07/05/06 - Le patron de la CIA démissionné pour corruption ou parce que la  CIA est aveugle sur l'Iran ? 

CIA in disarray as Rumsfeld starts turf war with rival
Independant 07/05/06

"...There was also speculation yesterday that he may have gone partly as a result of a lobbying scandal involving some of his senior staff. An FBI investigation is under way into the activities of the agency's third ranking official, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. He is accused of fraternising with a lobbyist who stands accused of hiring prostitutes for the entertainment of politicians. Administration officials firmly denied that Mr Goss's departure was in any way connected with that investigation..."


Senior official says Goss resignation 'all about the Duke Cunningham scandal'
Raw Story 06/05/06

"According to a senior law enforcement official quoted in an article in Saturday's NY Daily News, the resignation of Porter Goss is tied to the scandal enveloping a Republican congressman convicted for taking bribes in exchange for government contract hand-outs..."


CIA boss Goss is cooked
New York Daily News 06/05/06

"CIA Director Porter Goss abruptly resigned yesterday amid allegations that he and a top aide may have attended Watergate poker parties where bribes and prostitutes were provided to a corrupt congressman.

Kyle (Dusty) Foggo, the No. 3 official at the CIA, could soon be indicted in a widening FBI investigation of the parties thrown by defense contractor Brent Wilkes, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the bribery conviction of former Rep. Randall (Duke) Cunningham, law enforcement sources said.

A CIA spokeswoman said Foggo went to the lavish weekly hospitality-suite parties at the Watergate and Westin Grand hotels but "just for poker."

Intelligence and law enforcement sources said solid evidence had yet to emerge that Goss also went to the parties, but Goss and Foggo share a fondness for poker and expensive cigars, and the FBI investigation was continuing..."


CIA chief Goss quiet on abrupt departure
Reuters 06/05/06

"Porter Goss said on Saturday the reason for his abrupt resignation as CIA chief after less than two years on the job would remain a mystery, while the White House denied that President George W. Bush had lost confidence in him..."


CIA Director Forced Out
CBS/AP 05/05/06

"...CBS News has learned that, despite public posturing by the White House, Goss was forced into resigning his job..."

"...Agency officials dismissed suggestions that the resignation was tied to controversy surrounding the CIA's executive director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. The FBI is investigating whether Foggo's longtime friend, defense contractor Brent Wilkes, provided prostitutes, limousines and hotel suites to former California congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to taking bribes from Wilkes and others in exchange for government contracts..."


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New Chief Will Find C.I.A. Is Hobbled on Iran
NYT 06/05/06

"As the Central Intelligence Agency undergoes its latest round of turmoil, legislators and former intelligence officials say that serious gaps in the United States' knowledge of Iran are among the most critical problems facing a new director of the spy agency.

A year after a presidential commission gave a scathing assessment of intelligence on Iran, they say, American spy agencies remain severely handicapped in their efforts to assess its weapons programs and its leaders' intentions. Whoever takes the helm of the C.I.A. after the resignation on Friday of Porter J. Goss will confront a critical target with few, if any, American spies on the ground, sketchy communications intercepts and ambiguous satellite images, the experts say.

When he took the job 19 months ago, part of Mr. Goss's mandate was to make certain that the wildly mistaken prewar assessments about Iraq's weapons would not repeated. But as Mr. Goss leaves the agency, the intelligence watchers say that huge uncertainty remains in estimates of Iran's weapons, complicating the task of persuading the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions or take other measures.

"How many years are they away from having a nuclear weapon?" asked Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, in an interview this week. "We don't know, and the people providing the answers don't know.".."


Goss departure raises questions about CIA health
Reuters 06/05/06

"The abrupt resignation of CIA Director Porter Goss raises disturbing questions about the U.S. flagship intelligence agency's health, amid growing concerns about a nuclear Iran, turmoil in Iraq and the al Qaeda threat..."


07/05/06 - IN-Q-TEL... La SEC enquêterait sur un scandale qui pourrait éclabousser la CIA

WMR May 6, 2006 -- "General Hayden's nomination to be the next CIA Director came as another scandal involving the intelligence agency emerged in addition to the "Hookergate" scandal centered on the Watergate and another Washington hotel. Under Goss, the CIA's venture capital arm, IN-Q-TEL, which provides CIA money to promising high-tech start-up firms, became the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation for possible massive misappropriation of taxpayer money and private money involving IN-Q-TEL, NASA's venture capital branch -- Red Planet Capital -- The US Special Operations Command's venture capital firm On Point, and the infamous Carlyle Group -- the war profiteering company in which George H. W. Bush, the Bin Laden family, and former Secretary of State James Baker have held major financial interests.

Suspicions about IN-Q-TEL were raised in late April when its 35-year-old CEO, Amit Yoran, abruptly resigned to "spend more time with his family." Yoran, an Israeli-American, had been on the job for just four months after he succeeded IN-Q-TEL's first CEO, Gilman Louie, a well-known Silicon Valley investor and technical guru. Before taking over IN-Q-TEL, Yoran was the director of the National Cyber Security Division at the Department of Homeland Security. Under Yoran, IN-Q-TEL's operating budget increased exponentially and the firm began negotiating with various high-tech firms to develop deep data mining programs and spy technology. Yoran's rumored successor was said to be Mark Frantz, who Yoran brought from The Carlyle Group to be IN-Q-TEL's managing general partner and board of trustees member. Frantz worked for George H. W. Bush and held a senior position with Alex Brown, later merged with Deutsche Bank, the firm where the CIA's former Executive Director, A. B. "Buzzy" Krongard served as Chairman. IN-Q-TEL's board of trustees chairman is Lee A. Ault III of Delray Beach, Florida, who also serves on the board of Office Depot.

Individuals familiar with IN-Q-TEL report that the company is suspected of steering CIA funds to start-up firms with close ties to the GOP as well as "pump and dump" penny stock firms tied to three foreign nations -- Israel, Dubai, and Malaysia. The emerging IN-Q-TEL scandal is mirrored by the financial scandal involving favoritism in CIA contracts to Brent Wilkes' ADCS and its subsidiaries.

Deputy DNI Gen. Michael Hayden, who presided over dubious multi-billion dollar contracts -- including Groundbreaker and Trailblazer -- as NSA director, has a great deal of experience in covering up cost overruns, contractor fraud, and contract favoritism. Beyond the need to have a good foot soldier at the helm of the CIA, the Bush administration is clearly hoping that Hayden, using his special form of intimidation through the use of psychiatric and security personnel to threaten whistleblowers, can tamp down the emerging financial "Watergate" emerging at the CIA."


Voir, See :

Four Months Later, In-Q-Tel Again Needs New CEO
WaPo 24/04/06


07/05/06 - Tony Blair règle ses comptes avec Jack Straw

The two crucial mistakes that cost Straw his job
Guardian 06/05/06

"Jack Straw made two crucial mistakes in his dealings with Tony Blair: one involved the prime minister's relationship with Gordon Brown and the other Iran. Mr Straw has said repeatedly that it is "inconceivable" that there will be a military strike on Iran and last month dismissed as "nuts" a report that George Bush was keeping on the table the option of using tactical nuclear weapons against Tehran's nuclear plants.

But Mr Blair, who sees Iran as the world's biggest threat, does not agree with his former foreign secretary. The prime minister argues that, at the very least, nothing should be ruled out in order to keep Iran guessing. Downing Street phoned the Foreign Office several times to suggest Mr Straw stop going on the BBC Today programme and ruling it out so categorically..."


07/05/06 - Nucléaire iranien : Russie et Chine bloquent le projet de résolution proposée au Conseil de Sécurité

China opposes Chapter 7 on Iran
Reuters 06/05/06

"Russia and China on Friday opposed key provisions in a U.N. draft resolution that orders Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, making an agreement unlikely before ministers come to New York next week.

Both nations object to the use of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, used in dozens of Security Council resolutions for peacekeeping missions and other legally-binding actions.

Although Chapter 7 allows for sanctions and even war, a separate resolution is required to specify either step.

"I think we have serious difficulty with Chapter 7 and the threat to international peace and security. These are the basic ones," China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, told reporters..."


Russia and China press for changes to Iran draft
AFP 06/05/06

"Russia and China stuck to their demands for major changes to a draft resolution that would legally oblige Iran to halt uranium enrichment, as the UN Security Council held inconclusive consultations on the text..."


Criticism of UN Iran draft mounts
BBC 06/05/06

"Russia says the draft needs rewriting with stronger emphasis put on building confidence between Iran and the UN.

China says it is worried that the draft's Western sponsors have based it on UN rules that could open the way for the use of military force against Iran..."


Britain, France circulate Iran resolution
ISN 04/05/06

"Britain and France have circulated a draft resolution in the UN Security Council which, if passed, would put Iran in breach of international law if it continues uranium enrichment activities.

The document was written in close consultation with Germany and the US.

The text stops short of threatening sanctions but does invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter which is used to authorize economic sanctions and military action against states threatening international security, according to agency reports.

The draft resolution reads: "Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the IAEA, and suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water."

No time period for compliance is mentioned in the draft text, though the French Ambassador to the UN, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, told reporters that Iran was to be given until "no later than early June"..."


Britain and France Press U.N. to Oppose Iran Nuclear Efforts
NYT 04/05/06

"...The measure was drafted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which makes resolutions mandatory and opens the way to penalties or military action.

The draft does not mention sanctions, which would take a new resolution, but states the Council's "intention to consider such further measures as may be necessary to ensure compliance with this resolution."..."


Security Council Is Given Iran Resolution
WaPo 04/05/06

"Britain, France and Germany presented the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday with a draft resolution that urges states to restrict nuclear trade with Iran and requires Tehran to halt enriching uranium or face "further measures," a veiled reference to possible sanctions..."


07/05/06 - Nucléaire iranien : L'inquiétude des pays du Golfe

Gulf Arabs want Iran guarantees over nuclear fears
Reuters 07/05/06

"RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S.-allied Gulf Arab leaders called on Iran on Saturday to do more to show it was not trying to obtain an atom bomb, thereby saving the region from another war.

Gulf Arab countries, wary of Iranian power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, share U.S. concern at the prospect of Iran having a nuclear bomb but fear another military conflict in the region after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Gulf Arabs are also worried about the possible environmental effects of a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear plant at Bushehr on the opposite side of the Gulf, or of leakage from unmonitored Iranian sites..."

"...The minister declined to say whether the political and economic alliance, comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE, might try to use its close links to Washington to mediate in the dispute.

He said Iran had "commitments" to its Gulf Arab neighbors as well as the international community to ease concern over its nuclear plans.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and has vowed revenge if attacked by the United States or U.S. ally Israel..."

"...Popular concern over a nuclear Iran in the Arab world is mainly limited to the Gulf region. Iran's pro-Palestinian rhetoric plays well to Arab publics who view their governments as doing little to stand up to U.S. backing for Israel.

Arab countries bordering Israel are at least as concerned about the Jewish state's suspected nuclear arsenal.

"These (Gulf Arab) countries do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon but they also do not want it taken by force," said Saudi political analyst Dawoud al-Shiryan.

Gulf countries, particularly heavyweight Saudi Arabia, fear pressure on them to follow in Iran's footsteps if obtains the bomb -- challenging the quietist ethos of Gulf states and their alliance with Washington."


06/05/06 - Montée des tensions intérieures en Iran ?

Security situation in Khuzestan under control: Iranian intelligence minister
MNA 06/05/06

"TEHRAN, May 6 (MNA) -- Intelligence Minister Qolam-Hossein Mohseni Ejeii said here on Saturday that the security situation in Iran is very good.

The Intelligence Ministry is in complete control of the security situation in Khuzestan Province and has reined in insecurity there, he told reporters.

Mohseni Ejeii went on to say that enemies based outside the country are trying to create insecurity in Iran with the help of elements inside the country.

He also stated that judicial officials have arrested a man named Ramin Jahanbegloo on charges of “ties with foreigners”.

“Jahanbegloo is being held by the Intelligence Ministry while the charges are being examined. More information will be released to the public after the case is studied further,” he added.

The intelligence minister said that the enemies are trying to foment discord between the people and officials by causing insecurity in Iran, but the people should remain vigilant in order to foil their plots.

In response to a question about the recent insecurity in Iran’s eastern border regions and Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Mohseni Ejeii expressed hope that the Intelligence Ministry would soon arrest the perpetrators of the vicious attacks, with the help of the police, and would hand them over to judicial bodies for punishment in order to prevent similar attacks in the future.

Asked about the claim by an Israeli daily about a plot by the Mossad to assassinate President Ahmadinejad, he said that, if necessary, the Intelligence Ministry would step up security measures to protect the president, but added that he believes the threats were only psychological warfare and were not serious."


Group claims has killed Iran Revolutionary Guards commander
Iran Focus 06/05/06

"Iran Focus London, May 06 – A group opposed to the government of Iran announced on Saturday that its members had executed a local commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the south-eastern province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan.

The Baluchi group calling itself Jondollah said in a statement that its members had killed IRGC Colonel Hamid-Reza Kaveh.

The statement also denied that some of Jondollah’s members had been arrested by authorities.

In March, the group claimed responsibility for an armed attack on a convoy of government officials in the province, which left twenty-two government and provincial officials dead and at least seven, including the governor of the city of Zahedan, critically wounded.

In April, Iran’s state-run media reported that security forces had killed the group’s leader Abdolmalek Reigi along with 11 of its members on the border with Afghanistan.

The claim proved to be false after Reigi subsequently appeared on an Arabic-language satellite channel denying such rumours.

Iran has not confirmed the group’s latest announcement."


RENEWED BALUCHI THREATS IN SOUTHEAST
RFE/RL Iran Report 03/05/06

"The ethnic Baluchi group known as Jundullah has announced that "it will smash the mouths of those Sunni religious scholars who say anything against them," the official "Iran" newspaper reported on April 25. Jundullah claimed responsibility for a March 16 attack on a motorcade traveling between the cities of Zahedan and Zabol in which more than 20 people were killed and another seven were injured, and in early April it released a videotape in which it claimed to have killed an officer in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," March 29 and April 18, 2006). Baqer Kurd, who represented Zahedan in the sixth parliament (2000-04), discussed continuing insecurity in the province in an interview that appeared in "Etemad-i Melli" daily on April 18. "The government must pay greater attention to creating employment in the province, and allow native forces to have greater involvement in the border control provided by the police and security forces," he said. Kurd called on the government to allow greater involvement of "local elders" and "greater participation by the region's elites and clerics in public, security and social issues." ".


BALUCHI GROUP CLAIMS TO KILL HOSTAGE
RFE/RL Iran Report 18/04/06

"Al-Arabiyah television broadcast on April 12 a videotape in which the ethnic Baluchi group known as Jundullah claimed to have killed Ahmad Zahed Sheikhi, an officer in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. Sheikhi's identity card was shown, and Jundullah leader Abdulmalik Rigi spoke on the tape. Jundullah has claimed responsibility for the March 16 attack on a motorcade traveling between the cities of Zahedan and Zabol in which more than 20 people were killed and another seven were injured (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 29 March 2006). The group released a videotape in which it said it is holding several hostages.

In a 13 April press conference in Mashhad, Interior Minister Hojatoleslam Mustafa Purmohammadi refused to confirm the alleged death of the military officer, IRNA reported. He said operations against insurgents in Sistan va Baluchistan, as well as efforts to free the hostages, are continuing.

In an April 14 speech to Shiite and Sunnite clerics in the southeastern city of Zahedan, Pur-Mohammadi said the government would deal with efforts to cause insecurity in Iran, IRNA reported."


SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN IRANIAN ASSASSINATION PLOT
RFE/RL Iran Report 29/03/06

"Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam satellite television reported on March 20 that Iranian security personnel have arrested an unspecified number of people suspected of planning assassinations in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. The suspects reportedly were carrying "advanced weapons equipped with silencers and laser equipment normally used in assassinations, some of which are made in Britain." Unrest in southwestern Iran has been continuing for about a year, and Iranian officials have repeatedly claimed that Great Britain is involved with such incidents.

Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Musavi-Jazayeri, the Friday-prayer leader in Ahvaz, said in his March 17 sermon that the United States is behind efforts to cause ethnic unrest and political divisions in Iran, Khuzestan Province television reported on March 18. "Admitting that it has failed in confronting the Islamic system, the arrogance, including America, has begun a policy of creating division among the political elite and inciting ethnic groups." These U.S. efforts, he continued, will fail because "all ethnic groups in Iran enjoy equality and fraternity and there is no division among them." Referring to the U.S. allocation of funding for democracy promotion in Iran, he said, "The policies of America, which are designed by the Zionists, have always failed, because of our nation's iron will." ".


06/05/06 - Le Vice-Président US, Dick Cheney, lance une guerre froide d'inspiration pétrolière

Strong Rebuke for the Kremlin From Cheney
NYT 05/05/06

"Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday delivered the Bush administration's strongest rebuke of Russia to date. He said the Russian government "unfairly and improperly restricted" people's rights and suggested that it sought to undermine its neighbors and to use the country's vast resources of oil and gas as "tools of intimidation or blackmail."

"In many areas of civil society - from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties - the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people," Mr. Cheney said in a speech to European leaders in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius. "Other actions by the Russian government have been counterproductive, and could begin to affect relations with other countries."

Mr. Cheney's remarks, which officials in Washington said had been heavily vetted and therefore reflected the administration's current thinking on Russia, appeared to lay down new markers for a relationship that has become strained and could become significantly more so in the months ahead.

The remarks, in a transcript released by the White House, came in the midst of an international confrontation over Iran's nuclear programs, where the United States has tried to enlist Russia's help in putting pressure on or punishing Tehran. Mr. Cheney's criticisms would seem to complicate those efforts, but they could also reflect a growing impatience with Russia's unwillingness to back stronger measures, including sanctions, against the Iranians..."


Lavrov refuses to be drawn on paper's Cheney-Churchill parallels
RIA Novosti 05/05/06

"Russia's foreign minister Friday played down media speculation that a speech by the American vice president was a modern-day version of Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech.

An article in leading business daily Kommersant said Dick Cheney's speech Thursday at a regional summit in Lithuania, in which he voiced harsh criticism of Russia, was similar to Churchill's speech in Fulton, Missouri, which many in Russia see as heralding the start of the Cold War.

"I would rather not compare these politicians or give this sort of ratings," Sergei Lavrov said..."


White House backs Cheney on Russia
Reuters 05/05/06

"The White House on Friday backed Vice President Dick Cheney's tough speech on Russia and said Russian President Vladimir Putin should move on democratic reforms before hosting a major international summit in July..."


Cheney Urges Energy Export Routes That Bypass Russia
NYT 05/05/06

"A day after chastising Moscow for its use of oil and natural gas as "tools for intimidation and blackmail," Vice President Dick Cheney visited Kazakhstan today to promote export routes that bypass Russia and directly supply the West..."


Cheney's sharp criticism miffs Russia
AP 04/05/06

"Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday accused Russia of cracking down on religious and political rights and using its energy reserves as "tools of intimidation or blackmail." It was a hard slap at Vladimir Putin as the United States seeks Russia's cooperation in punishing Iran.

Cheney's criticism - some of the administration's toughest language about Russia - came just two months before President Bush joins Putin in St. Petersburg for a summit of major industrial powers. Cheney warned that Russia's backsliding could harm Moscow's relations with the United States and Europe.

"Russia has a choice to make. And there is no question that a return to democratic reform in Russia will generate future success for its people and greater respect among fellow nations," the vice president said in remarks to Eastern European leaders who govern in Moscow's enormous shadow.

Russian officials reacted angrily..."


Cheney denounces Belarus president
WaPo 04/05/06

"U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney issued a stinging denunciation of the president of Belarus on Thursday, saying there was no place in Europe for what he and others in Washington describe as "Europe's last dictatorship.".."


04/05/06 - Guerre psychologique et voix d'Al Qaeda

AL QAEDA'S PSYWAR: MANY VOICES
by B. Raman, SAAG 01/05/06


04/05/06 - Le Pentagone surveille plus de 5.000 sites internets du Jihad

Pentagon Surfing Thousands of Jihad Sites
AP 04/05/06

"A Pentagon research team monitors more than 5,000 jihadist Web sites, focusing daily on the 25 to 100 most hostile and active, defense officials say.

The team includes 25 linguists, who cover multiple dialects of the Arabic language and provide reports on events sparking anger on extremist Web sites, Dan Devlin, a Pentagon public diplomacy specialist, said Thursday. The researchers, for instance, focused in November on the backlash caused by the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Devlin testified to Congress as part of a briefing on how terrorists use the Internet.

Extremist propaganda is most often used to recruit jihadist fighters and supporters between the ages of 7 and 25, the officials said. But "we've seen products that are aimed at ages even lower than 7," testified Pentagon contractor Ron Roughhead. His company wasn't identified, for security reasons.

According to the briefing, al-Qaida has advertised online to fill jobs for Internet specialists, and its media group has distributed computer games and recruitment videos that use everything from poetry to humor to false information to gather support. The media group has assembled montages of American politicians taking aim at the Arab world.

"This crusade - crusade - crusade - is going to take awhile," President Bush says in one video, edited to make him repeat the word "crusade" six other times.

The officials said they are hoping to give a version of the briefing eventually to all U.S. soldiers in Iraq and the broader region.

The goal is "to help train U.S. forces deploying to Iraq on radical Islam and the need to respect Arabic and Muslim culture," said House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich..."


04/05/06 - Intox ! Quand on reparle de la bombe de Ben Laden

PAKISTAN: AL-QAEDA HAS DIRTY BOMB, REPORT SAYS
AKI 02/05/06

"Islamabad, 2 May (AKI) - Osama bin Laden possesses a "dirty bomb" and nuclear devices bought on the Russian black market prior to 2001, according to Hamid Mir, the journalist who interviewed bin Laden shortly after the 11 September attacks. "Material useful for building a dirty bomb was smuggled from Russia to Georgia and then on to Afghanistan," Mir said in an interview with the website of satellite network al-Arabiya. He added that the device was built with various materials, including uranium, by an Egyptian engineer known as Saad. "I met this engineer only once, in 2000, when the Taliban controlled Kabul" he said.

In the interview, Mir also said the Saudi terror leader had changed his mind at the last minute on the idea of making one of the hijacked 11 September planes crash into a US nuclear plant.

The Pakistani journalist, also said he has precise and up-to-date information on how the Saudi terror leader lives.

"Last September I met the bodyguard of Osama Bin Laden, Abu Hamza, who told me that he had married an Afghan woman with whom he had three children. On the same day he told me of the death of one of Bin Laden's wives during childbirth in a mountainous zone where there were no doctors. It seemed that her death was not a major problem for bin Laden as death in childbirth is quite frequent among Afghan women," Mir recounted.

It is unclear to which of bin Laden's wives his bodyguard was referring, even if it seems probably it was the daughter of Abu Hafs al-Masri.

Abu Hamza al-Jazeeri - an Algerian who in 2003 was in Iraq but later returned to Afghanistan - also indicated that combatants go from Afghanistan to Iraq and back through Iran.

Regarding the life of bin Laden and his followers in Pakistan, bin Laden's body guard recounted that the Arab fighters bought food from the local Pashtun tribes who sell them bread, milk and meat.

"Abu Hamza told me that Osama bin Laden keeps in touch with his fighters and follows news via satellite television and the statements which appear on the Internet.

He is well and spends his days praying and reading the Coran inside a cave," he continued, adding that he had left the Afghan mountain stronghold of Tora Bora at the end of December 2001.

Asked how he could be informed about what is going on in the world from inside a cave, the journalist replied: "Where he is located, he can listen to the radio, and al-Qaeda has four bases in the main cities of Pakistan form where he can see the satellite channels and he can use Internet."

"Bin Laden's envoys regularly prepare reports with the main news developments and send them to his hideout," he added.

"After leaving Tora Bora he spent much time in the mountainous region dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan, then he was in Khost, Konar, Baktia, Baktika and in Waziristan. That border area is safe, while that with Iran is not," he said, noting that one of bin Laden's sons, Saad, lives in Iran.

Regarding bin Laden's relationship with Jordanian militant and leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Hamid Mir said the two men are in regular contact.

"They communicate through CDs - inside which are compressed files in which there are the plans of operations to be carried out. They are carried to and fro by couriers passing rough Iran," he concluded."


More evidence of al-Qaida nukes
G2 Bulletin 27/04/06

"Hamid Mir, the only journalist to interview Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri in the wake of 9/11, has confirmed that al-Qaida has obtained nuclear suitcase weapons from the Russian black market, that the weapons were tested in Kabul in 2000 and that may have already been forward deployed to the United States.

"If you think that my information and analysis about bin Laden's location is correct," Mir said, "then please don't underestimate my analysis about his nuclear threat also."

Mir said that he met with an Egyptian engineer last week who had lost an eye after one of bin Laden's nuclear tests in Kunar. The Pakistani journalist said that the encounter with the engineer greatly disturbed and depressed him since it provided further assurance that a nuclear nightmare for America is about to dawn.

Mir believes that an "American Hiroshima" will occur as soon as the U.S. launches an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Al-Qaida and Iran," he says, "have a long, secret relationship."

That relationship dates back to June 21, 1996, when bin Laden attended a terror summit in Tehran. The gathering attracted terror leaders from various places throughout the world, including Ramadan Shallah (the Palestinian Islamic Jihad), Ahmad Salah (Egyptian Islamic Jihad), Imad al-Alami and Mustafa al-Liddawi (HAMAS), Ahmad Jibril (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), Abdallah Ocalan (the Kurdish People Party), Muhammad Ali Ahmad (al Qaeda), and Imad Mugniyah (Hezbollah). The summit resulted in the creation of the "Committee of Three" that would meet on a regular basis for the "coordination, planning, and execution of attacks" against the United States and Israel. The committee members were Ahmad Salah, Imad Mugniyah and bin Laden.

Mir's position that al-Qaida's nuclear weapons may have already been forward deployed to the United States confirms the report of Sharif al-Masri, a key al-Qaida operative who was arrested in Pakistan in November 2000.

Al Masri, an Egyptian national with ties to al-Zawahiri, said that al-Qaida had made arrangements to smuggle nuclear weapons and supplies to Mexico, From Mexico, he said, the weapons were to be transported across the border and into the United States with the help of a Latino street gang.

Mir also maintains that numerous sleeper agents are in place in major cities throughout the United States to prepare for the nuclear holocaust. Many of these agents, he says, are Algerians and Chechens who obtained European passports and are posing as Christian and Jews..."


Lire également, Read also :

U.S. 'disrupted' al Qaeda WMD efforts
Bill Gertz, WashTimes 03/05/06

"U.S. and international programs to defeat al Qaeda have limited the terrorist group's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the No. 2 U.S. intelligence official said..."


02/05/06 - Dangereuses incursions turques et iraniennes au Kurdistan irakien (suite)

Iran denies its troops entered Iraq to attack Kurds
Reuters 01/05/06

"Iran on Monday denied Baghdad's accusation that Iranian soldiers had shelled Kurdish positions on the Iraqi border and ventured five kilometers (three miles) into Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels..."


Iran shells rebel border area in Iraq
AP 01/05/06

"Iranian forces again shelled a border area used by Iranian Kurdish rebels, forcing some families to flee their homes Monday but causing no casualties, a Kurdish official said..."


Turkish special forces go 8 km inside Northern Iraqi territory
Turkish Weekly 30/04/06

"Reports have been confirmed that it was actions taken by Turkish troops this past Saturday which were the spark for specific complaints from Baghdad about increased Turkish military presence and action along the Northern Iraqi border.

According to these reports, Turkish armed forces, using infra-red cameras, spotted PKK terrorists crossing the border near Cukurca town, after which a special force team of around 100 soldiers proceeded to cross the border into Iraqi territory. The go-ahead to send in the special forces team was reportedly given from Ankara over the weekend. Recent meetings between Turkish and US officials have indicated that the US has given the nod to Turkish action on this front..."