Congressman Engel’s letter responds strongly and appropriately to the worsening situation. The American Jewish Committee stands with Congressman Engel in condemning the harassment of the Venezuelan Jewish community and looks forward to continuing to work with him to protect this community in the future,” said Tom Kahn, Chairman of the Latino and Latin American Institute of the American Jewish Committee.

The Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere held a hearing on Venezuela on July 17, 2008 at which Chairman Engel voiced concern about the situation of the Jewish community. On January 21, 2009, he wrote to all Presidents or Prime Ministers of countries in the Western Hemisphere to raise the issue of the harsh anti-Israel tone in Venezuela and other countries in the region.

The cosigners of the letter were Reps. Eliot L. Engel, Connie Mack, Gary Ackerman, Shelley Berkley, Dan Burton, Gerry Connolly, Joe Crowley, Gene Green, Bob Inglis, Ron Klein, Donald Manzullo, Michael McMahon, Michael McCaul, Dana Rohrabacher, David Scott, Robert Wexler.

The story does have some sort of happy ending — or calmng midpoint, given that it is not yet over — in that neighbors got together on Monday after Chavez declared a sudden holiday to celebrate his 10 years in power and in old fashioned barn-building community spirit, repainted over the offending graffiti.

Click here to see and hear Chavez talk about the synagogue attack on CNN (translation provided).

Related Stories:
US Congress Condemns Chavez Fostered “Fear and Intimidation” in Venezuela

15 Heavily Armed Individuals Take Over Caracas Synagogue

On Kashmir solidarity day, separatists seek Pak’s full support

Srinagar: As Pakistan is observing the Kashmir solidarity day on Thursday, the separatists in valley seek its full backing for the “freedom struggle”. The militant leadership, however, has openly accused Pakistan of backtracking from its support to separatists saying Kashmir “struggle” is the first defence line of Pakistan.

“We are thankful to Pakistan for the support it extended us in past,” several leaders of the moderate separatist conglomerate, Hurriyat Conference said. “We are hopeful that Pakistan will not limit its support to observing solidarity day but will continue its political, diplomatic and moral support for the freedom struggle of Kashmiris”.

Pakistan officially observes February 5 as the Kashmir Solidarity day every year. And after the massive participation of the people in the J-K assembly elections, the separatists in valley are using this occasion to come back into the limelight. As part of it, the separatist organizations in valley are organizing seminars. The moderate Hurriyat conference is organizing a seminar on Thursday that will be followed by another seminar “Freedom

struggle – demands, phases and our responsibilities’ from the Syed Ali Geelani led hard line faction of the Hurriyat Conference.

Kashmiris living outside are also observing Kashmir solidarity day to draw the attention of the world community towards Kashmir problem. “The Kashmir issue can never be resolved without the participation and consent of the people,” said Executive Director of Kashmiri American Council, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai on Kashmir Solidarity Day. “Kashmir is not a border quarrel between India and Pakistan. It is not a fight between secularism and theocracy. It is about the right of self-determination of 15 million people of Jammu & Kashmir. We believe that the way to a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue lies in tripartite negotiations between India, Pakistan and the accredited leadership of the people of Jammu & Kashmir from both sides of the ceasefire line”. The Council is also organizing the Kashmir Solidarity Day in United States.Though the separatist outfits in valley have thanked Pakistan for its support, the militant leadership has openly accused Pakistan of backtracking on its Kashmir policy and termed their fight as the first defence line of Pakistan. “The freedom struggle of Kashmir is the first defence line of Pakistan,” Chairman of the United Jihad Council – a conglomerate of the militant organizations operating in Jammu and Kashmir – Syed Salah-ud-din said in Muzaffarabad. “If your (Pakistan’s) cowardice and apologetic attitude leads to any loss to Pakistan, the battle we are fighting in Kashmir might change its course to your Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar as India is bent upon launching aggression on Pakistan”.

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