Strange rats invade Kyrgyz region

BISHKEK. Sept 20 (Interfax) - An unusual breed of rats is inflicting damage on Kyrgyzstan's Dzhalal-Abad region.

The rats "are killing numerous farm birds, are damaging grape and corn crops, and have destroyed 14 hectares of grain in one of the districts. These rats can climb trees and are destroying apples, pears and other fruit. The rat invasion may also give rise to different epidemics," parliament member Dooronbek Sadyrbayev told Interfax.

The rats frequently attack people and young children are especially vulnerable.

Sanitary services are unable to deal with the situation. "The enormous amount of rats cannot be estimated," he said. The rats are not susceptible to typical poisons.

An Uzbek specialist bred the species by crossing an ordinary rat with a muskrat, he said.

MARTIN SKIPS FAIR FOR DESMARAIS LAIR

While Canada's next Prime Minister may have disappointed some in the cattle stalls at the annual Brome Lake fair for not showing up Saturday as he traditionally does, others will understand his need to answer a command performance from Power Corp big wheel Paul Desmarais who phoned him personally while he was ensconsed at his Iron Hill estate where he was, who knows, pondering Charolais bulls and, yes, handsome fawn runner ducks. But Desmarais was throwing a big to-do at his new "money no object" Malbaie chateau, with guests including fishing buddies Brian Mulroney and George Bush Sr. So, the pitch was made for Martin to begin rebuilding bridges with the Bush clan to the benefit of all who aspire to see a re-birth in Canada-USA relations. While it remains unclear whether Desmarais will bill one of his public companies for the costs of the ostentatious schmoozer, which one paper described as a soiree to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Desmarais' marriage to Jackie, to raise a toast to his wife on her 75th birthday, and to mark the completion of their stunning summer chateau near Murray Bay, where they own a hunting lodge, those in the know insist that Martin will traipse through the Brome fairgrounds sometime today.

Mr. Tellier has no comment on the $87 million in Technology Partnership loans Bombardier received between 1996 and 2000 ($411,000 of which was dutifully returned to the Liberal party in political donations) which has not been paid back.

In fact, the federal government has shovelled more than $1.6 billion in these so-called loans to struggling little firms such as $33 million to IBM, $301 million to Pratt and Whitney and $9 million to SNC Lavelin. Only 2%, or $22 million has ever been paid back. Sort of gives new meaning to the word “loan."

Hedy Fry to Svend Robinson: "They have stopped burning gays on Kelowna's lawns, as I speak."

Justice Minister Cauchon to Liberal MP: "Tremendous news! This means you can now come out of the closet and the electorate will not be allowed to hate you."

1. Inside the package is an actual pot
2. Instructions recommend that, for maximum effect, you might want to down a 40oz of rye first.
3. After you smoke it, you feel full.
4. When mixed with water, becomes reconstituted peas
5. Adult dosage: 83 joints

1. When you open the package, hundreds of seeds tumble out.
2. To jazz it up they name the different blends--Tumbleweed and Senate Sensations.
3. The 57 page operating manual--50 pages of dire warnings about the product--gives you a higher buzz than the weed itself.

Rideau Hall's budget -- the precise details of which are not subject to the Access to Information Act -- has nearly doubled since Madame Clarkson's term of office began. Now, as a result of her planned northern tour, the parliamentary committee that scuttled the career of former privacy commissioner George Radwanksi has decided to look into her spending habits. While the cost of the trip, to be paid by Foreign Affairs, may be small change in the context of overall federal spending, the committee is rightly signalling that even the Queen's representative should be accountable for spending public money.

Madame Clarkson still has time to alter her guest list. No doubt, her invitees are accomplished individuals, but what do, say, soprano Measha Brueggergosman or choreographer Edouard Lock know about "the challenges and realities of working in a northern environment"? If this trip was a serious affirmation of Canada's northern identity, she should invite Quebec loggers, Alberta oil drillers and Yukon gold miners -- people who know the world beyond the comfortable confines of Yorkville.

As Canadians struggle whether marriage should be redefined to include unions between homosexuals, the editors of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary have galloped out of the starting gate holding Yes banners. Next year's edition of the dictionary will define marriage as "the legal or religious union of two people," according to editor-in-chief Katherine Barber. . . . there's no doubt the 2004 dictionary will become something of a collector's item should Parliament not end up redefining marriage. Barber should have borrowed from the old newspaper maxim: When in doubt, leave out.

In early July 2002, the U.S. Air Force asked the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) for assistance in recruiting Muslim Chaplains. On July 20, 2002 , the ISNA announced that it “is recognized by the Department of Defense as an endorser of Chaplains.” As of July 22, 2002 , ISNA had vetted all 13 of the Muslim clerics serving in the U.S. military. Since then, it has endorsed four more.

Since 13 Muslim Chaplains were active before the involvement of ISNA, it is reasonable to assume that their endorsement by ISNA was pro forma. This cannot be assumed about the following four, however.

Why should this matter?

The ISNA has been in the forefront of American Islam. It has represented itself as the voice of moderation in the war of words surrounding Islamic terrorism. This is probably why the Air Force considered the ISNA an appropriate source for vetting information. My research has uncovered the additional fact that the ISNA relies upon the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS) for its actual vetting information. The GSISS also had developed a reputation for moderation, so even this further connection appears on the surface to be reasonable.

A major player in all these interactions is Dr. Jamal Barzinji, the Director of GSISS, and board member of GSISS and a related moderate organization, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). He is a well-known, articulate spokesman for moderate Islamic interests in America . Not so well known is than in 1980 he was a representative of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), which was deeply involved in providing cover for Wahhabi Muslim extremists (the Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam is the radical branch which is home to Osama bin Laden). In 2002 the president of the WAMY office in Annandale , Va. , was Abdula bin Laden – Osama bin Laden’s younger brother.

Just one year ago, on March 20, 2002, a U.S. Treasury Task Force called Operation Green Quest raided an interrelated group of Islamic Wahhabi interests in northern Virginia Among these were the Herndon, Va., offices of Dr. Barzinji, and the Saar Foundation, created by wealthy Saudi Suleiman Abdul Al-Aziz al-Rajhi.

The Saar Foundation is connected to a former Swiss shell company, Al-Taqwa, whose leading figures included a notorious neo-Nazi and Islamist, Ahmed Huber (the term Islamist refers to Wahhabi-inspired international Islam that is both fundamentalist and terrorist oriented). Al-Taqwa had transferred operations to the United States , but was shut down after 9/11 when its assets were frozen by U.S. presidential order. But operations continued, as the Wahhabi lobby shifted to its backup institutions in northern Virginia.

Operation Green Quest linked Saar to Khalid bin Mahfouz, the former head of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia and lead financial adviser to the Saudi royal family. Mahfouz was named by French intelligence as a backer of Osama bin Laden, in that he endowed the Muwafaq Foundation, which U.S. authorities have confirmed as part of al Qaeda. Furthermore, Muwafaq's former chief, Yassin al-Qadi, oversaw the financial penetration of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania by Wahhabi Muslim extremists in the late 1990s.

[. . . .]

Let’s pass that by once again: Evidence underthed in the past year strongly suggests that Wahhabi Muslim extremists indirectly control the vetting procedure for all Muslim Chaplains in the U.S. military.

The implications for this are staggering. On March 22, 2003 , an American Muslim soldier rolled grenades into the tents of the entire command structure of the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade command group at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait . One man was killed, and 11 were seriously injured. At this time it is not known whether or not he was under orders from an Islamist cleric.

What we have in place however, is a mechanism that practically guarantees that this will happen with increasing frequency. We already know that a properly motivated Muslim terrorist will willingly kill himself in order to take out an important target.

Military Chaplains have the ability to influence personnel assignments. With proper manipulation, several “sleeper” Chaplains can arrange for a significant number of undercover terrorists to be prepositioned so that they can cause maximum damage to our command structure.

Profiling for Militant Islam. Perhaps the most difficult passage for me to write, and one of those that has caused the sharpest reaction, was this, back in January 2003 and repeated two months later:

There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches and temples.

"She deserves it [murder]," says Um Khalid, an older woman with crackling brown eyes and a bright yellow jalabiya, without pausing to consider otherwise.

"Her behavior affects the entire family. In this case, she has to die," says another woman in her 30s, leaning against a pillow. In the eyes of this traditional, close-knit and socially conservative society, bringing shame on the family could lead to ostracism. That in itself is a virtual death sentence for the generations remaining in the same houses within the same social circles.

"Women are harsher than men on this issue," explains Asha, the social worker. They have to distance themselves publicly from the shameful behavior "to avoid being associated with it."

Otherwise "no one would marry any girls in the family," says one girl, as she serves more sweet tea laden with mint. Killing the deviant, the women argue, redeems the family’s honor, allowing it to return to the social circle, reputation intact or even enhanced.

Um Khalid, the most vocal of the group, is quick to point out that a girl's scandalous behavior does not necessarily merit death. The problem arises, she says, when other people begin to find out.

***a girl's scandalous behavior does not necessarily merit death. The problem arises, she says, when other people begin to find out.***

Iraq is to become a free-market economic laboratory, with levels of foreign ownership and privatization never before seen in the Arab world, its U.S.-appointed government announced Sunday.

The entire Iraqi economy, almost totally state-owned under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, will be privatized and opened to unlimited foreign investment — with the notable exception of its oil industry, which will remain a state monopoly and part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. At least 192 state companies will be sold to foreigners.

In a surprise announcement, Kamel al-Kilani, the Iraqi finance minister chosen by the Governing Council, outlined his sweeping plans for Iraq, which is still struggling to impose security, restore basic services and does not yet have any plans for elections.

He also announced that Iraq would introduce the first income tax in its history, and expected to attract loans of up to $75-million (U.S.) from wealthy nations next week. Its emerging government would be largely financed by its oil reserves, he said, considered the second-largest in the world.

The announcement marked the opening of a meeting in Dubai of the group of seven leading industrial countries and the boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the organizations that will play a major role in rebuilding Iraq.

"We are providing Iraqi citizens the freedom and opportunity they were denied for so long," Mr. al-Kilani said. "The reforms will significantly advance efforts to build a free and open market economy in Iraq."

The privatization of the economy is being engineered by the U.S. firm BearingPoint Inc., formerly known as KPMG, to which the U.S. State Department recently awarded a one-year contract worth $79.6-million (U.S.) for rebuilding and privatizing the Iraqi economy, and opening the country to foreign trade.

While European nations said this weekend that they want U.S. control of Iraq's government to end within the year if they are to assist the United States in its increasingly expensive occupation, it appears that the Governing Council is acting quickly to reform the economy before this happens.