Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

PA music video longs for day when there is no Israel

I wish I could enter my country with no borders...
I will go about in Bethlehem and in Al-Aqsa [Mosque], which is held captive
I will eat lunch in Nazareth and eat dinner in Beit Sahour...
I do not forget Jenin nor Nablus, and the Galilee
I do not forget you, Jaffa, your long sea [shore]
I will never forget the olives of the Galilee
Even if our path has grown long, one day we will return:
To Jerusalem, to Gaza, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord.
To Jerusalem, to Ramle, to Acre, to Haifa, oh Lord...
I wish I could enter my country with no borders."
[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 30 and Feb. 9, 2012]

This doesn't exactly sound like a two-state solution, does it?

(Note also the subtle dig at Hamas, by saying he wants to freely enter Gaza as well.)

Gaza blackouts intensify - so they blame Israel

From Egypt Independent:

The Gaza Strip’s sole electricity station has become inoperative because Egypt has begun to crack down on fuel smuggling activities through their shared border, a Palestinian energy official in Gaza said Tuesday.

Gaza Energy Authority official Ahmed Abul Amreen said in a press conference that the authority cannot meet electricity demands for hospitals, educational facilities, and water and sewage stations. He said the amount of electricity Gaza receives from an Israeli company fulfills only 35 percent of the population’s needs.

Palestinian news agency Maan quoted Abul Amreen as saying that the power plant’s inactivity has brought the strip's primary electricity source to a halt, noting that Gaza already suffers a great shortage in wattage supplies.

The official held Israel responsible for the crisis. He also called upon the Egyptian Parliament to back Palestinians and continue to support them with the necessary fuel supplies.

For nearly two weeks, Gaza has been undergoing a worsening fuel crisis caused by a halt in supplies smuggled through underground tunnels traversing its border with Egypt. The conundrum has rendered 90 percent of local oil stations idle.

Israel supplies Gaza with about 120 megawatts of electricity a day, while the strip’s only power plant produces 60 megawatts. But since Gaza needs at least 270 megawatts, the strip suffers daily blackouts that can last for eight hours.

Ma'an adds:

While limited amounts of gas, mainly used by individual households, are purchased from Israeli suppliers and permitted to enter the besieged strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, most of Gaza's energy is brought unofficially from Egypt using underground tunnels.

Egyptian supplies are cheaper than the Israeli companies, which themselves purchase gas from Egypt, a Ma'an correspondent said.

But with Egypt beset by continuing domestic unrest after throwing out Hosni Mubarak a year ago, agreement has yet to be reached on stable fuel deliveries to Gaza, he added.

Here is what the latest weekly COGAT report, on goods that transverse the crossings, has to say:

Israel is providing exactly the same amount of electricity to Gaza it always has. As we see above, "Palestinians" instructed the Israelis not to provide the Strip with heavy-duty diesel because they could get the fuel - reportedly cheaper - from Egypt.

But as far as I can tell, not a single official - from the PA, the electric utility or from Hamas - has explicitly called for Gaza to resume purchasing fuel from Israel to alleviate this crisis, something that COGAT seems more than willing to facilitate.

Assuming that the money for the fuel could be found, the question that must be asked is - why no calls to buy fuel from Israeli suppliers? Why are people's lives being put at risk unnecessarily? Why are we seeing headlines about a energy crisis in Gaza when the solution is so simple?

I asked the IDF asking them who made the decision not to accept Israeli fuel, Hamas or the PA? Here is what they answered:

The decision to buy heavy-duty diesel from Egypt and not Israel was made by Hamas. Over the last year, the government in Gaza has gradually stopped buying diesel from Israel and increased its purchases from Egypt. This is also the source of the recent power problems in the Strip, including the local power plant shutting down.

There is no Israeli decision to purposefully stop selling diesel to Gaza; the decision came from the Hamas, and again, the situation isn't black and white--if you look at previous reports from the last months, there are still small amounts of diesel entering Gaza from Israel. If and when the demand returns, Israel is fully willing to supply, as it did in the past.

Is Hamas' refusal to buy the needed fuel from Israel a matter of principle, pride - or propaganda?

Hamas breaks up anti-Assad rally in Gaza

This didn't get much coverage even in the Arab press:

Hamas police on Sunday prevented dozens of activists from demonstrating in solidarity with Syrian people in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said.

The policemen peacefully stopped the protest shortly after it started in front of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza City. The demonstrators, numbering about 30, waved Palestinian and Syrian flags, with banners supporting the Syrian antigovernment protesters.

While lots of blowhards pretend that a "Palestinian Spring" threatens Israel, we can see who is really threatened by even the hint of protests.

(h/t Ian)

Springtime! Libya goes on homophobic rant at UNHRC

From UN Watch:

Gays threaten the continuation of the human race, Libya’s delegate told a planning meeting of the UN Human Rights Council today, reported the Geneva-based UN Watch monitoring group. It was the first appearance in the 47-nation body by the post-Gaddafi government, whose membership was restored in November following Libya’s suspension in March.

Protesting the council’s first panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, scheduled for March 7th, Libya’s representative told the gathering of ambassadors today that LGBT topics “affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race.” He added that, were it not for their suspension, Libya would have opposed the council’s June 2011 resolution on the topic.

In response, council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre said that “the Human Rights Council is here to defend human rights and prevent discrimination.”

The Libyan outburst prompted questions by human rights activists about Libya’s reinstatement on the council.

“We were happy to see the Gaddafi regime finally suspended last year,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, which in 2010 led a campaign of 70 human rights groups to expel the Libyan dictator.

“Yet today’s shocking homophobic outburst by the new Libyan government, together with the routine abuse of prisoners, underscores the serious questions we have about whether the new regime is genuinely committed to improving on the dark record of its predecessor, or to pandering to some of the hardline Islamists amidst its ranks,” said Neuer.

Libya's new draft constitution says that Sharia is the principle source for legislation. It also says that "the State shall also protect and encourage marriage."

More evidence of Iran being behind embassy attacks

From The Times of India:

Investigators got a crucial clue to the assailant in the footage from two CCTV cameras installed at industrialist Analjit Singh's 15, Aurangzeb Road residence. The bomber, in brown jacket on a motor cycle, is seen tailing the embassy car at 3.10 pm at a distance of 2-3 seconds. The cameras could not capture the registration number of the bike.

...Speaking on the condition of anonymity, Indian intelligence sources suspected an Iranian connection to the magnetic bomb attack which they feel could be a retaliation against the covert attempts to thwart the Shiite regime's relentless pursuit of a nuclear programme which the West as well as Sunni Muslim countries are convinced is meant to equip the theocracy with nuclear weapons.

Sources also said Israel had recently confided in Indians their fears of Israeli targets coming under attack from Iranian sympathizers. Sources in Delhi Police did not rule out the possibility of Iranian sympathizers enlisting the modules of Lashkar, who despite their loathing of Shias, are unremitting in their animosity towards Israel.

From Al Arabiya:

Officials investigating the bomb that shattered an Israeli embassy car in India on Monday have found that the explosive was the first of its kind in the country and could have been made by “foreign experts,” a senior police official said.

“The bomb was perfectly made and we have never seen such a bomb in Delhi. Maybe, it was made by foreign experts,” the official told the Times of India.

Israeli missions worldwide are on alert and coordinating with Indian security forces, IBN Live reported, as a forensic lab report detailing the exact nature of the explosives used in the blasts is expected within the next 24 to 48 hours.

“A sophisticated incendiary device was used in the blast, a first in its kind for a terror attack in India. This has been giving officials cause for concern,” the news channel reported.

Sources say the Home Ministry is expecting a detailed report from Delhi Police on its preliminary investigations by Tuesday evening.

From YNet:

A man thought to be Iranian was seriously wounded in Bangkok on Tuesday when a bomb he was carrying exploded and blew one of his legs off, police and a government spokeswoman said.

Police said at least five people including a foreigner were injured in three series blasts in the Thai capital Bangkok.

"There were three explosions, but no dead," Police Major General Wichai Sungprapai told AFP.

Several Thai television stations reported the wounded man was carrying explosives at the time. They said an identification card found in a satchel nearby indicated he may be of Iranian descent.

Other Thai media fill in the details:

Foreign Ministry is assigned to talk to Iran as a suspect seriously injured in the blast was believed to be an Iranian.

Pol Maj Gen Wichai Sangprapai, deputy metropolitan commissioner was quoted as saying the suspect and two other Iranians rented a house in Soi Pridi Panomyong 31 for months.

The house was suspected to where the bombs were made. However the explosives went off this morning in the house, sending to the three to flee.

Two of them managed to escape while the suspect followed them.

A taxi refused to pick up the suspect who was covered with blood from the blast, so he threw a bomb at the driver, damaging the vehicle. The suspect then walked away and threw the bomb at a police officer who tried to stop him.

However the bomb fell to the ground and went off, mutilating his legs.

Police are now hunting for the fleeing two Iranians.

He said three foreigners were living at the house but two had fled.

I don't know if it was luck or a poorly-made bomb that stopped the New Delhi bomb from exploding the gas tank. My guess is that it was home-built according to Iranian specifications, as it is probably easier to build a rudimentary magnetic bomb than to smuggle one in from Iran.

It would be interesting to see the types of bombs that the suspects in the Thai blasts were building.

(h/t Philtheman)

From Saudi Gazette:

A Hai’a security inspector has been fined SR3,000, six weeks in prison and 120 lashes for marrying more than four women and breaking residency laws.

The Hai’a is the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

He married three Saudi women, who are on his identity card, two non-Saudi women who don’t have Iqamas [Saudi residency cards - EoZ] and a non-Saudi who has an Iqama, reported Al-Madina Arabic daily on Monday.

It is against Islamic law for a Muslim man to have more than four wives at one time.

The Control and Investigation Board (CIB) accused the Hai’a employee of unethical behavior and abusing his position. The Administrative Court at the Jizan Board of Grievances in Uhud Al-Masariha gave him 120 lashes for marrying more than four wives.

The Administrative Committee at Jizan Passport Administration fined the Hai’a employee SR3,000 and sentenced him to six weeks in prison for covering up for two women who didn’t have Iqamas.

Hasn't he been punished enough?

The case of the employee was discovered three years ago. He was arrested by the police and the Hai’a at a furnished apartment.

He was also ordered to memorize certain chapters of the Holy Qur’an and study their interpretation. He was also banned from traveling abroad for five years, delivering a speech in the mosque and leading prayers in the mosque.

Iran's Internet blocking experiment ends for now

Last Friday I noted that Iran was blocking all SSL (secure encrypted) Internet connections to the outside world.

It appears that the experiment has run its course - for now:

Most computer users in Iran were blocked from accessing email, social networking and other services in recent days, US-based internet experts said on Monday, raising fears the government is extending the reach of its surveillance to ordinary citizens.

Internet service providers presumed to be acting at the Iranian government's behest began blocking the most common form of secure connections on Friday, according to the outside experts and Iranian bloggers. Traffic rebounded to normal levels on Monday.

The cutoff apparently affected all encrypted international websites outside of Iran that depend on the Secure Sockets Layer protocol, which display addresses beginning with https, according to Earl Zmijewski of Renesys, a US company that tracks internet traffic worldwide.

Google, which uses SSL for its Gmail service, reported that traffic from Iran to its email system fell precipitously.

Gmail use, which typically drops by about 80 percent at night, dropped by roughly 95 percent Friday and remained that low during daylight hours through the weekend before recovering Monday, according to Google's publicly posted access statistics.

Tor, a system for hiding the location of internet users, saw a similar falloff first in the Iranian capital of Tehran and then throughout the country, said Tor Executive Director Andrew Lewman.

Though other countries, including Belarus and Myanmar, have blocked SSL access before, Iran is the largest country to have tried it, Lewman said. Egypt turned off the internet completely a year ago during the uprising there, and China has done that in some regions.

It was unclear why the blocking stopped. Some Iranian politicians complained and businesses might have objected, but most tracking the situation said it was likely that the experiment had run its course.

"The government is testing different tools," said Hamed Behravan, who reports on Iranian technology issues for the US government-funded Voice of America. "They might have wanted to see the public reaction."

Behravan said Iranian sites using SSL remained available, including banking sites.

Tor has been developing a version of its program that is encrypted but does not need an SSL connection, and it distributed that over the weekend to people inside Iran who reported that it worked well, Lewman said.

Iranian officials have said they do not intend to block all connections to the outside world from a new national system they are developing. But direct links could be made to run very slowly, Behravan said.

The new network could help Iran ward off spying or attacks from other countries and keep a closer eye on domestic activities.

The country already has built up one of the most sophisticated infrastructures for monitoring and controlling internet content, with the ability to dig deep into communications and change various protocols.

During political protests in the past, Iran reduced bandwidth so that posting videos took hours.

With the SSL shutoff and recent remarks by officials, Behravan said the new network could launch within a month.

"I will not be surprised if it happens tomorrow," said Iranian computer scientist Arash Abadpour of Toronto, who blogs under the name Kamangir.

Blocking SSL is not a good way to stop cyber-attacks, so this seems to be done purely to stop Iranians from getting to the Web and using social networking sites. In the wake of the events in the Middle East over the past year, it seems to reveal far more about Iran's fear of an internal revolution than anything else.

Technology and freedom have a way of winning these battles. Just as Tor was able to get around the SSL restrictions within a day, it should be possible to write programs to consolidate a dozen or so "slow" connections to create a fast one for critical communications like video uploads (which have been key in Syria's revolution.) It would essentially be a reverse BitTorrent where videos are uploaded in pieces from different client PCs at once.

Any data can be transmitted through any protocol, and any data can be encrypted. (Being 100% anonymous while doing this is a little harder, unfortunately, but one can make it difficult to be found.) As long as there are any Internet connections from Iran to the rest of the world it will be possible to get critical information out.

Gaza tomatoes exported to Jordan, Saudi Arabia

Last week, for the first time since 2007, tomatoes were exported from Gaza to Jordan - and to Saudi Arabia.

31 tons of tomatoes went to Jordan via the Allenby Bridge on Sunday, and 15 more tons went through the same crossing on Thursday to be delivered to Saudi Arabia.

Keep in mind that the BDS movement is against buying any agricultural goods from Gaza. Which means that the BDS movement hates Israel more than Saudi Arabia does.

Oh, and Juan Cole has still not corrected his November lie saying that Israel does not allow any exports from Gaza.

Israeli invention allows blind people to "see" using other senses

From JPost:

Can the blind “see” with their ears? Hebrew University of Jerusalem brain scientists have tapped onto the visual cortex of people suffering from congenital blindness by using sensory substitution devices (SSDs) – making it possible for them in effect to “see” and even describe objects.

SSDs are non-invasive sensory aids that provide visual information to the blind via their existing senses. For example, using a visual-to-auditory SSD in a clinical or everyday setting, users wear a miniature video camera connected to a small computer (or smartphone) and stereo headphones. The images are converted into “soundscapes,” using a predictable algorithm, allowing the user to listen to and then interpret the visual information coming from the camera.

Surprisingly, proficient users who have had special training in a short time as part of a research protocol in the lab of Dr. Amir Amedi are able to use SSDs to identify complex everyday objects, locate people and their postures and read letters and words.

Amazingly, this seems to work even on people who have been blind from birth.

Here's another product to be shunned by those ever-so-moral advocates of boycotting Israel.

Haniyeh: "The gun is our only response to the Zionist regime"

From Iran's ISNA:

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said gun is Palestine's only response to the Zionist regime.

Rejecting any compromise with Zionist regime, Haniya said, "Gun is our only response to Zionist regime. In time, we have come to understand that we can obtain our goals only through fighting and armed resistance and no compromise should be made with the enemy."

Also regarding Fatah-Hamas compromise, he said resistance is one of the basic principles of Palestinian nation.

Palestinian Prime Minister speaking in Iranian state TV, said, "Path of resistance continues and if we make any compromise, it is for resistance and obtaining Palestinians' rights."

He asserted Islamic Awakening developments which took place in the Arab World shows the genuineness of the way as adding resistance strategy still continues and, "we have not changed the strategy."

Palestinian Prime Minister said, "Presence of Zionist regime inside Palestine is the root of all regional problems and this presence poses a threat not only to Palestine but also to the whole region."

He added now 6,000,000 Palestinians are living beyond Palestine's borders which should return to the country and their return is possible only through resistance.

You have to understand, he's talking about peaceful guns, and peaceful fighting, and peaceful armed resistance.

I mean, how else can you understand this? It can't mean violence, because so many experts have been telling us that Hamas is pragmatic and has abandoned violence.

So "guns" must be a keyword that means "flowers" in Hamas-talk. "Fighting" must mean "hugs" and "armed resistance" means "intense lovemaking."

Groovy, man.

It's official: Everything is Israel's fault, including the Arab Spring

From Egypt Independent:

During Monday’s session of former President Mubarak’s ongoing trial, Mohamed al-Gendy, one of former Cairo Security Director Ismail al-Shaer’s defense lawyers, suggested that third parties, including Israel, helped fuel the revolution, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) has reported.

"It’s unimaginable that those in the cage are murderers, and that the countries proven to have been funding organizations in Egypt did not participate in the events,” said Gendy. "It is unimaginable that Israel, which was spying on the mobile networks, had nothing to do with fueling the events."

Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of Adly's assistants are charged with killing protesters during the 25 January revolution, while Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal and businessman Hussein Salem are being tried on corruption charges. Adly was convicted of money laundering and fraud in May 2011.

Israel has now been accused of being pro- and anti-Egypt Revolution; pro-Fatah and pro-Hamas, pro-Assad and pro-Syrian opposition, anti-American and pro-American.

I guess when you control the world, it really all ends up being your responsibility.

(h/t Dan)

"Saudi 'apostate' faces certain execution"

From Free Malaysia Today News:

The blood of deported Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari is on Malaysia’s hands.

According to Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson, Malaysia did not give Kashgari access to his lawyers or to the United Nations refugee agency, and speedily sent him on a plane back to Saudi Arabia.

Because of this, Kashgari would most likely face an almost certain death at the hands of his government.

“Malaysia’s action to deport Kashgari to Saudi Arabia sets all new lows in the Malaysian government’s failure to respect human rights standards, and if he faces execution back in Saudi Arabia, the Malaysian government will have blood on its hands,” he said in a press statement.

He added that the Malaysian government did not allow Kashgari access to his lawyers for days, and prevented the United Nations from meeting him.

“But on Sunday, the police told those lawyers that Kashgari was still being held after he already had been forced on a plane,” he said.

The lawyers then fought to get a court injunction to prevent Kashgari’s deportation, but were too late. The Saudi journalist was already on his way home.

This was despite the claim that Malaysia did not have a formal extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia.

“By its actions, the Home Ministry once again showed that it believes rule of law is whatever it says and that it is more than willing to be totally opaque in its operations to maintain its flexibility to do what it wants when it wants,” he said.

Many called for his head after he supposedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad; which is considered blasphemous in Islam. It is also a crime punishable by death.

Kashgari had been planning to fly to New Zealand, intending to seek asylum there. He was in transit from Jordan when he was detained here.

According to Robertson, Malaysia appeared to be hypocritical in its human rights stance, especially where the UN was concerned.

“When seeking a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, the Malaysian government pledged that it would abide by international human rights treaties.”

“But from the day Malaysia took it’s seat, Malaysian government leaders have walked away from that pledge,” he said.

Malaysia defended its actions:

The Malaysian Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said the deportation to Saudi Arabia was legal and that Malaysia cannot be seen as a safe haven, said the BBC.

Mr Hussein was quoted by the AP news agency as saying: "I will not allow Malaysia to be seen as a safe country for terrorists and those who are wanted by their countries of origin, and also be seen as a transit county."

Egyptian presidential candidate would make hijab mandatory

From Al Arabiya:

An ultra-conservative Egyptian presidential hopeful has said that if he is elected as head of state he would force women to wear the hijab (veil) or “change creed,” adding that Islam provides no guarantees of personal freedom.

“If you claim that Allah considers it your personal freedom, show me your reference. Nobody has ever said that - except for people who have no understanding of the Shariah,” Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, a long-time supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, said in a recent interview with the Egypt’s Tahrir TV.

He said that if he is elected president he would enforce the hijab on women and that if they do not want to wear it, they have to change their “creed.”

He did not elaborate on what he meant by changing their “creed” and whether this meant changing their religion, knowing that such a move is strictly forbidden under the Shariah law and could result in capital punishment.

Ismail said that following the Shariah (Islamic law) is like being in the military, where a person has to follow a strict code of conduct.

He said that the Islamic saying of “no compulsion in religion” is comparable to “no compulsion in the military, meaning that if someone wants to enter the military, he can enter and if he does not want to, he does not have to enter.”

But once a person enters the military, that person has to respect its rules, the cleric said.

“If you join, then you are obliged to wear their uniform, to attend their classes, to attend the training with them and to obey their leader,” Ismail said.

In August 2011, Ismail appeared in an online video praising Osama bin Laden and describing him as a martyr. He said the late al-Qaeda leader spoke “the word of truth on power” and went to the “front lines to work in the path of Allah.”

Ismail said he has “some minor differences” with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group he left before expressing intentions to run for president.

The Muslim Brotherhood doesn't have any official candidates for president, so given their huge victory in the parliamentary elections, this guy really could be the next president of Egypt.

Morning links

Honest Reporting: You Can’t March In Step With Suicide Bombers and Lecture About What’s Mainstream discusses an Australian journalist who loves to contextualize suicide bombings making declarations about what most Australians think. (Here he is about 9/11; doesn't sound "mainstream" to me.)

Honest Reporting also debunks a rumor that CNN had let go of all its Jewish staff in Israel. (People had sent me that story for a few days but I am not going to report on something that incendiary without a lot more proof. I had written to some of the reporters who were let go but they didn't respond.)

Magen David Adom's first Muslim ambulance driver is a woman:

"At first it was difficult working with a team comprised mostly by men, but I've gotten used to that already. They're nice. At the station I am friends with the Jewish girls. I teach them Arabic and learn Hebrew from them. In the meantime I use the advantage of my language in east Jerusalem."

A review of "A Convenient Hatred" - a book about anti-semitism, at Stonegate Institute.

Also at Stonegate, a look at radicalization of young British Muslims.

Iran reported preparing "suicide bomb boats" at the Straits of Hormuz.

Isi Liebler of the Jerusalem Post is interviewed about a possible military strike on Iran:

(h/t Daphne Anson)

Attacks on Israel embassies in India, Georgia

From NYT:

JERUSALEM - Unidentified bombers attacked staff at Israeli embassies far apart in India and Georgia on Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, and images from New Delhi showed what appeared to be a minivan consumed by flames.

"There was one attempted attack, and one successful, as it were," Paul Hirschson, a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, was quoted by Reuters as saying. "In both cases, the people concerned worked with the Israeli embassies."

He also confirmed that a bomb had been found in a car belonging to a staffer at the embassy in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, which was defused by local police.

Indian police said at least one person had been injured in New Delhi but there was no immediate word on fatalities.

Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, confirmed that a bomb was discovered affixed to the car of an employee of the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi.

"The car of a Georgian national working for the Israeli embassy was mined," he said. "The embassy employee noticed a suspicious object and he called the police, and the police successfully defused it before it went off."

He said the car was not parked close to the embassy at the time. He said this was the first attempted attack on an employee of the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi. Police have not yet identified any suspects, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the apparently coordinated attacks.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the attackers were known to Israeli officials, though he did not immediately name any group. "We know exactly who is responsible for the attack and who planned it and we're not going to take it lying down," the daily Haaretz quoted him as saying.

In New Delhi, Indian officials said a driver and the wife of an Israeli diplomat were injured in the late afternoon blast close to the Israeli Embassy, The Associated Press reported.

"They are in the hospital and being tended to," an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Syed Akbaruddin, told The A.P.

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Imad Mugniyeh.