Syed Fazl-e-Haider
Asia TimesThu, 30 Nov 2006 12:00 UTC
Quetta, Pakistan - Under the free-trade agreement (FTA) signed last Friday between Pakistan and China, the two countries will implement the first phase of customs duty reduction from next July 1.
A five-year tariff deal is expected to provide a level playing field for Chinese firms investing in various sectors in Pakistan, and the two countries have agreed to increase bilateral trade to US$ 8 billion by 2008.
China has rapidly increased its stake in Pakistan in recent years, and the country's Indian Ocean port of Gwadar provides Beijing with a strategic base, allowing it to extend its sphere of influence to the Middle East and Central Asia.
Traces of polonium-210 radiation have been found at two more central London addresses, police probing ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko's death say.
One address, in Down Street, reportedly houses the offices of his friend, exiled billionaire Boris Berezovsky.
The other location, in Grosvenor Street, is the headquarters of security and risk management company Erinys.
I hate seeing my country being taken for a sucker. But that, I fear, is exactly what it is being taken for with the unfortunate death of Alexander Litvinenko. As the case rolls on, and the media hysteria continues, more and more I feel what the situation is exposing is not the evilness of the Kremlin, but our own gullibility, the sloppiness of our media, the irresponsibility of our politicians, and the greed of our PR industry.
The British press has been amazingly one-sided in its coverage of the ex-spy's death.
I want to focus on one example. It's the cover story in this week's Spectator magazine. The cover had a caricature of president Putin and the headline 'The Long Arm of Putin'.
The story, written by Neil Barnett, doesn't even entertain any other theories than that the Kremlin is responsible for Litvinenko's poisoning. It is presented to the reader as an open-and-shut case.
Commentators and columnists are agreed. Pierre Gemayel's assassination must have been the handiwork of Syria because his Christian Phalangists have been long-time allies of Israel and because, as industry minister, he was one of the leading figures in the Lebanese government's anti-Syria faction. President Bush thinks so too. Case, apparently, settled.
Forty-three years ago, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Although it was obviously the work of a powerful group, the blame was placed on patsy Lee Harvey Oswald. Independent researchers have proposed explanations that point the finger at the mob, the CIA and anti-Castro Cuban forces, and Lyndon Johnson and the oil magnates. Michael Collins Piper, author of Final Judgement, an investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, demonstrates that Mossad played an important role in the murder, as part of the master puppeteer pulling the strings and involving all of the groups mentioned above. Piper talk with Laura Knight-Jadczyk.
Running Time: 01:24:27
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The assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, who was a member of the March 14 movement, will lead the country into a new crisis, with serious repercussions for all Lebanese political groups.
The assassination took place while Lebanon is undergoing a unique political process since the victory of Hezbollah over the Israeli army.
In the aftermath of Israel's 33-day war, the government and people of Lebanon should begin a new era of political stability.
However, in response to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's efforts to form a national unity government able to safeguard the achievements of the Lebanese victory, the United States and the Zionist regime began trying to destabilize Lebanon.
WASHINGTON - A classified draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House, a top US investigative reporter said on Saturday.
Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the November 27 issue of the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less, inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last week.
A long list of crimes against Iraqi civilians has been blamed on sectarian militias, which have become known as "death squads" and which some people say have strong ties to the police and government.
The prime minister has been unwilling to disband them, as he needs their leaders' votes to secure the majority within his parliamentary coalition.
Some Iraqis link the continued existence of those militias to the fight for the premiership this year by Nouri al-Maliki, who won against Adil Abdul al-Mahdi, the nominee of the Iran-backed Sciri (Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq).
Comment: Given the large number of murders being carried out by the "death squads", it is very clear that they act with impunity and are therefore sanctioned in some way by that part of the Iraqi government (which is no longer functional) that holds the real power.
Given that the US is essentially a force of occupation and has taken possession of Iraq and established the Iraqi government with people it can control, it is logical and reasonable to assert that the death squads in Iraq are sanctioned and controlled by some section of the US government or one of its agencies in Iraq. See
this Signs of the Times article for the inside story.
Cloak News - Washington, D.C. - Zapata Engineering, an offshoot of Zapata Oil with offices in North Carolina, Hawaii and Tel Aviv, have now been linked to the hiring of private Mossad contractors aka alleged Israeli Engineers in Iraq. Of course that is not the real story.
It can now be reported that Zapata Engineering has hired these Israeli Mossad-types into Iraq for the purposes of alleged counter-insurgency.
U.S. President George Bush was informed on Tuesday of an initiative to establish a center under his name in Israel, as a sign of gratitude for his support for the country and its security. Outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the United States Daniel Ayalon asked Bush for the go-ahead to establish such a center during a farewell meeting with the president and his deputy, Dick Cheney.
Comment: Psychopaths of a feather...
Comment: Given the large number of murders being carried out by the "death squads", it is very clear that they act with impunity and are therefore sanctioned in some way by that part of the Iraqi government (which is no longer functional) that holds the real power.
Given that the US is essentially a force of occupation and has taken possession of Iraq and established the Iraqi government with people it can control, it is logical and reasonable to assert that the death squads in Iraq are sanctioned and controlled by some section of the US government or one of its agencies in Iraq. See this Signs of the Times article for the inside story.