Abbas defends delay of UN Gaza war report vote

Ramallah, WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas late on Sunday defended his controversial decision to support deferring a vote on a damning Gaza war report at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Exiled Hamas Political Chief Khaled Meshaal, meanwhile, slammed the Palestinian leadership's decision as a "scandal" and said "the timing is not right" for a reconciliation deal between his movement and Abbas's Fatah party.
In a televised address, the embattled president accused the Islamist movement Hamas of leading the storm of criticism at the decision only as a means to postpone a long-delayed Palestinian reconciliation.
Abbas said the Palestinian delegation at the Geneva-based council backed the Oct. 2 postponement of a vote on the so-called Goldstone report which was highly critical of Israel in order to gather maximum support for the measure.
"Since we felt that we would not be able to gather enough support, we asked for the postponement of the draft resolution until the upcoming session of the Human Rights Council" in March, he said.
Abbas said following the outrage over the deferral, which sparked criticism from Palestinian civil society groups and across the Arab world, he was directing Palestinian representatives at the U.N. to work toward bringing the Goldstone report for an early vote at the Human Rights Council.
He said the "storm of criticism" at the decision by Hamas was aimed at postponing a long-delayed Palestinian reconciliation deal that Egypt had announced for Oct. 25-26 in Cairo.
"We are totally aware of this campaign by Hamas aimed at serving their interests, which is to postpone the signature of the reconciliation agreement," Abbas said. "They want to consolidate their rule and their regime in Gaza.

"Final straw"

But Meshaal, in a speech in Damascus shortly after Abbas's address, said the atmosphere was not right for a deal between the rival factions.
"The Goldstone report was the final straw ... We can not accept any more mistakes," Meshaal said in a speech in Damascus, shortly after Abbas's address. "This is not a leadership which deserves our trust."
The decision to ask for a delay was a "scandal," he said. "The timing is now not right" for a reconciliation deal.
"The attitude of the Palestinian leadership on the Goldstone report has blocked the continuation of the inter-Palestinian dialogue," he said, although efforts were continuing with Egypt on a new timetable.
"Fatah deserves a better leadership" than one which had lied to the Palestinian people over the delay, said Meshaal.
Hamas has led the torrent of criticism of Abbas, charging he "betrayed" the some 1,400 Palestinian victims of the December-January war and has asked Egypt to postpone the signing of the reconciliation deal because of the decision.
In Gaza City, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said Abbas's speech "does not improve the national dialogue atmosphere."
Another Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip said: "Abbas' speech was an attempt to evade responsibility for the crime that (the Palestinian) Authority committed in Geneva."
Hamas routed long-dominant Fatah in the last Palestinian legislative election on Jan. 25, 2006, ushering in months of tensions between the two main Palestinian factions that often boiled over into deadly street clashes and culminated with Hamas's bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Kuwait calls for delay on Gulf currency launch

KUWAIT CITY (AFP)

Kuwait, one of four Gulf states to sign a pact to launch a monetary union and single currency, on Sunday called for a delay in the 2010 launch date, citing incomplete preparations.

"The ministry of finance calls for revising the target date for launching the Gulf single currency until all committees and concerned parties have completed technical issues," the ministry said in a statement cited by the KUNA news agency.
The ministry, however, still expressed the support of the state of Kuwait for the project.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain in June signed an accord to create a joint monetary union council, a prelude to establishing a Gulf central bank and launching a monetary union and single currency.

The remaining two members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, did not sign after deciding to withdraw from the project.

The UAE was upset at the selection of the Saudi capital Riyadh to host the future GCC central bank, while Oman withdrew from the monetary union saying it was not ready to meet the preconditions.

Kuwait is due to host the forthcoming GCC annual summit in December which is expected to take a decision on the single currency.

The GCC states have set 2010 as the target to launch the monetary union and single currency, but many experts believe that target is too ambitious and unrealistic.

Gunmen shot dead in attack on Pakistan army HQ

PAKISTAN: An attack on Pakistani tightly guarded army headquarters in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, ended on Saturday with all four attackers killed, a military spokesman told Pakistani television.
At least four soldiers were killed in the assault by suspected militants dressed as soldiers, the officials said.
"All the four terrorists have been killed. The fighting is over now. The situation is under control," Major General Athar Abbas told private TV channel Geo in a live interview.
"I can't give you the exact casualties inflicted on our guards but four of them at the first checkpost were martyred," the spokesman, later told Dunya Television.
The attack came as the army prepares for a major offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants in their northwestern stronghold on the Afghan border.
It also came a day after a suspected suicide car-bomber killed 49 people in the city of Peshawar in an attack the government said underscored the need for the all-out offensive.
The suspected militants had driven up to the gate of the headquarters in a white Suzuki van and opened fire and threw a grenade when challenged, security officials said.
The Pakistani Taliban have vowed to increase attacks to avenge the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike in August.
Al- Qaeda-linked Islamist militants who have launched numerous attacks over the past couple of years, most aimed at the security forces and government and foreign targets.

700 years old houses in Iran

THERAN: In the north east of Iran at the foot of Mount Sahand in Kandovan, the villagers live in cave homes carved out from the volcanic rock. The age of some houses is more than 700 years. People still living in these age-old houses.

The area is famous for scenic sites and according to local myths; hot water streams of this area are beneficial for kidney patients.

New Osama bin Laden message surfaces

BEIJING: A new audio tape has surfaced on an Islamist website in which al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden sends a message to the American people.
In the ten minute recording the voice which is purported to be that of America's most wanted terrorist, says the U.S. president is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The authenticity of the audio recording could not be independently verified.
The message was released by As-Sahab, Al-Qaeda's media wing, and distributed to several Jihadist websites. Part of the taped message condemns the United States support of Israel.
"We have already shown, and we have stated many times in more than two decades since the start of our disagreement with you, which is caused by your support for the Israelis who are occupying our land of Palestine, and which led us to carry out the events on September 11, 2001," the voice says.
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," the voice in the tape says.
In several parts of the tape, the al-Qaeda leader refers to recent events. He refers to Obama's speech in Cairo, which took place on June 4, and about former President Jimmy Carter's visit to Gaza in June. Bin Laden also condemned the Israeli invasion of Gaza, earlier this year, saying that American bombs were used by Israel during the conflict.
The terror leader said the United States should work towards Iraq's release instead of "fighting for its liberation." If not, President Obama could suffer "the same fate as former President Kennedy and his brother," bin Laden said.
Both President Kennedy and his brother Robert were assassinated. The al-Qaeda number one also criticized Obama's decision to keep Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, saying the Bush-era leadership at the Pentagon had remained in place. Obama's promise to cooperate with the Republicans was in reality a "cover" and a "big trick" to let Gates remain on his current post, Osama claimed. "You have only changed the faces in the White House," Osama bin Laden said.
The message which comes just two days after the U.S. marked the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on America, carries much of the same rhetoric seen in previous recordings.
"We carry our weapons, fighting evil from East to West," Bin Laden said, and insisted that "Patience is our weapon." and that al-Qaeda would "Never compromise." In his last known message, in June, he said that U.S. President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of "revenge and hatred" towards the US in the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding in the mountainous terrain on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.