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Islamists Are Elated by Revolts in the Middle East
Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American cleric who is a top propagandist for Al Qaeda, broke his silence on the uprisings in the Arab world on Wednesday, claiming that Islamist extremists had gleefully watched the success of protest movements against governments they had long despised.
“The mujahedeen around the world are going through a moment of elation,” Mr. Awlaki wrote in a new issue of the English-language Qaeda magazine Inspire, “and I wonder whether the West is aware of the upsurge of mujahedeen activity in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Arabia, Algeria and Morocco?”
Mr. Awlaki’s four-page essay, titled “The Tsunami of Change,” is among a handful of statements by Al Qaeda’s leaders countering the common view among Western analysts that the terrorist network looks irrelevant at a time of change unprecedented in the modern Middle East. In ousting the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and threatening other Arab leaders, a core of secular-leaning demonstrators have called for democracy and generally avoided violence — all at odds with Al Qaeda’s creed as it tries to instill rigid Islamist rule across the world.
Mr. Awlaki asks, “Doesn’t the West realize how the jihadi work would just take off as soon as the regimes of the Gulf start crumbling?”
Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/middleeast/31inspire.html?ref=world
New York, New Jersey to Gadhafi: Go away
WND
Discourage visit from Libyan leader
By Stewart Stogel
 Muammar Gadhafi |
NEW YORK – Officials in New York City and New Jersey are moving quickly to pressure Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gadhafi to cancel his upcoming visit to the United Nations.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he (Gadhafi) cancels,” confided one New York City official who has met with the Libyans.
The official, speaking on background, made it clear that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not roll out the welcome mat for the controversial Libyan leader.
In fact, the official insisted that city hall will do nothing to facilitate a Gadhafi visit to the Big Apple. That means that the “colonel” may have a hard time finding a place to “pitch” his infamous “tent.”
The so-called “Bedouin tent” is a traveling, makeshift, desert-style hamlet set up to receive Gadhafi’s official “guests.” Gadhafi is expected to speak at the U.N. on Sept. 23, but it is not known when he will arrive. The upcoming visit would be the first for the headline-grabbing Libyan leader to the U.S.
His tent city is reminiscent of scenes from the classic movie Lawrence of Arabia, except without the sand, camels or palm trees.
Also, this time, no Central Park, no Flushing Meadows, no Yankee Stadium, no nothing.
Negotiations between Tripoli and New York had been going on for more than a month, but have gone “nowhere,” officials said.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine also weighed in tonight.
Press Secretary Robert Corrales said the governor feels: “There should be no room in New Jersey for anyone who embraces convicted terrorists. Compassion should be given to the Lockerbie bombing victims and their families, not murderers.”
Corrales was referring to the “hero’s welcome” convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi received in Tripoli when he was released by Scottish authorities on “humanitarian” grounds last week. Megrahi is reported to have terminal cancer.
Gadhafi’s representatives had approached New Jersey officials for permission to set up his tent on the grounds of the home of Libya‘s U.N. ambassador in Englewood, a nearby New York suburb.
That could create a nightmare for thousands of commuters who use the George Washington Bridge or Lincoln Tunnel, as the Libyan moves from New Jersey to the U.N. compound about 15 miles away.
So, with New York and New Jersey rolling out the “no vacancy” sign, just about everyone is asking: “What can he do?”
The Bloomberg official insists the grounds inside U.N. headquarters are still “viable” despite a major renovation project now under way.
Another option:
Federal land in New York City, specifically Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty. But both appear unlikely.
Or, the “colonel” could simply rent a yacht or barge and place his tent on it and sail around mid-town.
“That could be done,” confessed the New York City official.
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‘Germany believes Iran could have nuclear bomb within 6 months’
HAARETZ
By Assaf Uni,
Iran is capable of assembling an atomic bomb within six months, German intelligence analysts told the German weekly newsmagazine Stern.
“If they want to, they will be able to set off a uranium bomb within six months,” an analyst with Germany’s intelligence service, Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), told the magazine.
German intelligence officials told Stern believe Iran has “mastered” every stage of uranium enrichment and that they have activated enough centrifuges to produce sufficient quantities of weapons-grade uranium for at least one atomic bomb.
“Nobody would have thought this possible some years ago,” an intelligence official told Stern.
The UN Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Tehran for defying its demands to suspend uranium enrichment.
Some analysts say Iran may be close to having the required material for producing a bomb, but most say the weaponization process would then take one to two years due to technical and political hurdles.
“Weaponizing” enrichment would not escape the notice of UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), unless it was done at a secret location.
Until now there have been no indications of any such covert diversion, a point made by the IAEA’s incoming director-general shortly after his election earlier this month.
Current IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said it is his “gut feeling” that Iran is seeking at least the capability to build nuclear weapons, in order to protect itself from perceived regional and U.S. threats.
Libyan leader: Peaceful nuclear program should be encouraged
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says Iran should be encouraged to pursue its nuclear program as long as it is for peaceful purposes.
Gadhafi was addressing Wednesday’s opening session of a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. The 118-nation group includes Iran.
He said it is “unjust” to stop Iran from enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, but that it must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
The United States and Israel say Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying its program is for generating power.
Libya in 2003 abandoned its own program to develop nuclear and chemical weapons.
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