* Iraqi FM warns of bigger, more powerful attacks Iraq’s foreign minister said Saturday that Iraqis should be prepared for bigger, more powerful attacks to strike the capital in the coming days and urged the government to immediately fix security shortcomings among its forces.

* Gaddafi seen meeting bomber on TV Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has defied strong criticism from the UK and the US by meeting Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on Libyan TV.

* The lost Palestinian Jews “We are of the same race and blood, and cooperation will bring great prosperity to the land,” wrote Emir Faisal to Felix Frankfurter in 1917.

* Muslims begin Ramadan holy month The Islamic holy month of Ramadan has begun across most of the Muslim world, ushering in 30 days of dawn to dusk fasting and extra prayer.

* Pakistani Taliban say new leader chosen Leading Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud has been appointed the new head of the militant group.

* Obama in Ramadan message: U.S. unyielding in support for Palestinian state The United States is “unyielding” in its support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

* Afghan polling ‘marked by fraud’ A leading group of election observers say there was widespread voting fraud and intimidation during Thursday’s presidential election in Afghanitan.

* Iranian cabinet nominee wanted in 1994 Argentina terror attack The man Iran’s president has named to be defense minister is wanted in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.

* US: Iran’s work with IAEA not enough A senior US official said Friday that Iran was not fully cooperating with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

* France to roll out EU welcome for Turkmen chief The president of Turkmenistan is likely to make a state visit to France in November amid EU efforts to build relations with one of the world’s most closed regimes.

By: Jonathan Spyer – The Jerusalem Post

Quiet has now returned to the Gaza Strip after the weekend violence which claimed the lives of 28 people. The last of the funerals of the Jund Ansar Allah fighters killed in the suppression of the organization by Hamas authorities has taken place. This episode demonstrated the tight hold which Hamas maintains on the Gaza Strip.

The weekend’s events also highlight an important but little discussed phenomenon taking place in the Strip, and to a lesser extent in the West Bank – namely, the growth of al-Qaida-style Salafi Islamism among a segment of the Palestinian population. Jund Ansar Allah did not emerge suddenly, or in a vacuum, and its defeat does not mark the final word on this matter.

Who are the Salafis? Salafiyya is an extreme trend within Sunni Islam. Salafis maintain that anyone who fails to uphold any aspect of Sharia law is no longer a Muslim, and is to be considered kufar (non-Muslim). Jihadist Salafis consider that it is incumbent upon Muslims to depose and fight all governments controlled by the kufar.

A myriad of small, armed Salafi groupings exist in the Gaza Strip, of which Jund Ansar Allah was one. These groups are part of a broader subculture, estimated to command the loyalty of at least 50,000 people, and probably many more. The Taliban style of dress adopted by supporters of Salafism is becoming increasingly familiar in Gaza.

There are two main modes of Salafi activity in Gaza – namely, al-Salafiya Da’awiya – that is, civilian Salafism, which engages in missionary work and preaching, and Al-Salafiya Jihadiya, of which al-Qaida is the most well-known global representative, and which is committed to violent action.

There is no hermetic division between these two modes. Rather, activity in the former is a gateway to later involvement in militancy, and missionary work builds the basis of support in society which is essential for successful military action.

A number of Gaza mosques are known to be controlled by the Salafis. Sheikh Al Salam Bin Taymiyah mosque in Khan Yunis, which was the center of operations for the Jund Ansar Allah group, was one of these. Abu Noor al-Makdisi, who led the Jund Ansar Allah group and died during the weekend’s events, was the imam at this mosque. Other mosques linked to the Salafis include the al-Sahabah Mosque in Daraj, Gaza City, and the al-Albani Mosque in the Jabalya refugee camp.

Salafi activity is reportedly well-financed, with money coming in from the Gulf. As one source put it “millions of petrodollars are flowing in every month.”

The myriad Salafi armed groupings include the Jaish al-Islam (army of Islam), al-Saif al-Haq Islamiyya (Swords of Islamic Righteousness), Jaish al-Umma (Army of the Nation) and the Jaljalat (thunder) group, formed by disaffected former Hamas fighters during the period of the cease-fire, in June 2008.

Jund Ansar Allah, which was founded in November, 2008, emerged from this milieu.

The relations of the Hamas rulers of the Strip to this Salafi sub-culture are complex.

Since Hamas took power in the Strip, the Salafis have engaged in numerous acts of violence against people and institutions believed to be kufar. These have included attacks on Internet cafes, book shops, beauty parlors and institutions representing the Strip’s small Christian community. Young women and men suspected of engaging in “immoral” behavior have been murdered.

The Hamas authorities officially oppose such behavior, but have done little to stop or deter it.

There is also a certain crossover between Hamas structures and the Salafis. Many members of Hamas’s al-Kassam brigades are known to support Salafi ideas. These reportedly include Ahmed al-Jabari, commander of the organization, and the majority of his brigade commanders.

Hamas, however, draws the line at activity which appears to challenge its own authority or right to rule. The suppression of Jund Ansar Allah took place after its leader denounced Hamas as kufar and proclaimed the establishment of an Islamic Emirate in Gaza.

The swiftness and brutality of Hamas’s subsequent action attracted attention. But it was not the first time that Gaza’s rulers have made clear to the Salafis that it is worth their while to respect the limits placed on them. The al-Albani mosque in Jabalya, for example, was raided on May 17, 2008 by Hamas’s Executive Force. Thirty men and women were injured in the raid. The mosque’s imam had delivered a sermon that afternoon insulting and ridiculing Hamas.

A key question concerning the Salafi subculture in Gaza is the extent of the presence of global al-Qaida among it. Most experts believe that the al-Qaida network is present to only a very limited extent in the Strip. The al-Qaida idea, however, is flourishing, with a large number of the often quite primitively-armed and poorly-trained Salafi groups competing to be considered the “official franchise” of al-Qaida in Gaza.

Abu Noor al-Makdisi is dead, and the movement he built has now been dispersed by the uncontested Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. The Salafi subculture from which his group emerged, however, is very much alive. It is likely to make its voice heard again, in the unfolding story of the Islamic Palestinian state currently under construction in Gaza.

* Afghan rivals claim poll victory The two leading contenders for Afghanistan’s presidential election have both claimed victory.

* ‘Saudi Arabia planning nuclear plant’ With the world seemingly unable to stop Iran’s nuclear march, other countries in the region are now pushing forward with their own plans to build nuclear power plants.

* Anger at Lockerbie bomber welcome Britain and the US have strongly condemned the jubilant welcome given in Libya to the man convicted of the bombing of a US plane over Lockerbie.

* Former U.S. Statesmen Say U.S. Role Critical to Securing Middle East Peace The meeting between President Barak Obama and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak this week (Tuesday) was the latest in a series of meetings aimed at exploring new avenues for peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

* Israel fury at Sweden organ claim Israel is to lodge an official complaint with Sweden over claims in a newspaper that Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians to sell their organs.

* Germany: Settlements major impediment to peace The German government said ahead of a visit next week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that urgent action was needed on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in order to move towards peace in the Middle East.

* WHO predicts ‘explosion’ of swine flu cases The global spread of swine flu will endanger more lives as it speeds up in the coming months and governments must boost preparations for a swift response to a coming “explosion” of cases.

* Haredi writer: Gays should be forced to face firing squad A Haredi Web site this week published an article calling for police to arrest the managers of the Tel Aviv gay center that was the scene of a shooting that left two dead earlier this month.

* Czech senators in fresh move against Lisbon treaty A group of centre-right Czech senators has attacked a national law linked with the EU’s Lisbon Treaty and plans to ask the country’s constitutional court to suspend ratification until the legislation is changed.

* Muslim Holy Month Set to Begin This Week Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer, is to begin later this week.

* Poll: Only 12 percent of Israelis believe Obama supports Israel Only 12 percent of Israelis believe U.S. President Barack Obama’s policies are supportive of Israel.

* China’s secretive military launches Web site China’s Defense Ministry launched its first official Web site Thursday.

* Lockerbie bomber returns to Libya The Lockerbie bomber has left Scotland on board a plane bound for Libya after being freed from prison on compassionate grounds.

* Al-Qaida-style Islamism comes to Gaza Quiet has now returned to the Gaza Strip after the weekend violence which claimed the lives of 28 people.

* Iran’s president unveils cabinet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose disputed re-election triggered a political crisis in the country, has unveiled his list of cabinet ministers.

* Hamas Trains New Generation of Teenage Terrorists Hamas is training a new generation of terrorists in Gaza, where 50 percent of the population is under the age of 18.

* Yaalon: Jews Must Live Everywhere in Israel In an address to the Jewish Leadership faction of the Likud on Sunday night, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon expressed strong support for continued Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria.

* EU to monitor Afghan elections despite attacks EU election monitors in Afghanistan will carry on their mission during the presidential vote on Thursday.

* Obama’s main man in the Middle East? US President Barack Obama’s Middle Eastern strategy isn’t working, but his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday was unlikely to help him.

* Pakistan Taliban ‘power struggle’ A power struggle has broken out between the diverse militant factions that make up the Pakistani Taliban.

* UN watchdog hiding evidence on Iran nuclear program The world’s nuclear weapons watchdog is hiding data on Iran’s drive to obtain nuclear arms.

* Dozens killed in Baghdad attacks Truck bombs and a barrage of mortars have killed at least 75 people and hurt at least 310 in central Baghdad in the deadliest series of attacks in months.

* ‘Russia to rethink S-300 sale to Iran’ President Shimon Peres said Wednesday the Kremlin has promised to reconsider the planned delivery of air defense missiles to Iran.

* New Israeli settlements ‘on hold’ Israel’s government has stopped issuing settler housing tenders in the West Bank, hoping to reach common ground with the US.

* Assad in Iran to congratulate Ahmadinejad, free academic Syrian President Bashar Assad opened talks with Iranian officials Wednesday in a visit expected to include an appeal to free a French academic accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime.

* Mubarak: U.S. will unveil first draft of Mideast plan next month President Barack Obama has promised Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he will present a rough draft of his Middle East peace plan in September.

* Turkey: Israel must show it wants peace Israel must take steps to show that it wants a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

* German political parties agree Lisbon treaty law Germany’s ruling political parties on Tuesday (18 August) reached agreement on how to implement the Lisbon treaty after week’s of negotiations.

* Peres: Israel, PA, U.S. ready for 3-way summit President Shimon Peres told reporters during an official visit to Russia on Wednesday that he welcomed a future meeting between President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

* Violence Shakes Kabul on Afghan Election Eve Afghan security forces are making their presence felt in Kabul after gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a bank in the capital on the eve of national elections.

* Huckabee says two states in Holy Land ‘unrealistic’ Former US presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Tuesday there is no room for a Palestinian state “in the middle of the Jewish homeland”.

* Deadly pre-poll attack hits Kabul A suicide car bomber has killed seven people in an attack on a convoy of Western troops in the Afghan capital.

* Peres stresses Iran threat to Medvedev Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hosted President Shimon Peres for talks Tuesday that were expected to focus on the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear standoff.

* Mubarak makes White House return President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is preparing for his first talks at the White House since 2002, when a chill descended on US-Egyptian ties.

* Iranian Ayatollah Creates ‘Private’ Militia Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has established a new security force personally loyal to him.

* Arab League wants EU to back monitoring of Israeli nukes The Arab League has requested that the European Union back its resolution calling on Israel to submit to international monitoring of its alleged nuclear capability.

* Iran: No preconditions for nuke talks Teheran is ready for nuclear talks with the West without preconditions, a senior Iranian nuclear official was quoted.

* Iraq-Syria set for security talks Iraq’s prime minister is visiting neighbouring Syria for talks that are expected to focus on border security.

* Huckabee’s visit – show of support,or well-planned attack? Former Arkansas governor and US presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee kicked off his visit to Israel on Monday by telling reporters that recent American policy toward the Jewish state has been “far more harsh” than that of previous administrations.

* Violence, graft overshadow Afghan elections An incumbent president and 38 challengers, including two women, are vying for the votes of 17 million registered Afghans against a backdrop of war, graft, poverty and illiteracy.

* US shouldn’t tell Jews where to live Former Arkansas governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee says the US has taken too harsh a stance against Israel on the issue of settlements.

* Mubarak in Washington In February 1982 when Hosni Mubarak made his first visit to Washington as Egypt’s president, it was Ronald Reagan who was waiting for him in the White House.

* Settlers: Rabbis’ support for dismantling of outpost homes not a precedent Rabbi Haim Druckman ruled it was permitted according to Halacha to voluntarily evacuate three modular homes at the unauthorized Bnei Adam outpost.

* Deadly blasts hit Iraq market Two bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market have killed at least eight people and wounded 21, Iraqi officials say.

* Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq Gay Iraqi men are being murdered in what appears to be a co-ordinated campaign involving militia forces.

* Twitter tweets are 40% babble A study of messages sent by users of micro-blogging site Twitter finds that 40% of tweets are “pointless babble”.

* Google Goes Palestinian Google, which came online 10 years ago with its leading internet search engine, has taken a political stand, opening up a domain specifically for Palestinian Authority and Gaza Arabs.

* World’s smallest laser unveiled The spaser promises ultrafast nanocircuits.

* Mubarak: Peace Now, Israel Later Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, several hours before his scheduled meeting on Monday with U.S. President Barack Obama, said that the Arab world will not make any gestures towards Israel until a regional treaty is signed.

* Peres heads to Russia for state visit President Shimon Peres travels to Russia for a two-day state visit at the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

* Gaza Islamist leader dies in raid The leader of a radical Islamist group involved in a shootout with Hamas in Gaza is one of at least 24 people killed in the raid.

* Nasrallah: We can hit any Israeli city Recent Israeli warnings were part of a “psychological war” aimed at preventing Hezbollah from joining a new Lebanese unity government, group leader Hassan Nasrallah said.

* Hamas, Fatah trade accusations over Gaza clashes Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party on Saturday traded accusations over deadly clashes.

* Mubarak travels to U.S. to meet with Obama Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak departed for Washington on Saturday, his first visit to the U.S. capital in five years.

* Iraqi protest at media censorship About 200 Iraqi journalists, writers and publishers have protested in Baghdad at what they say is growing state interference in their work.

* 20 Syrian civilians killed in failed missile test Twenty Syrian civilians were killed and 60 more were injured after a Scud missile test-fired jointly by Syria, North Korea and Iran in late May strayed off course.

* Profile: Jund Ansar Allah The Palestinian Islamist militant group Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, announced its presence in the Gaza Strip in June.

* Top rabbis declare day of fasting over ‘evil’ swine flu Two leading Israeli rabbis have announced this coming Wednesday will be a day of fasting and prayer because of the swine flu epidemic.

* ‘Arab tycoons bought land in Galilee’ Wealthy individuals from Arab states that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel have recently procured hundreds of dunams of private agricultural land in the Galilee.

* Turkey marks 25 years of Kurd rebellion Turkey marked 25 years Saturday since the first Kurdish rebel attacks.

* Poll: 70% of Americans see Israel as U.S. friend More than two-third of Americans regard Israel as an ally despite recent diplomatic tensions.

* ‘Hamas ready for Obama’s ME peace plan’ Hamas is prepared to deal “positively” with US President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace plan.

* Following election triumph, Fatah sets out to ‘liberate’ Gaza At the start of the week, a member of Iz al-Din al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, died in the Palestinian Authority’s Juneid Prison.

* Arabs to EU: Make Israel expose nukes Arab states are lobbying the European Union for support in their drive to force Israel to open up its secretive nuclear program to international perusal.

* Assad to visit Iran to congratulate Ahmadinejad Syrian President Bashar Assad was scheduled to embark on an official visit to Tehran next week.

* Beirut braces for Hizbullah rally marking ‘victory over Israel’ Hizbullah will mark three years since the “victory over Israel” in the Second Lebanon War with a rally in the Dahiya neighborhood in south Beirut on Friday evening.

* Pakistan’s tribal areas to get parliamentary reps Pakistan lifted a ban on political activities in its tribal regions on Friday.

* Syria insists on Turkish mediation in peace talks Syrian Ambassador to Turkey Nidal Kablan said his country would not give up on the Turkish mediation.

* All Fatah’s Gaza leaders quit over vote Fatah appeared to be in turmoil on Thursday as a large number of its top representatives questioned the credibility of the elections.

* J’lem not counting on Gulf states’ gestures The winds of change blowing in from the Gulf are being received coldly in Jerusalem.

By: Yahoo Inc.

The shadowy Revolutionary Guards already oversee a 130,000-strong parallel army and run large swatches of Iran’s economy, from dentist clinics to the country’s controversial nuclear program. But signs have emerged in recent weeks that the Élite military arm isn’t satisfied: it may just want to run the entire Islamic republic.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), or Sepah for short in Farsi, is widely believed to have played a large role in orchestrating the crackdown on political dissidents and protesters following the disputed presidential election. Its political influence within the regime has always far exceeded the actual army’s, and it has increased exponentially since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected to office in 2005. But the speculation among Iranian opposition sources is that, these days, the IRGC’s powerful patron – whose second term officially began last week – has now become its puppet, falling under the influence of a gang of security chiefs (the so-called New Right) that harbor schemes to further radicalize the regime or topple it in a military takeover.

The IRGC’s maneuvering has been quite public. On Aug. 9, it was a top Revolutionary Guards commander who escalated the ongoing confrontation with the opposition leadership by calling for their arrest. “What is the role of [former President Mohammed] Khatami, [former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Mir-Hossein] Mousavi and [presidential candidate Mehdi] Karroubi in this coup?” asked Yadollah Javani, the organization’s political chief, referring to the alleged plot by the opposition to subvert the regime by way of protests. “If they are the main agents, which is the case, judiciary and security officials should go after them, arrest them, try them and punish them.”

The same day, reports trickled out that, following Ahmadinejad’s dismissal of the Intelligence Minister late last month, as many as 20 officials in the ministry who disapproved of the public airing of confessions by political dissidents were purged, including the deputy minister and chief of counterintelligence. The move, according to Hassan Younesi, the son of a former Intelligence Minister, was engineered by Hussein Taeb and Ahmad Salek, two top Guards commanders. “Never has the Intelligence Ministry witnessed such a politically motivated purge since its establishment,” Younesi wrote on his personal blog.

Meanwhile, the IRGC has been cleaning house. According to an opposition adviser who maintains close ties to the Guards leadership, at least five commanders sympathetic to the reformists were put under house arrest in the aftermath of the election. These purges within Iran’s security apparatus consolidated power in the hands of the top Guards commanders, who form a united hard-liner bloc that is opposed to reconciliation with the opposition or the West. The IRGC, then, is the most effective power bloc in the country, certainly more cohesive in its top leadership than the conservative political faction, which has seen spats between the Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, and Ahmadinejad. The Revolutionary Guards leadership has a vested financial interest in maintaining the regime’s radical platform and in further isolating the Islamic republic from the West. According to an in-depth study by the Rand Corp., the IRGC reaps $12 billion a year from smuggling operations alone.

While Ahmadinejad has always had close ties to the Revolutionary Guards – 14 of his 21 ministers in his first-term cabinet were said to have been veterans of the force – his current position suggests that it is now he who must pay homage to the Guards. When he appointed a seemingly moderate in-law as his Vice President last month, in defiance of the Supreme Leader, the Revolutionary Guards quickly put him in his place, warning that his political future was “dependent on his acceptance of velayat-e faqih [or rule by the clergy, the founding tenet of the Iranian theocracy and the chief pillar of the Supreme Leader’s power].” Some members of the opposition, already worried that the IRGC is writing the script current events, wonder if the Guards did not pre-plan the entire crackdown. They point out that four days before the presidential election, the Guards’ weekly newspaper, Sobhe Sadeq, warned of a “Velvet Green revolution” and said the IRGC would never permit the opposition movement to come to power.

Opposition members are drawing nightmarish parallels with a neighboring country. In 1977, a disputed election in Pakistan set off widespread street demonstrations and a show trial that ultimately led to the execution of the Prime Minister. In the end, that government was toppled by a military coup led by a general who would rule for a decade with the help of a shadowy security apparatus. Could something similar happen in Iran?