Excerpts: Spread of English-language jehadist websites. Still no info on
Iran's nuclear status. Yemen's Shiite rebels/Saudi battle continues. Iran's
clerics to control schools for 'soft war'against western influence.
Hizbullah's weapons. Tehran is not cooperating with IAEA. Gulf states
funding Lebanon terror groups. 83 dead in Jeddah inadequate drainage. Impact
of Dubai default. Message of Jordan's King Abdullah. Hizbollah retains
weapons. Syrian repression of Kurds November 27 2009

+++SOURCE:NAHARNET (Lebanon) 26 Nov.'09:"200 Web Sites Spread al-Qaida's
Message in English",AP

QUOTE:"English-language sites ... have risen from about 30 seven years ago
to more than 200 recently"

FULL TEXT:Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading
al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and
sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature
charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails
with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings.
The U.S.-born al-Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants
arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based
sermons often turning up on their computers.

"The point is you don't have to be an official part of al-Qaida to spread
hatred and sectarian views," said Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator for
the New York-based NEFA Foundation, which researches Islamic militants.

"If you look at the most influential documents in terms of homegrown
terrorism cases, it's not training manuals on building bombs," Kohlmann
said. "The most influential documents are the ones that are written by
theological advisers, some of whom are not even official al-Qaida members."

Most of the radical Islamic sites are not run or directed by al-Qaida, but
they provide a powerful tool for recruiting sympathizers to its cause of
jihad, or holy war, against the United States, experts who track the
activity said.

The number of English-language sites sympathetic to al-Qaida has risen from
about 30 seven years ago to more than 200 recently, said Abdulmanam
Almushawah, head of a Saudi government program called Assakeena, which works
to combat militant Islamic Web sites.

In contrast, Arabic-language radical sites have dropped to around 50, down
from 1,000 seven years ago, because of efforts by governments around the
world to shut them down, he said.

Al-Qaida has long tried to reach a Western audience. Videotaped messages
from its leader, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri usually
have English subtitles. But translations of writings and sermons that form
the theological grounding for al-Qaida's ideology, along with preachers like
al-Awlaki, mostly eliminate the language barrier.

Al-Awlaki's sermons have turned up on the computers of nearly every
homegrown terror suspect arrested in the United States, Kohlmann said.

Members of a group of Canadian Muslims arrested in 2006 for allegedly
forming a training camp and plotting bombing attacks in Toronto listened to
his online calls for jihad, according to the case against them in court.
According to prosecutors, an al-Awlaki sermon on jihad was among the
numerous materials - including videos of beheadings - found on the computers
of five men convicted in December of plotting attacks on the Fort Dix
military base in New Jersey.

On his Web site and in widely circulated lectures, the 38-year-old
al-Awlaki, now in hiding in Yemen, often calls on Muslims to fight against
the United States, accusing it of waging war on Islam in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

Nidal Hasan, who has been charged in the Fort Hood shootings, contacted
al-Awlaki nearly a year ago. In an interview published in The Washington
Post, al-Awlaki said he did not pressure Hasan to carry out the shooting,
but after the attack, al-Awlaki praised him as a hero. U.S. investigators
have said Hasan appears to have acted alone, not on orders from anyone, when
he opened fire Nov. 5 at the Texas military base, killing 13.

The cleric met two of the 9/11 hijackers at mosques where he preached in the
United States, and after his return to Yemen he was detained for more than a
year on suspicion of involvement in a kidnapping gang. Yemeni officials
released him because they could not confirm an al-Qaida link, but they say
they are hunting for him again on suspicion he may have ties.

U.S. intelligence officials declined comment on the spread of
English-language jihadist Web sites.

Such sites are expected to follow closely the upcoming trials of Hasan and
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of being a top architect of the 9/11
attacks, said Rita Katz, head of the U.S. based SITE Intelligence Group,
which follows on line militant traffic. The Obama administration announced
this week that Mohammed and four others will be put on trial in New York
City.

Almushawah said clerics like al-Awlaki are "more dangerous than any other
group." And if these clerics are jailed, "it's no big loss for al-Qaida
because they don't belong to the network," he said.

Many of the sites post speeches by English-speaking clerics like al-Awlaki
or, more often, translations of sermons and lectures by Arabic-speaking
clerics.

One site, the Pulpit of Monotheism and Jihad links to sermons by al-Awlaki,
alongside English versions of speeches by some of the top sheikhs of
jihadist ideology - even some who are dead like Abdullah Azzam.

The proliferation of sites in English means "potential jihadists can know
only their native language and still be radicalized," Katz said.

While al-Awlaki has become popular, "other, more prominent and influential
Arabic-speaking jihadist sheikhs ... have had their works and speeches
translated into English and other languages. Their works tend to be used
more often by the jihadist community to justify violence," she said in an
e-mail interview. Al-Awlaki "fills a void in that he can directly interact,
understand and communicate with English-speaking jihadists in a way that
Arabic-speaking clerics cannot."

Almushawah says most of the servers for the sites are in Britain, but they
can be run from anywhere and most of them are operated and receive content
from the U.S. Most of the clerics who appear on them are in the Arab world
with some in France and England.

U.S. intelligence officials declined to comment on the spread of English
language sites and their influence.

Saudi Arabia set up its Assakeena program after authorities found that 70
percent of al-Qaida sympathizers were drawn to the group through the
Internet. In the campaign, government-backed preachers monitor 400 radical
Islamic web sites and inject a more moderate message on the sites.

The campaigners also directly contact and dialogue with militants they
encounter on the Web, conversations that can take weeks or months. Of 2,631
militants contacted by the group, 1,170 withdrew their support for radicals,
according to the campaign. About a fifth of the militants were from Europe
and North American, and the rest from Arab countries.

Assakeena - the name is Arabic for "Tranquility from God" - is part of other
hearts-and-minds programs the kingdom launched to complement its crackdown
on al-Qaida after the group carried out a series of attacks on foreigners
and oil infrastructure in 2004.(AP)
Beirut, 20 Nov 09, 11:48

+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE 26 Nov.'09:"Iran in hot seat at ElBaradei's last
meeting",Agence France Presse
QUOTE:"International Atomic Energy Agency no closer to knowing the true
nature and extent of Iran's controversial nuclear programme"

VIENNA - The UN atomic watchdog begins a two-day meeting Thursday(26 Nov),
the last to be chaired by Egyptian diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei, who steps
down on November 30 after 12 years at the helm of the IAEA.
But the 67-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner will be leaving a difficult
legacy to his successor, 62-year-old Yukiya Amano of Japan, with the
International Atomic Energy Agency no closer to knowing the true nature and
extent of Iran's controversial nuclear programme, despite seven years of
intensive investigation.
Indeed, the shock revelation in September that Tehran has been concealing a
second uranium enrichment site could see the IAEA's 35-member board of
governors vote on a resolution condemning Iran for the first time in nearly
four years.
Diplomats at the agency have said that the five permanent members of the
United Nations Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the
United States - plus Germany have drawn up a draft resolution to put to the
two-day meeting. It is not yet clear from pre-meeting talks whether the text
will actually win the support of the majority of board members, so the
so-called P5+1 may finally decide to issue it merely as a statement rather
than put it to the vote, one diplomat said. - AFP

+++SOURCE: EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 26 Nov.'09:"Yemen 's FM:Iran arming Houthis",
Reuters
QUOTE" No to the plot of Persian (Iran) expansion"

FULL TEXT:SANA 'A (Reuters)-Yemen sees increasing evidence that Iran is
arming Shi 'ite rebels who seized territory on the 1,500km (930-mile)border
with Saudi Arabia, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said yesterday."There
is mounting evidence but we are dealing with it very responsibly," al-Qirbi
said in an interview in Berlin yesterday(25 Nov) after meeting with German
government officials.He declined to say what measures Yemen or its allies
might take in response.The Yemeni authorities recently set up an
investigation after boarding an Iranian ship in Yemeni waters,he said.While
no arms were found on board,they may already have been unloaded,al-Qirbi
said. Saudi Arabia began air attacks on the Yemeni rebels earlier this
month,and said on November 8 that it had regained control of its
territory.Iran 's top general denounced the air strikes on November 18 as
the start of"state terrorism " that might have conse- quences for the entire
Middle East region.The rebels are getting support from rel- gious groups in
Iran and Europe,al-Qirbi said,without elaborating.Meanwhile,five Yemenis
died when security forces clashed with southern separatists yesterday,as
southerners began more protests against a government already facing a revolt
in the north that has drawn in Saudi Arabia. Witnesses said security forces
tried to break up a demonstration by around 1,000 southerners in the city of
Ataq in Shabwa province after a rally in favour of the former south Yemeni
state that united with Sana'a in 1990.They said three protesters and two
members of security forces died when shooting broke out,while ten protesters
were wounded.South Yemen has seen a series of such incidents this year as
southerners complain about marginalisation,but this was the first time
Shabwa saw clashes.YIn Sanaa,a group of 200,chanted slogans such as "No to
the plot of Persian expansion"and "Yemen will remain free and
independent"and called for the expul- sion of Iran's Ambassador over alleged
backing for the northern rebels.Though the protest was organised by a
non-governmental group,such events are unlikely to take place without
official sanction.

+++SOURCE:JORDAN TIMES 26 Nov.'09:"Iran clerics taking control of
schools",Associated Press
EXCERPTS:TEHRAN (AP) - An Iranian cleric said religious authorities have
started taking control of schools, part of a wider ideological drive by
hardliners to wage what authorities call a "soft war" against Western
influence. . . . .schools in several provinces have been transferred from
government oversight to control by Islamic seminaries. Elementary grades are
believed to be the focus of the nationwide plan. It was not immediately
clear whether higher grades also would fall under clerical control. Iranian
officials have already announced plans to appoint a cleric in every school -
a move widely seen as an effort to bring stricter Islamic interpretations
into the public education system.

+++SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES 26 Nov.'09:"Lebanon Cabinet policy delayed over
Hizbollah's arms",By Natacha Yazbeck,Agence France-Presse
SUBJECT:Hizbullah's weapons

EXCERPTSBEIRUT - Efforts by Lebanon's new government to agree on a policy
statement have again stumbled over Hizbollah's weapons, with Christian
members of the Western-backed majority rejecting a hands-off approach.. . ..
The Phalange Party and Lebanese Forces, both Maronite Christian, argue that
Hizbollah's arsenal undermines state authority and runs counter to UN
resolutions.
"We cannot accept that there be another authority that has the power or
competence to use coercion in Lebanon other than the state," Social Affairs
Minister Salim Sayeh, a member of the Phalange Party, told AFP.
"Any country cannot afford to have two authorities with two commands," he
added. "There should be a monopoly of the state on all issues related to
security and weapons." However, Hizbollah, which has two ministers in the
30-member unity Cabinet, has made it clear that its weapons are not open to
discussion.. . .The most likely outcome, according to analysts, is the
adoption of a clause that will be a carbon copy of the last government's
policy statement, which recognised, in referring to Hizbollah, the right to
bear arms to defend the country against Israel.
Among others, Hariri and President Michel Sleiman say the arms should be
discussed as part of an overall national defence strategy.
For almost four years rival leaders have sought in sporadic round-table
discussions to agree on a unified defence strategy but have failed to reach
agreement largely because of Hizbollah's weapons.
Lebanon's government has a history of paralysis: in late 2006, all Shiite
ministers resigned from Cabinet, setting in motion what would become an
18-month stalemate.
The crisis climaxed in May 2008 when Hizbollah and its allies staged a
spectacular takeover of mainly Sunni Muslim west Beirut in protest against a
government crackdown on the party.
The clashes left more than 100 people dead and brought the country to the
brink of renewed civil war.
Hizbollah, the only faction that did not disarm after the 1975-1990 civil
war, has participated in government since 2005.

+++SOURCE:Washington Post 27 Nov.'09:"IAEA chief says Iran has brought
nuclear
probe to a standstill",By George Jahn,Assocoated Press
QUOTE:"probe of Ira's nuclear power progran is at a dead end"

FULL TEXT:VIENNA -- The International Atomic Energy Agency probe of Iran's
nuclear program is at a dead end because Tehran is not cooperating, the
chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Thursday in an unusually blunt
expression of frustration four days before he leaves office.
Mohamed ElBaradei also warned that international confidence in Iran's
assertions of purely peaceful intent shrank after its belated revelation of
a previously secret nuclear facility. And he criticized Iran for not
accepting an internationally endorsed plan meant to delay its achieving the
ability to make nuclear weapons.
"There has been no movement on remaining issues of concern which need to be
clarified for the agency to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's
nuclear program," ElBaradei said at the opening session of the IAEA's
35-nation board of governors. "We have effectively reached a dead end,
unless Iran engages fully with us."
"Issues of concern" is the IAEA term for indications that Iran has
experimented with nuclear weapons programs, including missile-delivery
systems and tests of explosives that could serve as nuclear-bomb detonators.
ElBaradei has emphasized the need for talks instead of threats in engaging
Iran. He has criticized the United States for invading Iraq on the pretext
that Saddam Hussein had a nuclear weapons program, which has never been
proved. That criticism -- and perceived softness on the Iran issue -- has
drawn complaints from the United States and its allies that he was
overstepping his mandate. But ElBaradei's comments Thursday(26 Nov) left
little doubt that he was most unhappy with Iran.
"I am disappointed that Iran has not so far agreed to the original proposal"
involving removal of most of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, ElBaradei
said at the meeting.
The plan, approved by the six world powers negotiating with Iran over the
past few months, would commit Tehran to shipping out 70 percent of its
enriched uranium for processing into fuel rods for its medical research
reactor in Tehran. The arrangement would help allay international fears by
removing most of the material that Iran could use to make a nuclear weapon.
It would take more than a year for Tehran to replace the enriched material,
meaning it would not be able to make a weapon for at least that long.
Iran says it is enriching only to power a future network of nuclear
reactors. But enrichment can also produce fissile warhead material. Iran
continues enriching, despite three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions
meant to make it freeze that activity and has built an enriched stockpile
that could arm two nuclear warheads. Associated Press

+++SOURCE: NAHARNET (Lebanon) 27 Nov.'09:"Rifi: Qaida Not Real Threat to
Lebanon, Terror Groups Get Local or Gulf Funding"
FULL TEXT:Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi has said
al-Qaida network does not constitute a real threat to Lebanon adding that
local criminal or Gulf sources are funding terrorist groups in the country.
Al-Qaida "hasn't been entrenched in Lebanon. It seems that al-Qaida does not
consider our land a land of Jihad," Rifi told France's Defense magazine.

"We could sometimes find in Lebanon groupings that adopt al-Qaida's ideas
but without any ties with it," the ISF chief said, adding the reason behind
it was the openness of Sunni Lebanese on the west, a move that prevents
planting the terror network's ideology in Lebanon.

About the financial support of terrorist groups in Lebanon, Rifi told the
magazine that the funding was from "local criminal or Gulf sources."

"Some groups fund themselves through criminal activities such as bank
robberies and human trafficking," he said. "However, as a big number of
reports indicate, other groups get funding from Arab Gulf countries."

"When I say the Gulf I don't necessarily mean the governments. I mean
private parties that sponsor their networks," The ISF chief said.

+++SR3 billion($75 million) needed for proper drainage(in Jeddah):
Official",By
Abdulaziz Ghazzawi

EXCERPTS:JEDDAH - As the death toll rises to 83 in the wake of Wednesday's(25
Nov) flooding, residents have blamed the deaths and destruction on the city's
poor rainwater drainage system.This could cost an estimated SR3 billion
($750 million)to fix, according to a city official.

However, only SR1 billion ($250 million)is now being spent on a new
system.Residents said that the situation has been deteriorating over the
years and nothing has been done to protect them from heavy storms.. . .

+++SAUDI GAZETTE 27 Nov.'09:"Dubai default threat rattles world stocks"
QUOTE: "debt default by Dubai and tighter lending conditions in China"

EXCERPTS: LONDON/DUBAI - Global stock markets fell sharply Thursday(26 Nov)
on mounting fears of a debt default by Dubai and tighter lending conditions
in China, analysts said.. . ."The Dubai worries have played a major role
in rattling market sentiment at a time when the US is closed and we are not
getting anything from anywhere else," said Peter Dixon, economist at
Commerzbank.. . . Dubai official defended on Thursday(26 Nov) his
government's proposal to suspend debt payments by its Dubai World
conglomerate, as global stock markets fell amid fears of widespread
default.Ratings agency Standard and Poor's described the debt moratorium as
a default.
Dubai, whose extravagant building projects have been largely put on hold
since the start of the global financial crisis, said on Wednesday(25 N0n) it
would ask creditors at its flagship firms Dubai World and property developer
Nakheel to delay repayment on billions of dollars of debt.. . .
"We have two major factors weighing on equities and other risk markets:
Dubai's call for a moratorium on its debt repayment to May and more
stringent capital adequacy requirements for Chinese banks - but Dubai is
bigger," David Morrison, an analyst at financial betting firm GFT, told AFP.
The Dubai government announced that it would revamp the Dubai World group
and wanted its lenders to extend its maturing debt until at least May 2010..
. .

+++SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES 27 Nov.'09:"King:'Better bear our own burdens than
rely
on others' "

SUBJECT: Message of Jordan's King Abdullah.

EXCERPTS:AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday(26 Nov) said in
a televised greeting addressed to the nation that Jordan is "on the right
track to building the country's future". . . . ."through our collective
abilities and efforts, we can meet any challenge, achieve our ambitions and
secure the bright future we want for our children and grandchildren" . .
."I am aware of the tough economic circumstances, and as I have said in the
past, and as you always say, better to bear our own burdens than allow
others to carry them for us," he said. "Work continues within a clear work
plan to improve conditions and achieve the best for you and our country. I
will settle for nothing less than the best for you."
King Abdullah pledged to continue reform, modernisation and progress in
order to "achieve comprehensive development that will have a positive impact
on people's lives and enable them to have the decent living they're entitled
to by their country and society".. . .
"With God's help and your efforts and resolve, we will achieve our ambitions
and noble national goals," the King concluded

+++SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES 27 Nov.)"Lebanon gives Hizbollah right to use arms
against Israel",Agence France Presse

QUOTE: Hizbollah's arsenal undermines stae authority and runs coauntr to UN
resolutions"

FULL TEXT:BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanon's new Cabinet has agreed on a policy
statement that acknowledges Hizbollah's right to use its weapons against
Israel, despite disagreement by some members of the ruling majority.
Information Minister Tarek Mitri said late Wednesday(25 Nov) after a Cabinet
committee set up to draft the statement met for the ninth time that an
agreement had been reached.
He said the new statement will retain the same clause approved by the
previous Cabinet as concerns the arsenal of Hizbollah, which fought a
devastating war with Israel in 2006 and is considered a terrorist
organisation by Washington.
The clause states the right of "Lebanon, its government, its people, its
army and its resistance" to liberate all Lebanese territory.
Hizbollah is commonly referred to as the resistance in Lebanon.
Mitri said that reservations concerning the clause by members of the
Western-backed majority would be noted in the government programme.
Christian members of the majority, including the Phalange Party and Lebanese
Forces, argue that Hizbollah's arsenal undermines state authority and runs
counter to UN resolutions.
However the Shiite party, which has two ministers in the 30-member unity
Cabinet, has made it clear that its weapons are not open to discussion.
The party argues its arms are necessary to protect the country against any
future aggression by Israel, which withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000
after a 22-year occupation.
Lebanon's new Cabinet is headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose US- and
Western-backed alliance defeated a Hizbollah-led opposition supported by
Syria and Iran in a June vote.

+++SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES 27 Nov.'09:"Syria should end repression of Kurds'",
Agence France Presse
FULL TEXT:NEW YORK (AFP) - Syrian authorities should end their "unlawful and
unjustified" practices of attacking Kurdish gatherings and detaining Kurdish
activists, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Thursday.
The report, titled "Group Denial: Repression of Kurdish Political and
Cultural Rights in Syria," documents what HRW says are efforts by the
authorities to "ban and disperse" Kurdish gatherings and "the detention of
leading Kurdish political activists and their ill-treatment in custody". "At
a time when other countries in the region, from Iraq to Turkey, are
improving the treatment of their Kurdish minority, Syria remains resistant
to change," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director. "In fact,
Syria has been especially hostile to any Kurdish political or cultural
expression." Kurds represent around 9 per cent of Syria's 20 million
population. Living mainly in the north, near the border with Turkey and
Iraq, Syria's Kurds are demanding recognition of their language, culture and
political rights but deny they are seeking secession
=============================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA