Excerpts: Iran adds Israel to U.K. and U.S. blame for attack by Sunni rebel
group.Arab League's to challenge Mubarak for Presidency.Syria hosts smuggled
Islamist extremist 21 October 2009

+++SOURCE:JORDAN TIMES 21 Oct.'09:"Iran honours guards killed in attack,
blames
US, Israel",Reuters

QUOTE: "Sunni rebel group claims responsibility"; "(Rebel group's lrader )
said Sunday's attack was 'a response to the continuous crimes
of the Iranian regime against the defenceless and oppressed
people of Baluchestan' "

EXCERPTS:TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's military accused the United States and
Israel of terrorism as it held a funeral on Tuesday(20 Oct) for high-ranking
commanders killed in the deadliest attack in the Islamic republic since the
1980s.
. . ..
A Sunni rebel group, Jundollah (God's soldiers), has claimed responsibility
for the attack in the impoverished province of Sistan-Baluchestan bordering
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Iran, mainly Shiite Muslim, says Jundollah is backed by the United States
and Britain and has suggested it also has ties with majority Sunni Pakistan.
London, Washington and Islamabad have denied involvement. Tehran has often
accused its Western foes of seeking to destabilise sensitive border areas.
. . . three people had been detained over the bombin,... ..
Sunday's attack, the deadliest such incident in Iran since its 1980-88 war
with Iraq, took place a day before talks started between Iranian and Western
officials in Vienna aimed at allaying concern about Iran's nuclear
ambitions.. . .
The(Revolutionary Guards force's deputy commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami,
said: "The terrorists behind this incident and the enemies of the Iranian
nation, whoever they are and wherever they are in the world, the guards will
chase them and punish them." Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the
perpetrators were based in Pakistan and carried out cross-border raids.
"Members of this terrorist group regularly violate the border and launch
attacks inside Iran," he told a news conference, referring to Jundollah.
"The hands of those behind the crimes in southeastern Iran must be cut." He
said Iran and Pakistan would hold talks on how to resolve the issue, saying
they shared a "border of friendship". Jundollah, which accuses the
government of discrimination against Sunnis, has been blamed for many deadly
incidents over the last few years. It reportedly claimed a bombing of a
mosque in Sistan-Baluchestan last May which killed 25 people.
On one of its websites, Jundollah said Sunday's attack was "a response to
the continuous crimes of the Iranian regime against the defenceless and
oppressed people of Baluchestan". . . .

+++SOURCE:Saudi Gazette 21 Oct.'09:"Moussa says may run for
president",Agence
France Presse
FULL TEXT:CAIRO - Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said he did not
rule out standing for the Egyptian presidency in the next elections in 2011,
in comments published Tuesday(20 Oct.).
Moussa, 73, a former Egyptian foreign minister, told the independent Shorouk
daily in an interview that it was still too soon to decide.
But he said he appreciated the "trust expressed by many citizens when they
talk of my nomination for the presidency... and it is a message that has
reached me." He added that he was "among the firmest believers in the need
to awaken a project for an Egyptian renaissance."
Veteran President Hosni Mubarak, now 81, has yet to announce whether he
intends to stand for reelection in 2011 when he will have been in power for
three decades. - Agencies
His son Gamal, who holds a senior position in the ruling National Democratic
Party (NDP), is widely seen as a possible successor. Egyptian law requires
that presidential candidates nominated by their parties must have led or
held senior rank within that party for at least a year. - AFP
, and that the party concerned must have been founded at least five years
before the election. - AFP

+++SOURCE:NAHARNET 21 Oct.'09:" Abssi Smuggled to Syria for $500"
FULL TEXT:Leader of al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam Shaker Abssi has been
smuggled to Syria for $500 following the arrest of one of his cadres in
Tripoli in connection with the assassinations of Lebanese army officers
Francois al-Haj and Wissan Eid, according to testimonies...

Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA