What are the latest ramifications of Petrol cuts on Gaza?
As Israel cuts Petrol on Gaza… life comes to an end!
Popular Committee Against Siege (PCAS)
Chairman of Popular Committee against siege (PCAS), Jamal N. El khoudary warn of a biggest crisis as shortage of fuel hits Gaza severely. He considers this shortage as a paralysis that stops life completely. Chairman of PCAS asserted that this fuel crisis is one of ugly siege facets alongside the economic, health, educational and environmental collapses. “What’s going on Gaza is a real violation against all noble charters of human laws and Geneva conventions,” he said. About the latest fuel crisis he explained the direct ramifications as follows: 1. More than 85% of cars and vehicles in Gaza are completely stopped due to absence of fuel, diesel and Gasoline. The other 15% would be stopped in the coming few days. 2. More than 65% medical vehicles, vans and lorries are stopped and the rest will be stalled shortly…

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Toy Soldiers
Hussein Al-alak, Iraq Solidarity Campaign
…Further to my last letter Training Kids to Kill, on reflection the proposal by the British Government to have children taught in the art of weapons training and military drills, becomes an even more insidious plan, as this will only be applied to those children in the state funded “comprehensive” school system. In other words, the Labour Party are planning to penalise working class young people, for having parents who cannot afford to send them to either privately funded or specialised schools and are basically forcing them into a no-win situation, where working class youth are being forced to choose between a life of instability; through the lack of employment, training and academic opportunities or receiving a medal in receipt for having their legs blown off…

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UNRWA warns: Israeli restrictions on movement led to acute lack of food in Gaza
Palestinian Information Center
The UNRWA warned against the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza due to the acute shortage of basic food commodities and energy resources as a result of the restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement of persons and goods since June 2007. According to the UNRWA, the IOA allowed only 2,400 trucks in Gaza during last March of the current year; whereas, during the same month of last year, it allowed in 10,000 trucks. In a circular received by the PIC, the UNRWA also pointed out that the scarcity of cattle feed led to an exorbitant rise in meat prices and made the agency expand its school feeding programs in order to meet the daily needs of 110,000 Palestinian children in 110 schools in Gaza…

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Top Bush aides directed torture from the White House
Joe Kay, WSWS
Senior Bush administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, participated in White House meetings to discuss and approve specific methods of torture of detainees in the custody of US security forces, according to media reports. These reports are a further confirmation that those at the highest levels of the US government bear direct responsibility for war crimes committed over the past several years under the cover of Washington’s “global war on terror.”….

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Action Alert For Palestinian Refugees involving UNHCR And Google Earth
Haitham Sabbah
Dear UNHCR, We are pleased to know that UNHCR launched its ‘Google Earth Refugee World’ layer to take Google Earth users on a virtual reality tour with the UN refugee agency of some of the world’s major displacement crises and the humanitarian efforts aimed at helping the victims. However, we are disappointed to see that Palestinian refugee camps in the Occupied Palestinian Territories were not shown anywhere. We are sure that this is an oversight on UNHCR’s part, but 27 Palestinian refugee camps that exist in the Occupied Territories are not shown on your new Google Earth Refugee World layer. Over one million people live in these camps. Do you not believe that they are living under most inhumane conditions and should be mentioned on UNHCR’s ‘Google Earth Refugee World’ like all other refugees? …

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Nine Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip on Friday, 28 wounded
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and injured 28 others in several attacks carried against the Gaza Strip on Friday. Most of the injuries were described as moderate. The statement came after a fighter of the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, died in an Israeli air strike that targeted Al Boreij refugee camp, in the Central Gaza Strip on Friday evening. On Friday noon, five Palestinians were killed and several others were injured when the army shelled a number of homes east of Al Boreij refugee camp….

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Petraeus Condemns Assassination of Sadr Aide
Meredith Buel
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has condemned the assassination of a senior aide to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details from the Pentagon. General Petraeus told a small group of reporters at the Pentagon that the killing of Sadr advisor Riyadh al-Nouri potentially threatens weeks of calm in Najaf. “The assassination in Najaf is obviously a cause for significant concern. I am sure that there are numerous calls for calm, for restraint in response. I know that there has been a curfew established already in Najaf. I am sure there will be pledges to bring to justice whoever it was that carried out this murderous action,” he said…

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Sheikh Dari Sends a Message to the Iraqis on the Anniversary of the Occupation
Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI)
…On this occasion we should salute the brave Iraqi resistance in its fifth year. The heroic Iraqi Resistance realized this truth from the beginning and did its religious, national duty and still doing. The occupation recognized that Iraq is not an easy prey; there are many men and women who are ready to sacrifice themselves for Iraq by everything. We have to encourage and bless the resistance for its efforts. We have to protect it from the calumnies of the enemies, their aids from disinformation, distortion and deformation on its reputation. We have to pray Allah Almighty to send His mercy upon our martyrs who became our proud symbols and crowns above our heads. We have to take care of their families and sons….

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Iraqi returnees face chaos back home: migration group
AFP
Iraqis returning home face immense hardship and bureaucratic obstacles in trying to rebuild their lives in the war-torn country, the International Organisation for Migration said Friday. Many returnees do not have adequate food or health care while their homes have often been damaged or are being lived in by other families, the IOM said in a report. “The situation for those returning is grim and isn’t necessarily an improvement from when they were displaced,” said Rafiq Tschannen, the IOM’s Chief of Mission for Iraq….

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Palestine is not a nation! Palestinians are part of the Arab Nation
Adib S. Kawar, Peacepalestine
…Colonialism of which is Zionism aimed at applying the theory of divide and rule. Colonialism splintered the Arab homeland into small state-lets that are not self-sufficient, and with the new colonialist/Zionist project to further splinter it as per their new colonialist project of the neo or greater Middle East, to eliminate its Arabic character and thus be the controlling power in it. Even the loose League of Arab States (note it is states and not nations) is not acceptable, simply for its name includes the word “Arab”….

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Ambassador: U.S. remains ready to have dialogue with Iran
Xinhua
The United States remains ready to talk to Iran about improving security in Iraq, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said here Friday. Crocker denied speculation that the United States may resort to military strike against Iran because of their long and acute contradictions, including alleged Iran’s involvement in insurgency in Iraq and disputed Iran’s nuclear program. “No one is talking about a war with Iran,” Crocker said…

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Sadr bloc hints at reconciliation
UPI
An official with the political party of Moqtada Sadr said Friday the movement seeks reconciliation with the Iraqi government through political dialogue. Abdul-Hadi al-Muhammadawi, a top official with the Sadrist Movement’s office Karbala, said the party is calling for dialogue through peaceful means to resolve its issues with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Voices of Iraq reported. He warned the Maliki government, however, against issuing any statements that may provoke the Sadrist bloc and reminded Baghdad of Sadr’s call for an end to the U.S. “occupation” of Iraq or, at the very least, the development of a time table for their withdraw….

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Iraq: Curfew in Najaf after murder of al-Sadr aide
Adnkronos International
A curfew was imposed in the city of Najaf, south of Baghdad on Friday after the assassination of a key aide of radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr. Riyad al-Nuri, the director of the cleric’s office in Najaf, was killed by unidentified gunmen near his home as he returned from Friday prayers. According to Ahmad Dabil, a government spokesman quoted by Voices of Iraq, an indefinite curfew was imposed immediately after the shooting. Al-Sadr’s militias have been involved in violent clashes with government forces since prime minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militias last month. According to Hayder al-Jibari, from the Sadr local office, security forces opened fire on the al-Sadr aide as he returned home and fled in an unmarked vehicle…

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Top Aide to Al-Sadr Assassinated in Iraq
ROBERT H. REID, AP
Gunmen assassinated a top aide of anti-American leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday, sharpening a Shiite power struggle that has already triggered fighting between the cleric’s followers and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government. Riyadh al-Nouri, director of al-Sadr’s office in Najaf, was gunned down by an unknown number assailants near his home after returning from prayer services, police and Sadrist officials said. Al-Sadr blamed the Americans and their Iraqi allies for the killing but called for calm — presumably to avoid a showdown at a time his Mahdi Army militia is under pressure by Iraqi and U.S.-led forces in Baghdad and southern Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite, condemned “this savage crime” and ordered an investigation “to pursue and arrest the killers.” But many of the 5,000 people who attended al-Nouri’s funeral later Friday in Najaf chanted “al-Maliki is the enemy of God” as they shouted slogans against al-Sadr’s Shiite political rivals…

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Israeli army prevent Israelis from joining nonviolent protest in Bethlehem
IMEMC NEWS
The Israeli army prevented a number of Israeli peace activists from joining the Palestinian residents of Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, in their weekly nonviolent protest against the construction of the annexation wall on their land on Friday at noon. Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that troops stopped the Israeli activists and took the keys of their cars at one of the entrances of the village. Later on, troops informed the activists that they will get their keys backunless they are going back to Jerusalem…

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Petraeus urges Maliki to work with Sadr
Ken Fireman, Bloomberg News
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, urged the Iraqi government to seek conciliation with Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, saying the cleric headed a “legitimate political movement” that could play a constructive role. Petraeus expressed his concerns even as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called a meeting in Baghdad of the main political blocs, both Shiite and Sunni, to gain support for his crackdown on Shiite militias, but pointedly left out the Sadrists, the Associated Press reported…

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Air strikes in Baghdad, Basra kill 12
Noah Barkin and Wisam Mohammed, Reuters
U.S. and British forces killed 12 gunmen in air strikes on Iraq’s southern oil-hub of Basra and the eastern Baghdad militia stronghold of Sadr City overnight, military officials said on Friday. Basra had been the scene of fierce fighting late last month between Iraqi troops and black-masked militiamen loyal to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but Iraq’s second largest city has been relatively quiet over the past two weeks. In the early morning hours of Friday, however, Iraqi troops were fired upon when they tried to enter the northern Basra district of Hayaniya, a stronghold for Sadr’s Mehdi Army, Iraqi police said…

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Vanunu’s Fifth Year of Restrictions Begins and Norway Caves
Eileen Fleming, thepeoplesvoice.org
On April 7, 2008 Mordechai Vanunu, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee for the last twenty-two years learned that Israel has continued the restrictions against his right to leave the state or to speak with human beings if they are not Israelis. On April 9, 2008 it was reported that now Norway has joined Sweden, Canada and Denmark in refusing asylum to Vanunu. Norway’s Bergens Tidende recorded “that Vanunu’s application for asylum in Norway had in fact been approved by the country’s immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet) back in 2004. UDI was overruled, however, by Norway’s center-right government at the time. Political considerations, not least Norway’s efforts to remain on good terms with Israel and the US, were more important than Vanunu’s human rights.”…

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Haneyya: Strategic relationship with Egypt bigger than differences
Palestinian Information Center
The legitimate prime minister of the PA government Ismael Haneyya has affirmed on Thursday that the Palestinian-Egyptian relationship was and still strategic and brotherly, and couldn’t be affected with small differences in opinions. The prime minister also hailed Egypt’s role in defending the Palestinian issue against the Israeli plans to liquidate it, adding that Egypt was playing significant role in a number of hot files in the Palestinian arena, including the file of truce, the file of swapping of prisoners with the Israeli occupation government, and the file of national reconciliation….

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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Friday, 11 April 2008
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice.
In a dispatch posted at 8:35pm Baghdad time Friday evening, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a rocket slammed into the Palestine Meridian Hotel in Baghdad on Friday. Bomb attack destroys US Humvee in eastern Baghdad Friday afternoon. In a dispatch posted at 5:25pm Baghdad time midday Friday, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by a US patrol in eastern Baghdad on Friday afternoon….

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April 11, 2008: 60 Iraqis Killed, 62 Wounded; Sadr Aide Assassinated
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
In Najaf, unknown gunmen assassinated a senior aide to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. This may further unravel a now-tenuous ceasefire imposed by al-Sadr on his followers. At least 60 people were killed and another 62 were wounded in violence across the country. No Coalition troops were reported killed. A senior aide to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was gunned down after Friday prayers. Riyadh al-Nouri was on his way home to Najaf from neighboring Kufa. He was the director of al-Sadr’s office….

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