NASRALLAH DEMOTED BY KHAMENEI

Some of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah's responsibilities have been taken away by the organization's backer Iran, the pan-Arabic daily Asharq Alawsat claimed Thursday.

Nasrallah on Al Manar Television network. Unconfirmed reports claim he is no longer in charge of Hizbullah's military wing.
Photo: Channel 1 [file]

Reportedly, Nasrallah is no longer in control of the organization's military wing, which is now headed by Nasrallah's deputy Sheikh Na'im Kassem.

The Iranian official Asharq Alawsat cites as the one who demoted Nasrallah is none other than Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The report follows a similar report by Israeli daily Ma'ariv Wednesday, but none of the reports have been officially confirmed by Iran.

Western intelligence sources cited by Asharq reported that Teheran was furious over Nasrallah's conduct during the Second Lebanon War and that was the reasoning behind the decision to diminish Nasrallah's authority.

Sources close to Iran's Revolutionary Guards quoted an officer in the Iranian elite force as saying Kassem was chosen after he and Nasrallah had disagreements regarding the organization of Hizbullah's military wing. Khamenei's representative in Lebanon.

"Kassem isn't only Hizbullah's second-in-command but also Khamenei's representative in Lebanon and Palestine."

Hizbullah's budget in the last 18 months has been $1 billion, to compensate the organization for the losses it suffered during the war. Hizbullah's yearly Iranian budget stands on $400 million, the officer added.

Reportedly, Khamenei appointed a committee of top Revolutionary Guards commanders and entrusted them with restructuring Hizbullah's military and intelligence wings. Among the commanders in the committee is the Kuds Brigade commander Kassem Suleimani and the former head of Hizbullah's intelligence wing Imad Mughnia, who is one of the top names on the US's most wanted terrorists list

4th Infantry Division Soldiers Moving Into Iraq

Special to American Forces Press Service

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait, Dec. 12, 2007 – The 4th Infantry Division began deploying to Kuwait in early November for final preparations before taking over as the headquarters element of Multinational Division Baghdad.

To help facilitate the movement of soldiers through Kuwait and into Baghdad, the Division Tactical Advance Center here stood up to provide final training to MND Baghdad soldiers as they move to the combat zone to assume their duties.

The DTAC team is responsible for organizing inbound and outbound flights, logistical concerns such as water and ammunition, and setting up training for soldiers.

Perhaps the most important section of the DTAC is the Division Transportation Office, which is responsible for moving soldiers, equipment and supplies.

“Nothing happens till something moves,” said Army Staff Sgt. Lonnie Johnson, a logistics noncommissioned officer and a native of Hollywood, Fla. “We are responsible for all incoming and outgoing flights, all vehicle moves for 4th Infantry Division, as well as other MND-B units arriving in Kuwait.”

Another important section in the Division Tactical Advance Center is the Joint Network Node team. They are responsible for setting up communications, running phone lines and setting up satellite trucks that coordinate with Division G6 communications and electronics.

“We are responsible for managing the communications network, installing communications in the Tactical Operations Center and keeping the brigade combat teams in contact with MND-B,” said Army Pfc. Joshua Turner, a signal support specialist with Company C, Special Troops Battalion, and an Atlanta native.

The personnel office and the operations and training office are responsible for in-processing soldiers in Kuwait and seeing to their final training on subjects including improvised-explosive-device recognition, fratricide-prevention training, weapons ranges, and counter-remote-control improvised-explosive-device electronic warfare.

The logistics section’s role is to see to the needs of the soldiers while they are in Kuwait, including distributing water, ammunition and food. They also are responsible for tracking down equipment soldiers need before moving onto Baghdad and maintenance issues that might arise while in Kuwait. This mission encompasses all soldiers that fall under Multinational Division Baghdad.

The communications and electronics helpdesk also plays a crucial role in the transition. “We help keep the (Tactical Operations Center) running, solving any computer problems that may pop up while we move our soldiers and equipment to Kuwait,” said Army Sgt. Owen Martin, a helpdesk NCO and a native of Sioux City, Iowa.

Israeli-Palestinian Meeting Ends in Acrimony

The first formal meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators since last month's Annapolis, Maryland peace conference acrimony Wednesday, with both sides accusing each other acting in bad faith on a host of issues. VOA's Jim Teeple has the details from our Jerusalem bureau.

The 90-minute meeting was supposed to open with a ceremony celebrating the beginning of formal peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But the talks had to be rescheduled and moved to a secret location after it became apparent that the two sides had little to discuss.

Aryeh Mekel, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry says both sides had grievances to air.

"The Palestinians chose to use this occasion to raise grievances. Basically our delegation led by Foreign Minister Livni expressed the need for Palestinians to take urgent action vis-à-vis the security situation and she mentioned the attacks from Gaza," said Mekel. "As you know today there were more than 20 Qassam rockets fired at Sderot and its vicinity. Also she mentioned the lack of security in the West Bank where only two weeks ago, two Palestinian policemen shot and killed an Israeli resident."

Just two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to re-start peace talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement by the end of next year. But since then continued Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, and Israel's decision to build 300 homes in an Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood known as Har Homa, have soured the atmosphere.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says Israel has to choose between settlements and peace with the Palestinians.

Erekat says the Palestinians main point of discussion in their talks with Israel was the planned construction of 300 homes in the Har Homa, East Jerusalem neighborhood. He also says they raised the issue of Israeli military activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Tuesday, Israeli troops launched a ground incursion into Gaza - the largest such operation since June, when Hamas militants seized control of the territory from Fatah forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The issue of Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel is raising concerns of a wider Israeli military offensive in Gaza. But Israel's army chief says his forces will focus on carrying out limited operations in the territory and avoid a broader invasion.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the Israeli town of Sderot, which has borne the brunt of the rocket fire, resigned saying he could not carry out his duties as long as the attacks continue.

Afghan, NATO Forces Kill More than 50 Taliban in South

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry says Afghan and NATO forces have killed more than 50 Taliban fighters after they fled from the southern Afghan town of Musa Qala. Afghan and NATO forces re-took the town after months of Taliban control, but a NATO spokesman says they will likely still face resistance from the Taliban. Daniel Schearf reports from Islamabad.

The Defense Ministry says Afghan military forces, backed up by NATO air support, killed the Taliban fighters during a two-day battle in Sangin, a town just south of Musa Qala.

The Taliban were attempting a counter-attack from Sangin after thousands of Afghan and NATO soldiers forced them to flee Musa Qala this week during several days of heavy fighting.

Major Charles Anthony is deputy spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan. He says even though the Taliban's counter-attack failed, the area is not yet fully secure and more fighting is likely.

"We believe there will be continued pockets of resistance by Taliban in Musa Qala," he said. "We have met a few small pockets of resistance, but clearly the situation has stabilized for the most part. Clearly most of the Taliban fled Musa Qala for other areas including Sangin."

Musa Qala and Sangin are in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, which produces half the world's opium supply.

The Taliban had controlled Musa Qala since February after British forces turned security over to local elders in a controversial deal that quickly fell apart.

Musa Qala was the only major town controlled by the Taliban and was a center of heroin production. Its recovery is a symbolic victory for the still developing Afghan army and for stretched NATO forces.

But the Islamic militant group still controls other parts of Helmand and continues to launch guerilla and suicide attacks. These have helped make this year the bloodiest in Afghanistan, since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

An estimated 6,000 people have been killed in the past year of fighting.

The offensive to take back Musa Qala began as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Afghanistan last week. He promised more support for Afghan security and economic development.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also visited Afghanistan last week. He told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday that a European envoy to Afghanistan would soon be appointed to oversee aid and reconstruction efforts.

Gates said NATO should provide more troops in Afghanistan to deal with the rising violence.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen also told Congress the U.S. military was stretched because of operations in Iraq.

The United States has 26,000 troops in Afghanistan and about half of them are part of NATO's 40,000-member force. There are 160,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Russia no longer bound by CFE treaty

MOSCOW, December 12 ( - Russia's unilateral moratorium on a major arms reductions treaty in Europe came into force immediately after midnight on Wednesday.

The law to freeze Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty has been unanimously approved by parliament and signed on November 30 by President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow considers the original CFE treaty, signed in December 1990 by 16 NATO countries and six Warsaw Pact members, to be discriminatory and outdated since it does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet Union, or recent NATO expansion.

Russia is particularly concerned about the so called flank limitations under the CFE treaty, which essentially prohibit Moscow from reinforcing its military contingents in the North Caucasus military district and in Russia's northwest Leningrad military district.

Russia has been pushing for a new adapted version of the CFE, which sets specific 'ceilings' for each participant of the treaty on five categories of conventional weapons - battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery pieces, combat aircraft and attack helicopters.

However, NATO countries have insisted on Russia's withdrawal from Moldova and Georgia as a condition for their ratification of the modified document. As a result, only Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have so far ratified the adapted document.

Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian General Staff, earlier said that the current treaty favored the U.S. and NATO because it allowed them to exceed national and territorial limitations on the number of armaments, freely deploy and re-deploy military contingents anywhere in Europe, and monitor Russian troops in the European part of Russia.

According to Russia's Defense Ministry, NATO has substantially exceeded armament levels permitted by the CFE for NATO members - by 6,000 tanks, some 10,000 armored vehicles, over 5,000 artillery items and 1,500 combat planes.

Baluyevsky also said at the time that the Baltic States, which had not signed the adapted document, remained "grey zones" not covered by arms control agreements.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement early on Wednesday that under these unfair conditions Russia "had no alternative but to suspend its CFE membership to protect its interests in the sphere of military security."

The ministry said Russia would not immediately increase the strength of its Armed Forces along its borders, but would not hesitate to do so if the need arises.

"During the temporary suspension of Russia's participation in the CFE treaty, the country will not be bound by limitations [under the treaty], including by 'flank limitations', on the number of deployed conventional weapons," the statement said.

"At the same time, we do not have plans to amass and concentrate these weapons on the borders with our neighbors," the document said.

In practical terms, Moscow will not share with NATO information specified by the provisions of the CFE treaty, and will not allow any NATO military inspections on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The ministry also said that Russia could resume its participation in the treaty shortly after NATO countries ratify the adapted version of the CFE treaty, signed on November 19, 1999 by all NATO countries except Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.

The moratorium "is justified politically, is legitimate, and allows Russia to resume its participation in the treaty by presidential decree if our [NATO] partners show their political will [by ratifying the adapted document]," the statement said.

The ministry reiterated that Russia proposed to NATO concrete measures to revive the arms control treaty, which the West considers the cornerstone of European security. They include agreements on how to compensate for misbalances in the number of deployed weaponry, which emerged after NATO's expansion, and the abolishment of the so called flank limitations on the territory of Russia.

In addition, Moscow insists that new NATO members - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia - must sign the treaty and immediately ratify it together with other NATO countries.

"We are waiting for a constructive response from NATO to these proposals," the Foreign Ministry said, stressing the need for productive dialogue on the issue with respect to mutual concerns.

"Russia is ready to continue a result-oriented dialogue on the CFE even during the current moratorium," the statement concluded.