Wednesday, 4 March 2009





Barack Obama's first 50 days of bedevilment

DEBKA-Net-Weekly Exclusive Analysis

March 4, 2009, 5:30 PM (GMT+02:00)

Al Qaeda's friends struck in Lahore at the heart of the Obama administration's bid for a South Asian handle to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan - with knock-on effects in New Delhi, Tehran, Damascus and Gaza.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's next issue analyzes some of the ground the new US president has covered so far. Don't miss this special issue out Friday.

To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weeklyclick HERE .

Iran: Israel "cancerous tumor," Obama on same wrong path as Bush

DEBKAfile Special Report

March 4, 2009, 5:43 PM (GMT+02:00)

Eighty delegations in Tehran hear outpouring of hate

Eighty delegations in Tehran hear outpouring of hate

Leading a concentrated outpouring of venomous hate, Iran's supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Wednesday, March 4, that President Barack Obama is pursuing the same "wrong path" as his predecessor in supporting Israel – "a cancerous tumor" - and he saw no change.

This was Tehran's response to the moderate language coming from the new US president and Obama's offer of talks.

President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad told the conference, which was attended by all the Palestinian factions including Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, "The story of the Holocaust... is the biggest lie of our era." 
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Gaza Hamas leader keynote speaker at Iran's anti-Israel conference

DEBKAfile Special Report

March 3, 2009, 11:30 PM (GMT+02:00)

Hamas' Mahmoud a-Zahar, purported trucemaker

Hamas' Mahmoud a-Zahar, purported trucemaker

DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources that Gaza's Hamas strongman Mahmoud A-Zahar was given an Israeli safe passage to travel from Gaza to Cairo in mid-February.

He made straight for Damascus and Tuesday, March 3, was flown to Tehran to deliver the keynote speech at a conference called by the Islamic Republic as a counterweight to the international donors' conference sponsored by the US and Egypt this week.

Cairo persuaded Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak that he could be counted on to sign a long-term truce for Gaza. 
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Clinton sends two US officials to Damascus, says two-state solution "inescapable"

DEBKAfile Special Report

March 3, 2009, 10:44 PM (GMT+02:00)

Visiting US secretary of state Hillary Clinton detached two officials from her delegation in Jerusalem for a visit to Damascus "to explore some bilateral issues." Tuesday, March 3. In her meetings with Israel leaders, she pledged "everything we can to ensure Israel's security now and into the future" and repeated her warnings that rocket attacks from Gaza "must cease."

She also said she shared "Israel's concern about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and continued financing of terrorist organizations." 
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International aid to Gaza will end up with Hamas and… Tehran

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

March 2, 2009, 1:30 PM (GMT+02:00)

After the 75 high-ranking delegations, led by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, leave Sharm e-Sheikh Monday, March 2, the $5.5 bn they pledged to aid Gaza's reconstruction may be channeled through the Palestinian Authority, but it will eventually end up strengthening Hamas and paying Iran for arming the Palestinian Islamist terrorists. No more than 15c in every aid dollar will reach the Gaza populace.

Follow the tortuous trail of international aid money, ill-afforded by a world sunk in economic crisis, withDEBKAfile in the exclusive report below. 
Full article