Afghanistan: Mullah Omar's Message "End the Occupation" (25 November)

UPDATE 0900 GMT: President Hamid Karzai has said in his Eid al-Adha message, "I once again call upon our brothers, the Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami and everyone who is away from their land and who have taken up arms against their soil, to come back to their country for peace, stability, prosperity so that we Afghan people join hand in hand together to rebuild and prosper our beloved country."

On the occasion of the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), Mullah Omar, the leader of the "Old Taliban" in Afghanistan, put out a message. From the US Government Open Source Center via Juan Cole:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. [Verse in Arabic]

I congratulate the mojahed [holy-warrior] nation of Afghanistan, the respectable families of martyrs, those who live in captivity of the enemy, the brave mojahedin [holy warriors] and all members of the Islamic Ummah [nation] on the auspicious occasion of Eid al-Adha. May this sacred day be the day of eternal freedom, pride, happiness, well-being and success for the entire Islamic Ummah. May Allah accept the hajj, acts of worship and prayers of hajjis [pilgrims to Mecca] and make their religious gathering a cause for unity among members of the Ummah.

“Let America Be America”: An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan

On the auspicious occasion of Eid al-Adha and based on the needs of time, I would also like to mention a few necessary issues:

1. To Muslim and mojahed nation

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my Muslim nation for welcoming the request of the Islamic Emirate not to participate in the American process under the name of elections and thus failing and exposing this American drama. I strongly believe that if the mojahed nation continues to extend its all-round and sincere cooperation, Allah will foil all conspiracies of the enemies of our country one after another. It is because of your sacrifices and the grace of Allah that the arrogant enemy is facing a major embarrassment and defeat and is panicking. In order to attain our Islamic objectives, you should continue your jihad and struggle and help the mojahedin who are sacrificing their lives. Strengthen the ranks of the mojahedin by joining them and by offering your wealth. I especially hope that you will take care of the families of holy martyrs and captives. Similarly, on the basis of your religious responsibility, cut all your ties with the mercenary administration in Kabul.

Those who have occupied our country and have held our nation hostage are now trying to use for some time the deceitful drama of talks the way they used the elections drama in order to secure their colonial objectives. The occupying enemy does not want talks as a result of which Afghanistan will become independent and which will end their occupation. They want talks that will ensure the continuation of their occupation and dirty colonial policies. However, the mojahed nation of Afghanistan will never accept talks that will legalize the continual presence of foreign forces in our beloved country.

Afghanistan is our home and nobody negotiates with anyone about the ownership of their home and about how to share sovereignty and management responsibilities of their home. Nobody will give up their right to be the owner of their home and nobody will wilfully lose their authority in their own home. The foreigners have taken over the home of the Afghans by force and cruelty. If they want a solution to the problem, they should first end their occupation of Afghanistan. Under the pretext of talks, the invading Americans want the mojahedin to surrender to them. This is something that is impossible.

Our nation has good experiences and clear principles to guide them resolve their problems and deal with the world. Therefore, the position of the Islamic Emirate is based on Islamic and national interests and strong reasons.

2. To brave mojahedin in the trenches

Your victory against the infidel occupiers is because of help from Allah. If in return you dedicate yourselves to pleasing Allah and serving the people in exchange for His help, Allah will be kinder to you, the enemy will not be able to stand against you and you will have the pride of having defeated the colonial superpower of this century. This is something that seems to be happening already, God is willing.

Follow the orders of Allah, stay united and refrain from disunity and differences among yourself.

Obey the commands of your superiors in all matters of jihad. Be very careful not to harm civilians and public property. Pay special attention to targeting occupiers, their mercenaries and important targets only while launching martyrdom (self-sacrificing) operations. It is a religious duty of every Muslim to avoid harming ordinary people. There is no Islamic justification for killing and injuring ordinary people nor is there any space in our holy religion for such an act.

The cunning enemy wants to defame mojahedin by launching bloody attacks among the people (in religious centres, mosques and similar places) and then call their attacks martyrdom attacks. Mojahedin should be vigilant about enemy tactics and never engage in this kind of activity.

You should prioritize pleasure of Allah and wellbeing of your oppressed nation. You should respect elders and prominent figures and be kind to youngsters. Ensure justice in social affairs and make sure that everyone's rights are upheld. You should fully implement the principles of the Islamic Emirate to better your jihad efforts.

Take advantage of existing experiences, advice and strong measures to prevent differences, complaints and casualties in military operations and in all other jihadi matters.

Similarly, take special care to protect your lives. Respect his rights if a member of the opposition surrenders to you, as this process is in progress.

The defeated Americans are trying to repeat the failed experience of the communists who, on the verge of their defeat, formed tribal battalions and secret armed groups under the name of tribal militias to create internal differences and to use these groups to take revenge on the mojahedin. I strongly believe that this tactic of the enemy will also fail and the enemy will be further defamed. But you should also try hard to fail the enemy's this latest plan with the help of your mojahed nation. You should punish those who supervise schism and sedition so that others learn a lesson and the dark history of wild and notorious militias is not repeated.

3. To the officials and employees of the slave Kabul administration

Stop oppressing and tormenting your Muslim and oppressed nation by serving as slaves to infidel occupiers. Foreign occupiers can never wish well for the Afghan nation. They intend to destroy the belief and sanctities of the people of Afghanistan. They plan to devour all material wealth of our country.

Slogans of reconstruction that they chant are empty words that they use to achieve their own objectives. They have pocketed back thousands of millions of dollars that they provided in aid for the so-called reconstruction of Afghanistan and they intend to entrap our country into a massive debt trap under a well-planned conspiracy.

They have come to enslave our brave nation. I call on all of you, like I have done in the past because of my responsibility, to stop living disgracefully. Stop being an enemy of your own people and instead of being shameless, stand with the mojahedin in the ranks of pride, nobility and faith.

The enemy wants to put a gun on your shoulder to kill your countrymen but you should try not to be associated with pro-Britain Shah Shoja and pro-Soviet [Nur Mohammad] Taraki, [Hafizollah] Amin, [Babrak] Karmal and Najib and carry the shame of sharing the same fate with them.

If you abandon the path of lies, you will be victorious in this world and in the world hereafter. You should realize that the magic spell of Western colonial power has been broken and realities on the ground in our beloved country show that the enemy is on the run. The caravan of truth is patiently marching forward towards its logical victorious conclusion. The brave mojahedin are improving with time and gaining experience in military, political, media and social affairs. Desperate efforts by the aggressors and their servants resemble sand castles in the way of the waves of ocean. Waves sent by the brave Afghan nation will prevail over the arrogance of the aggressor, Allah willing.

4. To the Organization of the Islamic Conference and so-called international human rights organizations

I call on the Organization of the Islamic Conference and all human rights organizations in the world to prevent the killing of civilians in Afghanistan by American and coalition forces. They should raise their voices and ask for punishment for this crime. Similarly, occupation forces led by America and the puppet administration in Kabul have in violation of all international principles set up prisons in different parts of the country where many of our innocent and poor countrymen are savagely tortured. All human rights organizations must take immediate action in line with their responsibility to stop these inhuman acts. Many of our prisoners have been martyred or maimed because of bad treatment and torture at these prisons.

If human rights organizations are not fulfilling their responsibility in order to please America and the West, they should remove their titles as human rights organizations.

5. To scholars, writers and authors

I request the independent scholars and politicians that they in all gatherings and meetings should support their innocent and oppressed people. In their books, publications and articles they should enlighten the minds of the people and the world. By using their words and their pens they should start jihad to pay for the debt for their God-given talent.

I call upon journalists and writers to play their role and make efforts supporting an independent and fully Islamic nation.

The media should convey the realities clearly to the people and should strive to tell the truth. I also call upon the caring and compassionate poets to strengthen the passion of mojahedin's achievements and struggle against the invaders and to strengthen people's sentiments for independence, honour, national unity, independence and Islamic dynamism.

6. To regional and neighbouring countries

The West's vicious expansionist colonialist plans in the region have paved the way for the overt and covert plots by known and mercenary murderers and filthy companies under the name of economic assistance and for resentment, hatred and discord among the nations of the region. These are in fact actions against human values, justice, peace, reciprocal relations and independence of the countries.

If countries of the region ignore the American colonialist interference and large-scale military presence in the region, then the entire region will remain unstable, backward and independent for ever. We confidently say that with help of Almighty God and the firm determination and resistance of the mojahedin, the enemy's ability has swiftly decreased and their vicious plans has been neutralized.

It is time that you all help and cooperate with us for freedom of our nation. The Islamic Emirates in case of mutual respect wants to take major steps to cooperate and work with all nations of the world. We see the whole region as our common home against colonialism and as a responsible force we want to play our role for the long-term peace and stability of the whole region.

7. To White House officials and pro-war Americans

Considering the current realities in Afghanistan the occupier Americans and their coalition is fully defeated in Afghanistan; a defeat which cannot be compensated by even by sending more troops or creating many illogical strategies. You must understand that the logic of force and oppression will not more work and you will not be able to use force and evil intentions to deceive the zealous Afghan people.

The people you chosen to fight with are those brave and warrior people who has the honour of toppling despotic empires in the world and has full skill and historical experience in this regard. Our Muslim nation will not allow the Western occupiers to undermine our freedom and vital values and to transform our nation as a base for plots of aggressors against other nations.

This is the nation which eliminated the Russian and British empires from the map of the world. Using the past experiences with full patience, force and high morale we are continuing our holy war against the defeated invaders. Based on our faith and high morale we believe in our victory and your defeat. You need to choose logical ways instead of flexing your muscle to end the occupation of Afghanistan.

Your aggressive policies will increase your people's enemies all over the world and will make life for you as hell, this is because war and aggression is no longer acceptable for anyone.

8. To Europe and in general to the freedom-loving Western nation

Your aggressive authorities have attacked and occupied our country under the pretext of war on terror in order to increase the wealth of a few capitalists. Our youths, elders, women and children die on a daily basis by your bombs and cannons. The occupiers attack our people homes during the day and destroy our green orchards, our national wealth and our educational and business centres. To fight such a cruelty and aggression is our legitimate and national right.

We would use our full rights with all the resources we have.

You should not be deceived by your aggressive officials who call their aggression as the war of necessity. This is not a war of necessity but it is in fact a war of aggression. The expression of war on terror is a fraudulent and false tool which your authorities have in their hands. It is your moral responsibility to raise your voice in order to prevent them from cruelty.

We are in favour of an Islamic system in our country where the rights of all men and women are protected in the light of Islamic principles. We want a self-sufficient system which should be based on the Islamic principles. We want a system whose domestic and foreign policy should neither harm others nor let others to harm it. The illogical concept of war against terrorism is an expression made by the Pentagon and Washington. Through this expression, they want to occupy the independent countries. They want to snatch their natural and economic resources. They want to abuse their religion and beliefs.

9. To the entire Muslim Ummah

[Verse in Arabic] I suggest to all Muslim brothers in all corners of the world that you should act upon the sacred instructions of Islam to regain your previous pride and glory Help your innocent Muslim brothers all across the world. Take a lead in performing jihad against the cruel aggressors. Stay away from disunity and pay careful attention to all those plots and conspiracies of the enemy which had been hatched for defaming Muslims.

Stay away from all those things which harm Muslims. Focus on defeating the aggressive enemy in the battlefield. Do not engage in aimless activities. Pay serious attention to your most important objective.

Muslims all over the world should pray for the protection and success of mojahedin in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and other countries. They should provide moral and Islamic support to the mojahedin and support them in a justified Islamic way. Same as the United States and its supporters make overt and covert efforts to destabilize the Islamic world and provoke differences in the Islamic countries in order to ensure their own interests, therefore, all the Muslims must know their real enemy and should be alert to their conspiracies. [Verses of in Arabic and their translation]

The servant of Islam, Amir al-Momenin Mullah Mohammad Omar Mojahed

Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 1135 GMT 25 Nov 09

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On Monday Syrian President Bashar Assad, in Istanbul for the meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, condemned "Zionist occupation". He warned Israel of the "legitimacy of Arab resistance" if peace talks fail and called for the demolition of settlements in the West Bank:

Resistance to the occupation is a national duty. To support it is a moral and legal duty and standing by it is an honor which makes us proud.

Arabs have a fixed desire for the realization of a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the return of the occupied territories, especially Occupied Syrian Golan but the failure of negotiations in returning all rights means existence of the resistance as an alternative solution.

What about dismantling settlements instead of stopping them and more importantly, what about ending the occupation? We must begin to work for the elimination of the occupation since it ensures us stopping then removing the settlements and not the opposite.

The Latest from Iran (9 November): Assessing the Government

NEW Iran: An Eyewitness on 13 Aban “Protest An Inseparable Part of People’s Lives”
NEW Iran's Nuclear Programme: Washington's Unhelpful Misperceptions
Latest Iran Video: Mehdi Karroubi on the 13 Aban Protests
NEW Iran: An Opposition Renewing, A Government in Trouble
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NEW Latest Iran Video: More from 13 Aban & from Today (8-9 November)

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2030 GMT: We're still waiting for an English translation of today's Mir Hossein Mousavi newspaper with Jamaran, the newspaper of the Khomeini family (see 1015 GMT). The headline is Mousavi's declaration that Iran is "vulnerable" in the current political situation: “People who entered the scene of the Revolution did not do it to suffer such difficulties. They came to secure their freedom and welfare, and if the system fails to deliver, it will lose its legitimacy for certain.”

2020 GMT: An EA reader has sent us the petition, printed in full in the comments below, to the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, to commute the death sentence of Ehsan Fatahian, a 28-year-old Kurd who is scheduled for execution on Wednesday. Fatahian was initially given a 10-year prison term for “plotting against national security” but this was changed to a death sentence by an appeal court when the charge “waging war against God” was added.

2000 GMT: Back from a break to find excellent material from readers. With university demonstrations continuing today, we've posted four clips from a rally at Azad University, Khomeini Shahr, outside Isfahan.

An EA reader describes, in a comment below, today's  ceremony awarding the Human Rights Defenders Tulip to Iranian lawyer and human/women’s rights activist Shadi Sadr in The Hague.

Tomorrow (10 November) at 12:00 CET she will present a film, Women in Shrouds, and hold a Q&A about human rights in Iran. If anyone here would like to ask her a question through me, please post it here in these comments.

1645 GMT: Daftar-Tahkim-Vahdat, the main reformist student and alumni organisation, has issued a statement announcing that it will withstand the oppression of "coup agents" with all of its organisational power, even as almost half of its key members are imprisoned or sought by the security forces.


The significance beyond this general assertion is that when the organisation issued a statement of defiance on the eve of 13 Aban, the regime arrested three of its leading members. So renewing this show of resistance is a clear signal that, less than a month before the next mass rally on 16 Azar (7 December), the students will not be cowed into silence.

1630 GMT: Hillary Responds and Iran's State Media Takes Note. No surprise that Secretary of State Clinton would offer a boiler-plate response to the news of the charging of the three hikers:

We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever. And we would renew our request on the behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them so they can return home. And we will continue to make that case through our Swiss protecting power, who represents the United States in Tehran.

More interesting, perhaps, that the statement would be prominently featured on Press TV's website.

1440 GMT: The Story Beyond the Headline Story --- 3 US Hikers Charged with Espionage. Western media will be dominated for the next 24 hours by the breaking news that three Americans who strayed across the Iraq-Iran border will be charged with spying, according to Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi.

Here's the unreported dimension of the event. The news came through only hours after the US representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Glyn Davies, offered Washington's olive branch in the nuclear talks:

"There have been communications back and forth. We are in extra innings in these negotiations. That's sometimes the way these things go....We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, quite obviously, and we're hoping for an early positive answer from the Iranians."

Davies' kind words appear to be tied to the new Iranian counter-proposal (see separate entry), which in visit may be linked to Russian intervention through the visit of its Deputy Foreign Minister to Tehran this weekend.

So is the Iranian Government playing a cunning game where it can engage the US with one hand and strike at Washington, via its citizens,  with the other? Or are we now seeing a schizophrenic Government in which one group is pursuing negotiations while another is going for intimidation?

1225 GMT: Ahmadinejad and the CIA. The politics around the President's "engagement" with the US, given the regime's simultaneous post-election use of "velvet coup" to crack down on opponents, is getting very confusing.

The Iranian Labor News Agency features an interview with conservative activist Mojtaba Shakeri, who says that  some of the journalists and scholars who met with Ahmadinejad, presumably during the President's trip to New York, were undoubtedly CIA operatives. Shakeri says this is common US practice and occurred in previous encounters with Presidents Rafsanjani and Khatami.

For Mir Hossein Mousavi's Kalemeh, the interview is enough to become the sensational revelation that the President has met CIA officials. That, of course, is part of the current opposition campaign to question the President's duplicity in negotiating with the Obama Administration while denouncing the evils of the US.

1145 GMT: We have received a moving and thoughtful e-mail from an EA reader, offering an eyewitness summary of the importance of 13 Aban. It is posted in a separate entry.

1110 GMT: Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran Prosecutor General who organised the first post-election trials and has been linked to the abuses at Kahrizak Prison, may be moving post for the second times in three months. Mortazavi became Iran's Deputy Prosecutor General but may now become head of the economic crimes division of the Justice Ministry.

1015 GMT: Green Publicity. Mir Hossein Mousavi has spoken with Jamaran, the newspaper of the Khomeini family, about the need for unity through adherence to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. This is the second major interview Jamaran has featured in 72 hours, having spoken with former President Mohammad Khatami this weekend.

0945 GMT: Why are Bread Prices Rising? EA correspondent Mohammad Khiabani, who specialises in analysis on the Iranian economy, has a look at the recent increase in bread prices (see yesterday's updates), "This is not completely unrelated to subsidy removals, since merchants often increase prices in future expectation of inflation, which of course leads to inflation." This from the US Open Source Center:

In its November 8 issue, Hemayat said that the two traditional breads including Barbari and Sangak were being sold for 600 and 2,000 tomans, respectively (approximately 1,000 tomans = US $1). The newspaper said that, coming before the announcement of the new rates for bread, evidence shows that the increase in prices is more than what was officially declared. Officials had declared new rates for the traditional bread in the first week of November. Under this scheme the price per bread for unsubsidized Sangak is 400 tomans and in subsidized bakeries it is 175 tomans.

Jomhouri Eslami headlined: "New wave of expensive bread". The report pointed out that the offenders are overcharging while the authorities are only giving warnings. Jomhuri Islami reported the cost of bread in various Tehran neighborhoods. In southern Tehran Barbari costs 150 tomans, Pasadaran (northeast) 200 tomans, Saadatabad (northwest) 250 tomans, Shahrake Gharb (northwest) 300 tomans, Shahrake Omid (northeast) 500 tomans, Ketabi Square (north) 600 tomans.
As for the Sangak, which uses a more expensive flour and baking process, it was sold in Pasdaran for 1,000 tomans, Saadatabad 700 tomans, and Shahrake Gharb for 2,000 tomans.

0900 GMT: Iran's Telecommunications Privatised. Press TV reports:

An Iranian consortium has signed a deal to buy 50 percent plus one of the shares of Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) for around eight billion dollars. According to the deputy of Iran's Privatization Company, the related contract was signed Sunday with an Iranian consortium named Etemad Mobin Development that includes three firms.

"The historical deal was signed after an article was added to the $7.8 billion text of the contract according to which the buyer will be committed to the charter of TCI," said Mehdi Oghadaei.

0805 GMT: The muddle inside Iran on the nuclear negotiations and a useful but disturbing New York Times article this morning prompt us to offer an analysis, "Iran's Nuclear Programme: Washington's Unhelpful Misperceptions".

0640 GMT: Unsurprisingly, Iranian state media are playing up the meetings of President Ahmadinejad with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. No details are offered, though Erdogan has recently been supportive of Iran's line on its nuclear programme, criticising its Israeli counterpart.

0610 GMT: An EA reader sends in a piece of interesting information about Internet trends inside Iran. The search volume for Mohsen Sazegara, a founder of the Revolutionary Guard who is now a fervent opponent of the regime from his exile in the US, is twice that for Mehdi Karroubi.

Not sure of the significance of this; any ideas would be welcome.

0600 GMT: We'll be trying to put the pieces together on where the Iranian Government is heading, even if those involved don't know where they fit.

President Ahmadinejad is in Ankara for the meeting of the economic committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which raises the possibilities of the Government going into a holding phase or (more likely) others manoeuvring while Ahmadinejad is away.

One of the events which may or may not be significant in those calculations continues to be debated today. We initially speculated that Speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, travelled to Najaf in Iraq to see senior clerics because of the internal discussions in Tehran. EA correspondent Josh Mull has been putting the alternative that Larijani saw Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and others to encourage passage of the law for Iraqi elections in January, and other observers also back that view.

On the opposition side, there is a lot of Internet chatter this morning about Mehdi Karroubi's webcast yesterday, recounting the events of 13 Aban and criticising the Government's manipulation of the issue of relations with the US. And discussion is picking up over a planned demonstration at Shiraz University today.