By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to cease hostilities, ending six days of violence in Iraq.  Sadr directed his Mahdi Army to cooperate with the Iraqi government’s efforts to maintain security, but did not tell them to give up their weapons.  In exchange for an end to the violence, Sadr demanded that his followers be released and given amnesty.  Sadr also used the statement as a rallying cry against the US forces in Iraq, calling them the “armies of darkness.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki targeted Sadr’s followers in an offensive launched last week aimed at improving security in the country.  The Maliki government hoped to weaken Sadr’s influence, both politically and militarily, but the plan appears to have backfired.  The offensive has been widely seen as a failure.  It is now Maliki, not Sadr, who appears to be politically and militarily weak.

The cease-fire itself shows Sadr’s strength.  Before he launched the offensive, Maliki claimed that there would be no negotiations.  After Sadr offered the ceasefire, a Maliki spokesman described Sadr’s statement as a “positive step.”  Instead of weakening Sadr’s influence, the recent violence has allowed him to solidify his base, both politically and militarily.

For more information, please see:

Time – How Moqtada al-Sadr Won in Basra – 1 April 2008

Reuters – Baghdad Green Zone Hit by Mortars – 31 March 2008

Washington Post – Sadr Tells His Militia To Cease Hostilities – 31 March 2008

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

SYDNEY, Australia – Alleged Al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been described as America’s number one terrorist threat, is reported to have been engaged by a Sydney youth group to address hundreds of young people in one of Australia’s largest mosques from Yemen last year.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been charged with masterminding the killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, was approached by the Sydney Muslim Youth group, to deliver a sermon to young Australians.

The New South Wales (NSW) counter-terrorism squad knew about an al-Qaeda-linked sermon delivered at a Sydney mosque but did nothing because it did not believe that the radical imam who gave it was a threat.

The unit has no transcript of the sermon, delivered by an al-Qaeda recruiter described as the No.1 terrorist threat to America, but says the speaker, Anwar al-Awlaki, has now become a ”significant threat” to Australia.

According to US authorities, about the time of the sermon Mr Awlaki was transforming himself from radical cleric to trainer and recruiter for al-Qaeda.

Last week, Mr Awlaki became the first US citizen added to the CIA kill list. He is considered a military enemy of the US and faces assassination by special forces.

“The danger Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words,” a US official told The New York Times. “He’s gotten involved in plots.” The chairwoman of the US house subcommittee on homeland security, Jane Harman, called Mr Awlaki “terrorist No. 1 in terms of threat against us”.

The bomber who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day last year reportedly described him as his trainer and recruiter.

And Awlaki was said to be advising the extremist who was later charged with killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in November last year.

For more information, please see;

The Sydney Morning Herald – Police Did Not Act On Terrorist Sermon – 16 April 2010

One India – Al-Qaeda Recruiter Addressed Sydney Mosque Youngsters From Yemen In 2009 – 15 April 2010

Herald Sun – Anwar Al Awlaki Considered The Number One Terrorist Threat To The US, Delivered Sermon At Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque – 15 April 2010

The Sydney Morning Herald – Al-Qaeda At City Mosque – 15 April 2010

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HAWARA, West Bank – More than three hundred olive trees were uprooted during the night between April 13 and April 14 in the West Bank village of Hawara, reportedly by Jewish settlers. Two cars were also set on fire, and Stars of David and racist slogans in Hebrew were sprayed on buildings, including on the walls of a mosque in the village south of Nablus. An Israeli army spokesman told Army Radio that the Israeli military believed settlers were behind the destruction, possibly as part of a response to the Israeli government’s construction freeze on settlements in the West Bank.

Brigadier General Nitzan Alon, the Commander of the Israeli Defense Forces Judea and Samaria division, has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident, condemned the attacks, and has promised that “those responsible should be brought to justice,” according to an official statement. The statement also noted that the Israeli Civil Administration removed the graffiti from the mosque’s walls during the morning after the incident.

Hawara is also near the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar. In December 2009, settlers from Yitzhar were accused of setting fire to a mosque in the Palestinian village of Yusuf. A rabbi from Yitzhar was arrested in connection to the incident, but no charges were filed.

Some hard-line Jewish settlers have called the attacks on Palestinian villages the “price tag” for the construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, put in place by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In response to news of the incidents in Hawara, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a spokesman for the right-wing Jewish National Front, said:

“We are talking about a hostile village that has been the source of a large number of violent attacks against the residents of Yitzhar…The time has come for the Arabs to understand that Jews are not suckers and that Jewish blood will not be shed without consequence.”

For their own part, Palestinian residents of Hawara have promised to re-plant their trees, some of which are hundreds of years old and have been tended for generations. Some grove owners have estimated that the damage to their trees will cost them thousands of dollars. Yet despite frequent disruption by Jewish settlers, the grove owners have said they will re-plant.

“If they uproot five acres of trees, we’ll plant six,” said Abu Hussein, a grove owner. “They won’t break us.”

For more information, please see:

Ma’an News Agency – Israel Army Condemns Mosque Vandalism – 15 April 2010

BBC News – Jewish Settlers Suspected in West Bank Mosque Attack – 14 April 2010

Ha’aretz – Mosque Vandalized as Settlers Attack Palestinian Village – 14 April 2010

Ha’aretz – No-one Saw, No-one Heard: 300 Palestinian Olive Trees Uprooted – 14 April 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On Friday April 9 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled new advanced centrifuge that will help accelerate the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program. The unveiling of new machines has alarmed world powers including the United States who were were already fearful of the aims of Iran’s nuclear program. The centrifuges were unveiled by the Iranian President during a ceremony marking Iran’s National Day of Nuclear Technology as Ahmadinejad pulled back a white curtain to reveal the new machines.

The new, advanced centrifuge machines are capable of much faster uranium enrichment that the centrifuges currently being used in Iran’s nuclear facility. Iranian nuclear officials have praised the advancement as a step toward greater self-sufficiency. The officials are concerned that the nuclear program will suffer from the new nuclear sanctions targeted at ending all uranium enrichment activity in the Islamic republic. President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly insisted that the program only has peaceful aims such as power generation.

The details of the centrifuges were explained by Iranian official Ali Akbar Salehi in his National Day of Nuclear Technology speech. Salehi explained that the centrifuges have the separation power six times that of the first generation centrifuges Iran currently uses. He explained that experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran managed to design the new centrifuges and that they had passed several mechanical tests.

President Ahmadinejad’s announcement came as members of the United Nations Security Council was discussing a new round of sanctions against Iran. The rationale for the sanction is Iran’s continued refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany all announced that the talks were productive. The ambassadors did also confirm that the meetings would continue in the coming weeks. China has been under increased pressure from the other Security Council to support the new sanctions despite their public objections.

The UN’s nuclear arm, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced in a February 2010 report that Iran had achieved enrichment levels of up to 19.8%. The report also spoke that the number raised concerns of the “possible military dimensions” of the Iranian nuclear program.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Iran Unveils More Advanced Centrifuge Machines – 9 April 2010

BBC – Iran Unveils ‘Faster’ Uranium Centrifuges – 9 April 2010

Washington Post – Iran Displays New Centrifuge For Nuclear Work – 9 April 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria/ AMMAN, Jordan– On Tuesday, Syria chastised new Israeli military orders that they say paves the way for large-scale expulsions of Palestinians from the West Bank and warned that the new orders may lead to a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in the occupied territories.

The new rules, which took effect on Tuesday, allow for anyone caught in the West Bank without an Israeli permit to face immediate expulsion or be sentenced up to seven years in prison.  The order, if implemented in full force, could reach thousands of individuals who have moved to the West Bank, foreign born Palestinians married to West Bankers and foreigners who are in the West Bank on expired tourist visas.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry official said “this decision is the adoption of the ethnic cleansing policy and a step to the mass deportation aiming at emptying the land from its people.”  The official further commented “it also constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and human rights and will of the whole international community.”

Syria has not been the only country critical of the new order.  Jordan called in Israel’s ambassador for an official protest over the same decision considering the move to be “a flagrant violation of international law and conventions” and a violation of Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in the West Bank.

In response, a group of Israeli human rights organizations have asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak to rescind the order’s implementation, arguing that it would “turn all residents of the West Bank into criminals.”  The Israeli government rebutted such an assertion arguing that the order makes “no change with regard to who is illegal or legal.” Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator with Israel said “these orders have the effect of turning Palestinians into criminals in their own homes, while directly undermining the efforts of Palestinians to run their own internal affairs.”

An Israeli military official denied that the order would pave the way for large-scale expulsions, indicating that its sole purpose was aimed at foreign activists.

For more information, please see:

CNN- Jordan Protests to Israel Over Expulsions– 14 April 2010

Haaretz- Jordan Condemns Israel Over West Bank Deportation Order– 14 April 2010

The Jerusalem Post- Jordan Protests Expulsion Rule– 14 April 2010