Visit the MEMRI blog (www.thememriblog.org) daily for news updates you will find nowhere else. The following is a selection of entries taken from the daily reports of the last two weeks. We also encourage visitors to MEMRI sites to utilize our new RSS feeds. Now you can get the latest MEMRI content directly to your RSS reader or aggregator. Simply copy the URL of the RSS icon on any MEMRI site into your newsreader and you’ll stay up to date with the most recent content from MEMRI.
Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah: Our Fighters Are Always Ready For Jihad
Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah told Hizbullah fighters at the end of last weekend's large-scale military exercise (see "Lebanese MP: Hizbullah Maneuvers Endangers Lebanon") that the exercise was a clear message to the enemy, who had carried out maneuvers until a few days ago.
Nasrallah said, "The Islamic resistance and its fighters are always ready for jihad for defense, and for sacrifice..."
He added that Hizbullah's fighters were more determined today than in the past, and were more certain of arrival of the longed-for victory.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Lebanon, November 8, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3592.htm
Syrian Paper: Syria Fears Saudi-Israeli Normalization
In an article, the Syrian daily Al-Watan stated that what frightens Syrian most in the run-up to the Annapolis conference is normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
According to columnist Thanaa Al-Imam, the Riyadh agreement for normalization with Israel would break the psychological barrier and would lead other Arab and Islamic countries to take similar steps.
Source: Al-Watan, Syria, November 8, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3591.htm
Saudi King: The Time Has Come For A Just Arab-Israeli Peace
At the conclusion of his visit to Italy on November 6, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abd Al-'Aziz said that the time had come to end the tragedy of the Arab-Israeli conflict and to reach a just peace, that would preserve the rights of all sides and would be based on the principles of integrity and on the international resolutions.
Source: Al-Hayat, London, November 8, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3585.htm
Iran Threat On Agenda Of Gulf Defense Ministers Conference
Upon his return to Kuwait from attending the Gulf defense ministers' conference, Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak said that threats by senior Iranian officials against the Gulf states had been on the conference agenda.
He added that the conference had decided to beef up the Gulf states' joint land forces with naval and air forces.
Source: Al-Jazirah, Kuwait, November 8, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3584.htm
Iranian Weekly: Israel Wants to Continue Capitalizing On Myth of Holocaust
An article in Sobh-e Sadeq, the mouthpiece of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei among the Revolutionary Guards, stated that by rejecting Ahmadinejad's suggestion to set up an international investigative committee on the Holocaust, Israel had revealed its efforts to conceal the truth from the world and to continue capitalizing on the myth of the Holocaust. Another Sobh-e Sadeq article, titled "Israel and Nuclear Iran," assessed that Israel would not attack Iran unless backed by the U.S.
Source: Sobh-e Sadeq, Iran, November 5, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3573.htm
Moroccan King: Spanish King's Visit to Ceuta, Melilla Jeopardizes Our Relations with Spain
In an official statement issued November 6, 2007, Morocco's King Muhammad IV said that Spanish King Juan Carlos' visit to the cities of Ceuta and Melilla "offends the national sentiments" of Moroccans and "jeopardizes the future and the development of relations between the two countries."
Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish enclaves in North Africa that Morocco claims as its own territory.
A thousand Moroccans demonstrated on the border of Melilla on the day of the visit, calling out "Juan Carlos Go Home, Melilla Is Not Yours" and "Ceuta, Melilla and the Western Sahara [Are Moroccan]."
Source: www.elaph.com, November 6, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3561.htm
Algeria: We Have No Secret Prisons
Algerian Communications Minister Abderrachid Boukarzaza categorically denied claims in a recent U.N. report about the existence of secret prisons in his country. In a November 6 press conference, he said "The authors of the U.N. report know very well... [exactly] which country has secret prisons."
The issue of secret prisons was recently added to the agenda in Algeria, since a court postponement of the trial of Hassan Hattab, founder of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, on grounds that his whereabouts were unknown to the court. The court's statement aroused puzzlement in Algeria, since Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni had stated earlier that Hattab had turned himself in to authorities.
Source: Al-Khabar, Algeria, November 7, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3562.htm
France Offers To Normalize Relations With Syria In Return For Cooperation Vis-à-Vis Lebanese Election
The Lebanese daily Al-Safir reported that senior French presidential advisors Claude Guéant and Jean-David Levitte, who met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on November 4, had asked for Assad's help in ensuring that the Lebanese presidential election be held before November 24.
The French envoys offered in return normalization of France–Syria relations and an end to Europe's isolation of Syria.
Source: Al-Safir, Lebanon, November 7, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3566.htm
NGOs Call For Emergency Security Council Session On Darfur
In light of the ongoing violence in the region and the delay in the deployment of the peacekeeping force, the Save Darfur Coalition, comprising some 180 organizations, called on Security Council Chairman Nugroho Wisnumurti to convene an emergency session on Darfur. The coalition also called on the Security Council to condemn the Sudanese government for the recent escalation of violence perpetrated by its forces and its Janjaweed militias.
In response, Sudanese ambassador to the U.N. 'Abd Al-Mahmoud 'Abd Al-Halim questioned the coalition's reliability, and said that the Sudanese government has fulfilled all its obligations. He added that actions were needed, not Security Council sessions.
Source: Al-Ayyam, Sudan, November 7, 2007; Al-Sahafa, Sudan, November 7, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3564.htm
Syrian Human Rights Committee Demands Investigation Of Shooting Of Kurdish Demonstrators
Above: Shiyar Ali Khalil, shot during demonstration in Qamshili, Syria (photo from Syrian opposition website)
The Syrian Human Rights Committee has called for an independent and neutral committee to investigate the November 2 shooting of Kurdish demonstrators during a demonstration in support of the PKK in the city of Qamshili (see "In Syria, Kurdish Demonstrator Killed, Dozens Wounded, Arrested").
One died and dozens were wounded in the shooting.
It also demanded that compensation be paid to the families of the dead man and of the wounded.
Sources: Akhbar Al-Sharq, Syria, November 5, 2007; http://tharwacommunity.typepad.com/syrian_elector/ .
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3555.htm
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Cartoon In Qatari Paper On "Humanitarian Efforts" In Africa
On sleeve: "Humanitarian efforts."
Source: Al-Jarida website, Qatar, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3550.htm
Cartoon In Qatari Paper: "The Symbol Of The [Annapolis] Peace Conference"
Source: Al-Watan, Qatar, November 3, 2007
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3546.htm
Syrian Mufti To German Parliament: I'm A Secular Muslim
Mufti of Syria Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hasson said in a lecture to the German parliament that secularism was not against religion, and defined himself as a "secular Muslim."
Hasson added that the religions shared common elements, and that as far as he was concerned there was no difference between praying in a Christian church, in a Jewish synagogue, or in a Muslim mosque.
He also said that anyone who killed in the name of religion was lying, and that there was no such thing as "holy war."
Source: Akhbar Al-Sharq, London, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3543.htm
Representatives Of Darfur Opposition Accuse Gov’t Of Evacuating Refugee Camps
Representatives of oppositionist movements in the southern district of Darfur yesterday accused the government of forcibly evacuating the refugee camps in Darfur.
They added that this was dangerous and inhuman, and would lead to a crisis.
The secretary of the Hama oppositionist party in the district said that the government was heavily pressuring the refugees with the aim of evacuating them before international forces arrive.
Source: Al-Ayyam, Sudan, November 5, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3541.htm
Darfur Rebels Quit Agreements
The Darfur Rebels movement, a branch of the Movement for Justice and Equality, which calls itself The Revolutionary Field Council and is headed by Muhammad Alah Harbeh, announced that it was quitting the May 2005 Abujah accords between rebel movements and the Sudanese government.
Harbeh also announced that his movement would not honor any agreement to which it was not party.
Source: Al-Ayyam, Sudan, November 5, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3540.htm
Saudi Arabia Removes Liberal Lecturer
The council of Al-Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, has decided to remove liberal lecturer Muhammad bin Alii Al-Mahmoud, claiming that he was giving students extremist messages.
Al-Mahmoud, who writes regularly for the Saudi daily Al-Watan, has criticized the Salafi stream, terrorism's infiltration of the extremist stream, and the religious discourse in the country.
He told Al-Arabiya TV in an interview that the Education Ministry would not let him complete his university studies.
Source: Alarabiya.net, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3539.htm
Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Initiative Launched
The PFLP, the DFLP, and Islamic Jihad have presented an initiative for resolving the Fatah-Hamas crisis.
Under the initiative, Hamas will restore the situation in Gaza to its situation prior to the June 14 takeover, while Fatah will return to the negotiating table with Hamas.
Likewise, both sides are to stop arrests and incitement against each others' members, so as to ensure the success of the negotiations.
While Fatah has accepted the initiative, Hamas has rejected the preconditions and has clarified that it is willing to renew the dialogue only without preconditions.
Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3535.htm
Iran Censors Riot Reports
Iran's Supreme National Council has instituted sweeping censorship of coverage of rioting in the east of the country, as well as coverage of the situation in the Kurdish areas in Iran and of Kurds in Iran in general.
Source: Rooz, Iran, November 5, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3534.htm
Report: Hizbullah "Unprecedented" Military Exercise South Of Litani River
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar has reported that over the past three days Hizbullah has held an "unprecedented and biggest in Hizbullah's history" military exercise in extensive areas south of the Litani river.
The paper said that thousands of soldiers from all units of the resistance participated, including infantry, anti-tank, engineering, and air defense forces, as well as the missile unit, which had a proven ability "to strike any point in the territory of Palestine."
Source: Al-Akhbar, Lebanon, November 5, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3530.htm
Iranian Police Arrest 32 "Half-Naked" Partygoers
Iranian police said Saturday that they had arrested 32 university students at a party in Karaj, outside Tehran, for drinking alcohol and "being half-naked," the ISNA news agency reported.
The Tehran province security police chief Nader Sarkari said that the raid followed a tip-off and that the students were celebrating after one of them had won a medal in an international competition.
Iran is experiencing one of its tightest moral crackdowns in years. The campaign has already seen thousands of women warned by police for wearing un-Islamic garb.
Last week in the city of Karaj, 230 were arrested at an illegal rock concert last week when 230 were detained, and some two months ago, police arrested 20 young people at a party, also in Karaj.
Mixed-sex parties are illegal in Iran, as is public or private consumption of alcohol and attending gatherings with improperly clad members of the opposite sex. Dancing to Western music is frowned upon as well.
Police commissioner Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghaddam said that the moral crackdown – called a drive to "elevate security in society" – would continue because it had proved popular with the public.
Source: Alarabiya.net, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3526.htm
Algeria Bans Oppositionist's Book At Annual Book Fair
All copies of the new book by journalist Mohamed Benchicou, The Jails of Algiers, were confiscated, and the publisher's booth shut down, at the opening of the annual Algiers book fair.
The book deals, inter alia, with the two years its author spent in prison. Benchicou was tried for bringing foreign currency into the country, but the trial, which was harshly criticized by human rights organizations, was held after he criticized Algerian Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni and published a book on the Algerian president titled Bouteflika: An Algerian Imposter.
The book fair organizers said that his new book was banned for display because the required permit had not been obtained.
Source: lematindz.net, November 3 and 5, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3524.htm
Syrian FM: We Have Arrested 1,614 Extremists Who Tried To Infiltrate Into Iraq
Speaking at an Istanbul conference, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mu'alem gave an overview of the steps Syria had taken to prevent infiltration of fighters into Iraq via the Syrian border.
He said that among other measures, Syria had arrested and extradited 1,624 extremists, both Arabs and foreigners, trying to cross into Iraq, and had set up 557 guard stations manned by two brigades of Syrian border guard.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3521.htm
Report: Egyptian Jihad Leaders Agree To Ideological Reform
Diya Rashwan, Islamic movements expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Research, has reported that all the leaders of the Egyptian Jihad movement have agreed to a document of new ideological reforms that reject extremist jihad operations.
The document was authored by Sayyed Imam, former emir of the organization and senior ideologue of the Global Jihad movement.
According to Mamdouh Isma'il, a jurist close to the Islamic movements in Egypt, the reforms will be a step in the advancement of an ideological revision of Al-Qaeda as well.
Recently, some 400 members of the jihad organization Al-Takfir W'Al-Hijra were freed after they agreed to reforms and undertook to abandon violence.
Source: Al-Masri Al-Yawm, Egypt, November 3 and 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3520.htm
Report: U.S. Threatens Lahoud, Aoun
The liberal website Elaph.com has reported that U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feldman met recently with a senior Lebanese official close to Lebanese President Emil Lahoud and gave him threatening messages, saying that the U.S. would freeze the assets of Lahoud and all his family, and would even try him on charges of supporting terrorism, if he took a step harming Lebanon's stability such as establishing a second government.
Ambassador Feldman also warned Lahoud against considering the possibility of remaining in the presidential palace after his term ends on November 24.
It was reported that a threat warning against the establishment of a second government in Lebanon was conveyed by the ambassador to Michel Aoun, chairman of the Free Patriotic Party.
Source: Elaph.com, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3519.htm
Iran Rejects Saudi Uranium Enrichment Proposal
Iranian Supreme National Security Council deputy secretary Javad Va'eedi has said that his country has rejected Saudi Arabia's proposal to establish a complex to enrich uranium for the use of the Iran and the Gulf countries (see "Saudi FM: Gulf States Willing To Enrich Uranium For Iran").
Editor of the Iranian daily Kayhan Hossein Shari'atmadari, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, wrote in an editorial that the Saudi proposal's demand that Iran stop enriching uranium on its territory is more extreme than the West's demands. He said that the Saudi proposal is reminiscent of the Saudi peace proposal, which is "many times more shameful and treacherous" than the Camp David agreement.
Another editorial in the paper responded to President Bush's declaration that Iran going nuclear would lead to World War III, stating that Iran "would emerge triumphant and proud" from such a war.
Source: Kayhan, Iran, November 3 and 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3516.htm
Saudi Human Rights Group Trying To Unblock Human Rights Watch Website In Saudi Arabia
The National Association for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia is taking action during these days to remove the blocking of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Arabic-language website in Saudi Arabia.
The association's monitoring committee head, Dr. Saleh Al-Khathalan, said that it is not fitting for Saudi Arabia to block access to the HRW Arabic website because Saudi Arabia is a member of the U.N. Human Rights Commission and because the block harms Saudi Arabia's image with regard to human rights and free speech.
Source: Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, November 4, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3514.htm
Ahmadinejad in Speech to Basij Forces: "These are the First Steps of Our March in the Nuclear Field"
In a speech to members of the paramilitary Basij forces, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, addressing the U.S. and the West: “...You will die of anger if you continue to be angry at our youth [i.e. young scientists working in nuclear development]. These are the first steps of our march in the nuclear field. I am sure that this youth will bring us to the highest level of development.”
To view a clip of this speech on YouTube, Click Here.
Source: IRNA, Iran, October 30, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3512.htm
Saudi Fatwa Bans Camel Beauty Contests
Members of Saudi Arabia's Senior Clerics Association have issued a fatwa banning camel beauty contests.
The fatwa stated that the contests are prohibited because they include perversion, waste money on futility and ostentation, and are similar to games banned by the Koran.
Camel beauty contests have been held annually at this time for the past decade, and are part of Saudi tribal folklore.
Source: alarabiya.net, November 2, 2007.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3504.htm
