Free Republic

Terrified that sectarian Muslim bloodshed could soon engulf the region, U.S. allies and adversaries in the Middle East have stepped up joint efforts to head off a religious civil war. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran have held intensive talks in recent days on ways to tamp down sectarian violence in Iraq and Lebanon. Over the weekend, Saudi King Abdullah issued an unusual public call for calm. Top Islamic clerics and scholars in Egypt, Qatar and Iraq also have issued statements urging Muslim unity, often blaming the United States and other outside actors of trying to divide the faithful....

Ahmadinejad caught on video in serious breach of sharia law By: israelinsider staff Published: December 6, 2006 Iran's president and Islamic hardliner Ahmadinejad was caught on video watching a group of women dancers in Doha-- a serious violation of sharia law, a Guardian Unlimited report says. Given that much of Ahmadinejad's support comes from Islamic ultra-conservatives, the incident could prove to be injurious, if not fatal, to the Iranian president. This week, Iranian news sources announced that Iran's presidential vote would be moved forward, ending Ahmadinejad's term early. Many are wondering if the two events might be related.

BRITAIN has resorted to detaining as an illegal immigrant a man regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s most dangerous terrorists. Abu Doha, whose various aliases include “The Doctor”, has been in Belmarsh highsecurity jail for almost six years facing extradition to the United States on charges of running a jihad training camp in Afghanistan and plotting to blow up Los Angeles airport. But the US has been forced to drop the case against him after an informer refused to give evidence. A British judge described the extremist network created by Abu Doha as “one of the most significant groups of terrorists...

Abu Hamza, the militant, London-based Muslim cleric, maintained close contact with the leadership of al-Qa'eda during the years when it operated a worldwide terrorist network from Afghanistan, according to FBI files. Documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph state that Hamza, the former imam of Finsbury Park mosque, north London, dealt personally with Abu Zubeidah, Osama bin Laden's director of operations. Zubeidah, a Palestinian who is now in US custody, communicated bin Laden's instructions and messages from his hideout in Afghanistan to al-Qa'eda cells around the world. Hamza had the power to refer recruits to Zubeidah for "leadership training" in Afghan...

Forget the politicking on the news about tariffs and subsidies. The true advantages of free trade, toward which small political steps as the Doha trade round are vital, are to the long-term financial and social benefit of America and the world. Were free trade effectively implemented, instead of being torpedoed by the demagogic posturing of reactionary Leftists, the progress and development it inspired would improve the lives of millions of people.

[...] The current round of trade talks was launched in 2001 at Doha, Qatar, an authoritarian location conveniently off- limits to protesters. [...] The trade agenda has been set by business elites who would impose one economic model on the world -- the model of laissez-faire. This model rejects more than a century of Western history, during which democracies have relied on government regulation and social investment to temper the instability and income extremes of a pure market economy. The elite model would also coerce Third World countries to give up their successful development strategies, in which government helps local...

Insults fly in the dust of Doha By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor (Filed: 26/07/2006) Hopes that anything will be salvaged from the wreckage of the Doha Round were fading last night as Europe and the US traded bitter accusations and recriminations, with each blaming the other for the collapse of the key trade talks. US trade representative Susan Schwab accused the EU of lying after Peter Mandelson claimed it was America's intransigence that caused the failure of the globalisation talks. Peter Mandelson In turn, Mr Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, repeated his allegations about the US and appealed over Ms...

Reality finally bit. The Doha Round talks have been put off indefinitely. This is the second best result: There was no deal worth doing in the Doha Round right now. Susan Schwab, the US Special Trade Representative blames Peter Mandelson, the EU Trade Commissioner. He blames her back. And Pascal Lamy, the Director General of the EU, blames them all. Oxfam blames the rich countries and dissembles now that the WTO cannot help poor countries. There will be anxiety about how much this harms the WTO trading system. In a very important way, it won't. The foundation of the WTO...

DOHA (AFX) - US energy secretary Samuel Bodman called for more security at oil facilities around the world and said Saudi Arabia had asked Washington for help after a botched attack at a plant in the kingdom. 'It is important that we enhance the physical security of our facilities,' Bodman told reporters on the sidelines of the 10th Energy Forum in Doha. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up on Feb 24 outside the world's largest oil processing plant in Abqaiq in eastern Saudi Arabia.

WASHINGTON -- Russian diplomats passed detailed — though sometimes inaccurate — tactical information about American troop movements to senior Iraqi officials as U.S. troops closed in on Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to Iraqi intelligence documents captured by the American military that raise new questions about Moscow's role in Iraq. One of the documents, which purports to be a summary of a letter sent to Saddam Hussein's office by a Russian official, claims that Moscow had "sources inside the American Central Command in Doha" — the U.S. military's headquarters during the war — which Russia used to...

Pace Visits Qatar to Thank Troops for Terror War Support By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2005 – The top-ranking U.S. military officer visited U.S. and coalition troops at an air base in Qatar yesterday to thank them for their contributions to the war on terror, treat them to a USO show and re-enlist three members. Marine Gen. Peter Pace kicked off a week-long trip at an air base near Doha, where he thanked hundreds of troops gathered under a tent at the base's Memorial Plaza, Air Force Capt. Eric Badger, public affairs officer for the...

IN THE next six months or so, the world has to agree on a new set of rules to reform global trade. Yet as trade ministers prepare for a critical meeting in Hong Kong next week, their ultimate choices could be between no reform at all, or reform that barely moves the goalposts.That prospect might seem odd to Australians, who are used to governments promoting free trade regardless of public opinion.But that is not the attitude of governments in most of the World Trade Organisation's 150 member countries. They approach trade negotiations as opportunities to gain market access, not to...

BUSAN, South Korea — The leaders of 21 Pacific Rim economies gathered today to develop joint action to fight bird flu and shore up flagging talks on a global free-trade pact, but regional tensions hung over their talks. Security was tight before the opening of the two-day summit in the port city of Busan, where activists promised protests by 100,000 people opposed variously to U.S. forces in South Korea, globalization, North Korea and trade liberalization. Although dismissed by some as toothless, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is determined to make its voice heard on global concerns including corruption,...

The US turned up pressure on the European Union yesterday to go further in cutting farm tariffs, saying its latest proposal fell far short of what was needed for World Trade Organisation talks to succeed. Rob Portman, the US trade representative, expressed disappointment that the EU and others had not maintained the negotiating momentum generated by Washington's offer this week of deep cuts in domestic agricultural supports, by coming up with ambitious tariff-cutting proposals. "I'm disappointed there have been no significant moves on farm market access," he said after three days of talks between trade ministers in Zurich and Geneva....

Homeowners and home buyers scored a rare... victory... when a three-person arbitration panel ruled unanimously that U.S. tariffs against imported Canadian softwood lumber violate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).... [R]escinding the tariffs will reduce the average construction cost of a new home by about $1,000 and make about 300,000 more moderate-income Americans eligible for mortgages. Instead of hailing the move as a welcome step toward more affordable housing, the Bush administration insists that it won't lift the tariffs, which can reach as high as 27%. It further plans to engage in more stalling tactics by appealing the decision...

The House pulled out a victory on the Central American Free Trade Agreement late Wednesday, though so narrowly that the White House may need to rethink its "bilateral" trade strategy. Protectionists have all the intensity on these smallish trade deals, while supporters tend to be less passionate than they would be on larger, multilateral agreements such as the ongoing Doha global trade round. Another negative political note is the declining support among Democrats for open trade. The White House had to deliver 202 House Republicans to pass Cafta, 217-215, because only 15 Democrats bucked their party leadership to vote yes....

The Islamic organization poised to build the largest mosque in the Northeast on a site in Roxbury has long-standing ties to an Egyptian cleric who praises suicide bombings and a Muslim activist indicted last week in a terrorism financing probe. The Islamic Society of Boston, which has city approval to build a sprawling $22 million Islamic cultural center and mosque on Malcolm X Boulevard, has had a long association with Dr. Yusuf Abdullah al-Qaradawi, whose vocal support of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas prompted the State Department to bar him from entering the U.S. four years ago. The local religious...

...Even after nearly two decades in the Senate, John Kerry is uncertain whether he is for or against TPA, even though it must be renewed early next year. Instead, Mr. Kerry wants a long study that would conveniently extend months beyond when this hard-fought authority is due to expire.... Mr. Kerry's vacillation on trade extends further. His campaign has signaled the abandonment of America's successful drive for Free Trade Agreements. The Bush administration has completed FTAs... that also include enforceable commitments on labor and environmental laws, combined with aid programs that help developing countries improve conditions cooperatively -- contradicting Mr....

...There seem to be three arguments by Sen. Kerry's advisers that have prompted this sorry situation for the Democrats: First, that the Bush trade policy is no better; second, that electoral strategy requires that Sen. Kerry act like a protectionist, while indicating subtly... a likelihood of freer trade in the White House; and third, at odds with the previous argument, that the U.S. does indeed have to turn trade policy around toward some sort of protectionism (and restraints on direct investment abroad) if it is going to assist workers and reward the unions. Each argument is flawed. - Mr. Bush...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The business press has been hailing the World Trade Organization framework agreement that emerged from around-the-clock, last-minute meetings in Geneva on July 31.  The hope expressed is that the deal saved the Doha Round trade talks, and perhaps the WTO itself.  Yet, there is little ground for optimism about the future of “free trade.” The turmoil that has wracked the WTO since the collapse of the Seattle ministerial conference in 1999 continues because it reflects the crisis in the global economy which erupted in 1997.  The Seattle meeting was supposed to...