Puppet state America

 

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama at the White House

By: Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/273689.html

The United States government and its subject peoples think of the US as “the world’s only superpower.” But how is a country a superpower when its entire government and a majority of the subjects, especially those members of evangelical churches, grovel at the feet of the Israeli Prime Minister? How is a country a superpower when it lacks the power to determine its own foreign policy in the Middle East? Such a country is not a superpower. It is a puppet state.

In the past few days we have witnessed, yet again, the “American superpower” groveling at Netanyahu’s feet. When Netanyahu decided to again murder the Palestinian women and children of Gaza, to further destroy what remains of the social infrastructure of the Gaza Ghetto, and to declare Israeli war crimes and Israeli crimes against humanity to be merely the exercise of “self-defense,” the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the White House, and the U.S. media all promptly declared their support for Netanyahu’s crimes.

On November 16 the Congress of the “superpower,” both House and Senate, passed overwhelmingly the resolutions written for them by AIPAC, the Israel Lobby known as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the only foreign agent that is not required to register as a foreign agent. The Global News Service of the Jewish People reported their power over Washington with pride. Both Democrats and Republicans shared the dishonor of serving Israel and evil instead of America and justice for the Palestinians.

The White House quickly obeyed the summons from the Israel Lobby. President Obama announced that he is “fully supportive” of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, told the media on November 17 that the White House “wants the same thing as the Israelis want.” This is an overstatement as many Israelis oppose the crimes of the Israeli government, which is not the government of Israel but the government of the “settlers,” that is, the crazed land-hungry immigrants who are illegally, with Netanyahu’s support, stealing the lands of the Palestinians.

Netanyahu’s Israel is the equivalent of the Lincoln Republicans 150 years ago. Then there was no international law to protect Southern states, who left the voluntary union, a right under the Constitution, in order to avoid being exploited by Northern business interests. Subsequently, the Union army, after devastating the South, turned on the American Indians, and there was no international law to protect American Indians from being murdered and dispossessed by Washington’s armies.

Washington claimed that its invasion forces were threatened by the Indian’s bows and arrows. Today there is international law to protect the Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza. However, every time that the world tries to hold the Israeli government accountable for its crimes, Israel’s Washington puppet vetoes the UN decision.

Demonizing a victim is a way of hiding state crimes. The American print and TV media is useless as a check on state crimes. The only crimes reported by the media are assigned to “terrorists,” that is, those who resist U.S. hegemony, and to Americans, such as Bradley Manning and Sibel Edmonds, who liberate truth from official secrecy. Julian Assange of WikiLeaks remains in danger despite the asylum granted to him by the President of Ecuador, as Washington has little regard for international law.

In the U.S. the exercise of the First Amendment is coming to be regarded as a crime against the state. The purpose of the media is no longer to find the truth, but to protect official lies. Speaking the truth has essentially disappeared as it is too costly to journalist who dare to do so. To keep one’s job, one serves Washington and the private interest groups that Washington serves.

In his November 19 defense of Israel’s latest war crimes, President Obama said: “no country on earth would tolerate missiles raining down from outside its borders.” But, of course, numerous countries do tolerate missiles raining down from the U.S. The war criminal Obama is raining down missiles in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, and has rained missiles on Libya, Somalia, Iraq and Syria as well.

The German assault on the Warsaw Ghetto is one of the horror stories of Jewish history. Such an event is happening again, only this time Jews are perpetrators instead of victims. No hand has been raised to stay Israel from the goal of the operation declared by Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai to be “to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages.”

US Congress introduces bill ordering FEMA to conduct “Mass Fatality Planning”

Source: Press TV

While millions of Americans were busy watching the elephant puppet battle the ass puppet at the latest political circus, the United States Congress quietly introduced a new piece of legislation ordering the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to begin preparing for mass casualties throughout the country.

House Resolution 6566, also known as the Mass Fatality Planning and Religious Considerations Act, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to mandate that FEMA immediately begin conducting “mass fatality planning” in preparation for a major event or series of events that may kill off untold numbers of people.

Introduced by Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Ca.), H.R. 6566 provisions that the Administrator of FEMA - William Craig Fugate currently holds the Administrator position at FEMA - provide “guidance and coordination” for dealing with a mass casualty event arising from a natural disaster, terrorist act, or “other man-made disaster.”

The bill also ominously sets up the FEMA Administrator as a type of emergency dictator with the power to control how local communities, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, religious organizations, and even individuals prepare for and respond to a mass fatality event.

“Funeral homes, cemeteries, and mortuaries could be overwhelmed should mass fatalities arise from a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster,” says the legislation, which also specifies the manner in which people with certain religious affiliations should be buried following their deaths.

Contrary to what is being reported by some sources, H.R. 6566 has not yet been passed by either the House of Representatives nor the Senate, which means it has not yet become law. According to govtrack.us, the bill was referred to a congressional committee on September 28 for consideration, and has yet to be reported on by that committee.

Even so, the bill’s introduction is troubling to say the least, especially in light of the federal government’s recent purchases of large stocks of hollow-point ammunition, meat, emergency supplies, and riot gear.

It seems as though occupiers at all levels of the federal government know something that the rest of us do not know, which would explain their mad rush throughout the past couple of years to pass various “continuity of government” legislation and executive orders, including the more recent National Defense and Authorization Act (NDAA) that provisioned for indefinite detention of American citizens.

When put into perspective, all these bills and executive orders point to something massive occurring in the very near future, whether that be a major natural disaster, an economic collapse, a false flag terror attack, or perhaps even World War III. Whatever the case may be, the federal government most certainly appears to be preparing for its own post-disaster survival at the expense of ours.

Latest US Department of Defense Security Manual

Administration of Information and Information Systems Security

Department of Defense Manual (Part 1 – Oct 19th, 2012) -
http://cryptome.org/dodi/dodm-5105-21-v1.pdf

Administration of Physical Security, Visitor Control, and Technical Security

Department of Defense Manual (Part 2 - Oct 19^th, 2012)  
http://cryptome.org/dodi/dodm-5105-21-v2.pdf

Administration of Personnel Security, Industrial Security, and Special Activities

Department of Defense Manual (Part 3 - Oct 19^th, 2012)  
http://cryptome.org/dodi/dodm-5105-21-v3.pdf

House panel approves Magnitsky sanctions on Russia

Source: Press TV (US Desk)
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/245073.html

A congressional committee unanimously approved on Thursday a measure to penalize Russian officials for human rights abuses, adding to tensions with Moscow and complicating White House efforts to pass Russian trade legislation in the coming months.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved on a voice vote the "Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act," named for a 37-year-old anti-corruption lawyer who worked for the equity fund Hermitage Capital. His 2009 death after a year in Russian jails spooked investors and blackened Russia's image abroad.

The measure has bipartisan support among lawmakers but its prospects for passage in Congress remain uncertain.

The measure would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the assets of Russians linked to Magnitsky's death. The Obama administration already has imposed visa restrictions on some Russians believed to have been involved in Magnitsky's death, but kept their names quiet.

The bill would make public the list of alleged offenders, broaden it to include other abusers of human rights in Russia and prohibit them from doing their banking in U.S. institutions.

Russian officials have warned that the bill would harm American-Russian relations, and U.S. business groups say it could hurt their interests in Russia. Chicago Tribune

HIGHLIGHTS

A bill to punish Russian officials for alleged human rights abuses would badly damage U.S.-Russian ties and hurt U.S. exports, American business groups have said. Washington Post

Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, whose members include major U.S. exporters such as Boeing, Microsoft and Caterpillar, told reporters Tuesday that the Magnitsky legislation was “seriously flawed.” Foreign Policy

If Congress does not remove Russia from Jackson-Vanik, Moscow could under WTO rules potentially deny U.S. exporters some of the market-opening concessions it made to join the WTO. Reuters

U.S. companies also fear that they will lose sales because Moscow will retaliate by turning to other suppliers. Reuters

Congress still okay with indefinite detention and torture of Americans

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/detention-amendment-ndaa-rep-599/

Even after a federal court deemed the NDAA unconstitutional, the US House of Representatives refused to exclude indefinite detention provisions from the infamous defense spending bill during a vote on Friday.

An attempt to strike down any provisions allowing for the US military to indefinitely detain American citizens without charge from next year’s National Defense Authorization Act was shot down Friday morning in the House of Representatives.

Following discussions on an amendment to the 2013 NDAA that was proposed by Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washington) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan), House lawmakers opted against passing the law by a vote of 182-238. Had the Smish-Amash amendment passed, military detention for terror suspects captured in the US would have been excluded in the annual defense spending bill. Provisions that allows for that power, Sections 1021 and 1022, were inserted into the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2012. President Barack Obama signed that legislation on New Year’s Eve, essentially authorizing the US Armed Forces to detain Americans indefinitely at military facilities over only allegation of ties with terrorists and subject them to enhanced interrogation tactics on par with torture.

On Thursday night, Rep. Amash took to his Facebook page to address the amendment with his followers. “No matter how much I am slandered or my positions are demagogued, I will NEVER stop fighting to defend your liberty and the Constitution,” wrote the congressman.

Back on Capitol Hill, Rep. Amash circulated a document to his fellow lawmakers on Thursday outlining his proposed amendment. In urging his colleagues to vote yes on the Smith-Amash amendment, the representative from Michigan explained to Congress that the proposal would offer protection to non-citizens of the United States and is the only amendment up for discussion that would guarantee Americans a charge and trial.

Elsewhere in the paper, Rep. Amash harped on a decision out of a federal court earlier this week that ruled that the NDAA violated the US Constitution.

“Our constituents demand that we protect their right to a charge and a trial — especially after the NDAA was ruled unconstitutional this week,” wrote Rep. Amash.

That decision came Wednesday when United States District Judge Katherine Forrest shunned the NDAA’s indefinite detention provision, saying it had a "chilling impact on First Amendment rights.”

"An individual could run the risk of substantially supporting or directly supporting an associated force without even being aware that he or she was doing so,” wrote Judge Forrest, who then cited complaints for American journalists who were concerned that they’d be imprisoned without charge solely for speaking with alleged terrorists.

Attorney Carl Mayer represented the plaintiffs in this case and spoke with RT after Judge Forrest’s decision. Mr. Mayer revealed that while the Obama administration can — and most likely will — file an appeal, “we are suggesting that it may not be in their best interest because there are so many people from all sides of the political spectrum opposed to this law.”

Weighing in with RT after the defeat of the Smith-Amash amendment on Friday, Mr. Mayer added, “I can’t imagine why the Congress is doing this other than they are scoring cheap political points—they think — with their constituents because they want to be seen as tough on terror, when, in fact, what they are doing is undermining 200 years of American civil liberties law.”

Although that opposition has indeed been widespread since even before this year’s NDAA was signed by President Obama on December 31, it was absent on Capitol Hill this Friday when the Smith-Amash amendment was shot down.

Moments before the amendment went up for vote, Rep. Amash wrote on Facebook, “We know the NDAA's detention provision is unconstitutional. The House will vote on one substantive solution.”

“Will we fix it? And if we don't, how will we explain that to our constituents?”

US military school taught soldiers to wage a total war against Islam

A slide from Lt. Col. Dooley's presentation mocks the idea of moderate Muslims. (Image from www.wired.com)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-students-war-islam-930/

When the Defense Department wasn’t blowing billions on failed machinery and weapons of war, the Pentagon was paying a US Army lieutenant colonel to indoctrinate servicemen with the notion that the entire Islam religion should be eradicated worldwide.

Army Lt. Col. Matthew A. Dooley no longer lectures members of the Armed Forces at the Defense Department’s Joint Forces Staff College, but he is still a part of the school’s faculty, reports Wired. This week the website reveals that the former instructor is under investigation by the military but, while he remains on the books, they have published material from recently uncovered training materials that were once used in the decorated soldier’s military-mandated classes.

According to documents used in those lectures, Dooley demanded that the US military must engage in a “total war” against Islam in order to maintain security for America.

“By conservative estimates,” 10 percent of the world’s Muslims, “a staggering 140 million people … hate everything you stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit [to Islam],” Dooley told servicemen expected to rise in the ranks of the US military.

“Your oath as a professional soldier forces you to pick a side here,” said Dooley — who also suggested that a “total war” against the widespread religion might be the only thing that would protect the future of America.

The news of the military’s past practices of encouraging a cultural and religious war are not entirely new — in fact, Wired reported last month that the Pentagon pulled the plug on the program as per the direct orders of General Martin Dempsey. Only now, however, have documents actually used in the college been made available.

Scouring a .pdf copy of a presentation offered up by Lr. Col. Dooley called “A Counter-Jihad Op Design Model,” it is revealed that the leading soldier said to his pupils that “some actions offered for consideration here will be seen as not ‘politically correct’ in the eyes of many, both inside and outside the United States.” In case his students lacked the attention span to sift through the pages of his presentation, Dooley explains his warning with direct parenthetical notation declaring that his insistence on having “Islam reduced to cult status” might not sit well with all members of the military.

Other quasi-controversial opinions introduced in his classroom include “taking war to a civilian population wherever necessary.” Lt. Col. Dempsey recalls “the historical precedents of Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima [and] Nagasaki” as examples that may need to be invoked once again.

When he wasn’t offering up his own examples of how to introduce a war to the rest of the world, Dooley relied on the aid of others to open up debates in his classroom. Those discussions included presentations such as Former FBI employee John Guandolo’s paper, “Usual Responses from the Enemy When Presented With the Truth.” In it, Guandolo warns Dooley’s students that “it is a permanent command in Islam for Muslims to hate and despise Jews and Christians.” In another instance, former professor Serge Trifkovic lectured students via video with a curriculum that included footage that supposedly proves that US President Barack Obama is a Muslim.

On their part, Wired reports that “the commanders, lieutenant colonels, captains and colonels who sat in Dooley’s classroom, listening to the inflammatory material week after week, have now moved into higher-level assignments throughout the US military.”

US to okay $1 billion for Israeli missile projects

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak (L) visits an Iron Dome launcher stationed close to the southern city of Ashkelon, August 21, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/240109.html

The US House of Representatives is set to allocate nearly USD one billion for the 2013 fiscal year for Israel’s missile systems.

On Monday, the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee appropriated USD 947 million for the Iron Dome, “David's Sling” and a long-range Arrow missile program.

“This funding level is the highest ever appropriated in a single year” for Israeli missiles, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the committee, said in a statement.

The appropriation must be approved by the Senate before being sent on to the White House to be signed by US President Barack Obama.

Tel Aviv plans to spend about USD 680 million on its Iron Dome missile system. The rest will go to other short and long-range missile programs, which are also joint Israeli-American projects.

Tel Aviv is the top recipient of military aid from the United States.

"The Department of Defense has been in conversations with the government of Israel about US support for the acquisition of additional Iron Dome systems and intends to request an appropriate level of funding from Congress to support such acquisitions based on Israeli requirements and production capacity," the Pentagon said in a statement last month.

David's Sling and Arrow programs are joint US-Israel projects, while Iron Dome is an Israeli program.

Pentagon wants spies sneaking through offices around the globe

Pentagon building in Washington, DC (AFP Photo)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/pentagon-spies-us-military-599/

The Pentagon is pushing for more power when it comes to international spying. The US military is now making a case to open up an undercover operation aimed at the overseas civilian sector.

The US Department of Defense has asked Congress to approve a change in intelligence outlines which would permit America’s undercover units to send spies into the offices of foreign military contractors. It would involve infiltrating factories and businesses building warheads for competing nations, essentially establishing the businessman as America’s next mold for a spy rather than the more-recognized James Bond-type. Critics say that doing so might be big for America’s intel gathering operations, but it could also signal the start of a slippery slope with potentially catastrophic consequences.

The Inside Defense website first reported the story on Friday, publishing an article acknowledging that the Pentagon pushed a package of legislative proposals to the US Congress a week earlier. Those requests largely expand the Defense Department’s existing authority in spy operations, the website reports, including such calls to let the DoD increase its authority with intelligence gathering so the Pentagon can “conduct revenue-generating commercial activities to protect such operations and would provide an important safeguard for US military forces conducting hazardous operations abroad.”

“The conflict with al-Qaeda and its affiliates, and other developments, have required the regular conduct of small-scale clandestine military operations to prepare the battlefield for military operations against terrorists and their sponsors,” insists the DoD as they introduce that proposal.

The Defense Department wants to get extra spies infiltrating overseas, but the missions they would be engaged in would be different from just standard covert quests. Instead the DoD wants to be able to use clandestine operations, which means that the Department would not only be allowed to keep the country’s sponsorship of the program a secret, but they could be permitted to ignore the existence of the mission entirely.

Putting spies into business operations that shake hands with foreign militaries might be a good idea in terms of infiltrating domestic drone shops and other classified campaigns, but it could be more dangerous than the DoD might realize, some fear. In a write-up by Wired, the website acknowledges that sending spies into the civilian sector would not just open up a new foreign front for US operations, but would expose innocent workers to the dangerous world of international warfare.

“Once civilian commercial activities become a front for US military spying, then foreign governments will likely view normal businessmen as targets for their own counterspying, or even detention,” speculates Spencer Ackerman, a correspondent with Wired’s Danger Room.

It could also, of course, give foreign operatives a reason to do the same back in the US.

Coupe Snoop: Congress wants all cars to be equipped with recording devices

Reuters / Allison Joyce

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/congress-map-cars-1813-484/

The federal government is about to become the country’s worst backseat driver. Congress wants to put tracking devices in the car of every American, and that’s not even the scariest provision in a new bill being passed around Washington.

The US Senate has already signed off on a new legislation that, if cleared by the rest of Congress, will see to it that the government gets its eyes and ears inside every automobile in the country. Senate Bill 1813 calls for the installation of mandatory recorders and communication devices in Americans’ cars that could connect the whereabouts and actions of the country’s drivers with whomever the government wants to grant access to. It doesn’t stop there, though — another provision in the proposed bill will give the government the power to revoke passports from Americans behind on their taxes, essentially making it impossible for the indebted to escape the country.

It’s being touted around the capital as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, and Congress is considering it under the explanation that the bill will “reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs.” In the abstract drafted on Capitol Hill, however, the act is described as having provisions necessary “for other purposes.” And while no lawmakers explicitly explain the benefits of some questionable content within MAP-21, what the government could get away with if the bill is passed is something eerily Orwellian.

If you’re not scared yet, then here is another eye opener: the US Senate has already approved the bill by an overwhelming vote of 74-22, leaving only the House of Representatives to vote in favor before government-sanctioned blackboxes become as common as carburetors and calibrated friction brakes. At this rate, it won’t be long before every Beetle and Buick in the country is being tracked by Big Brother.

Section 53006 of MAP-21 calls for a “vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications systems” deployed in the country’s cars in the near future. A copy of the bill is available online, but it isn’t until the bottom of the text that things start to get creepy. That section calls on several congressional committees — including the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives — to hear in three years’ time arguments in favor of the deployment of the communications system in question. At that point, a designated person will be asked to recommend an “implementation path for dedicated short-range communications technology and applications,” which includes “guidance on the relationship of the proposed deployment of dedicated short-range communications to the National ITS Architecture and ITS Standards.”

Sending short-wave signals to other automobiles and data hubs is one thing, but the act is also asking for mandatory event data recorders in every car. That’s the actual name, in fact, of what Congress says they want every car to have in the very near future.

“Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to require, beginning with model year 2015, that new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with an event data recorder that meets the requirements under that part,” explains the act.

The section goes on to establish that the ownership of data collected by those devices will be the sole property of the owner of the automobile, but other provisions clearly authorize a challenge to this. A court may be granted access to that information “in furtherance of a legal proceeding,” and elsewhere in the bill it says that “the information is retrieved pursuant to an investigation or inspection authorized under section 1131(a) or 30166 of title 49, United States Code.”

Two years after those devices are made mandatory, Congress will also hear a report that will explain “the recommendations on what, if any, additional data the event data recorder should be modified to record.”

Those without drivers licenses won’t be spared from civil liberty infringement if MAP-21 makes it out of the White House with Obama’s approval— another section says that Congress can confiscate the passports of Americans delinquent in paying their taxes. Although the US was built from the ground up by refugees escaping persecution, persons plagued by hardships in the near future won’t be afforded that same ability to escape Uncle Sam’s strengthening stranglehold.

Under Section 40304, the US State Department is allowed the powers to revoke passports from anyone determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of having “a delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000.” Fifty-grand might seem like a big number for 99-percenters, but it isn’t all that outrageous or uncommon. After all, the Washington Post reported in 2010 that out of the 18,000 employees on Capitol Hill, 638 of them were behind on their taxes. What’s more, though, is that of those working within the House of Representatives, the average delinquent was indebted to the country to the tune of $15,498.

"If you're on the federal payroll and you're not paying your taxes, you should be fired," Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) exclaimed at the time. Two years down the road, though, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is requesting that a citizen’s ability to travel abroad be brought to an end for being behind on their taxes. Reid was the author of Section 40304 and is presumably outside of the 4 percent of congressional staffers that owed the feds in 2010, but opponents of the act are saying that stripping passports from poor Americans isn’t a provision that is necessary for MAP-21.

“It takes away your right to enter or exit the country based upon a non-judicial IRS determination that you owe taxes,” constitutional attorney Angel Reyes tells Fox Business. “It’s a scary thought that our congressional representatives want to give the IRS the power to detain US citizens over taxes, which could very well be in dispute.”

“There are so many people that fall into that situation, and I think that’s too invasive. Especially coming out of a bad economy there are a lot of people behind on a lot of things,” adds financial adviser Clark Hodges to Fox.

There are other damning provisions in MAP-21, including a “Stop Taxhaven Abuse” section that says the government can kick any foreign jurisdiction out of the US financial system if it wants to. For American residents up to date on their income taxes and not invested abroad, however, the real dangers lie within the very real possibility that the government will soon be able to track every single automobile on the nation’s roads. Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement requires a warrant if they want to install GPS tracking devices on the cars of suspected criminals, but with that decision quickly collecting opposition, a loophole might have just been brought to light by forcing consumers to purchase cars with tracking systems already installed.

Before the Supreme Court shot down the feds’ plea to allow unwarranted monitoring of automobiles in January, Justice Stephen Breyer said that a decision to not do so would be dangerous for everyone in the country. "If you win this case then there is nothing to prevent the police or the government from monitoring 24 hours a day the public movement of every citizen of the United States. … So if you win, you suddenly produce what sounds like '1984',"explained Breyer.

EU gives US go ahead for 'Big Brother' snooping

Reuters / Arnd Wiegmann

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/eu-us-data-deal-491/

A controversial bill that will give the United States access to personal information about airline passengers has been approved by the European Parliament.

The deal, which was held up for two years over privacy concerns, was agreed by MEPs in a vote of 409 to 226 on Thursday. It sets out the legal parameters governing the transfer of passengers’ personal data to the US Department of Homeland Security.

Passenger Name Record (PNR) data is provided by travellers and collected by airline staff during reservation and check-in procedures.

The deal covers issues such as storage periods, purpose of the data use, data protection safeguards, administrative and judicial redress.

It also includes information such as names, addresses, credit card and phone numbers, travel agency data, baggage information (such as the number of bags), seat number as well as "sensitive" data such as ethnic origin, a religious meal choice or request for special assistance due to a medical condition.

The agreement applies to airlines that operate flights between EU countries and the US.

The list of airlines covered by the new legislation extends beyond European carriers to include any carriers that are "incorporated or storing data" in the EU and operating flights to or from the US.

The deal has proved a divisive issue among MEPs.

Those who support the bill say it is a crucial step in helping to fight against international terrorism; it would allow the use of PNR data to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute terrorism, as well as transnational crimes. It will also serve "to identify persons who would be subject to closer questioning or examination".

However, others say the deal is incompatible with the fundamental right of data protection. They are concerned about the duration and conditions of the storage of data.

Under the terms of the agreement, data will be stored in an active data base for up to five years, though after the first six months all information which could be used to identify a passenger would be "depersonalized" meaning that data such as the passenger's name or contact details would be masked out.

It then remains in a "dormant" database for an extra 15 years, with stricter access requirements for US officials. Thereafter, the agreement says, data would be fully "anonymized" by deleting all information which could identify the passenger. Data related to any specific case will be retained in an active PNR database until an investigation is completed.

Some MEPs believe this is too long. They are also concerned that the system lacks independent oversight, and that the PNR database could be used to investigate minor immigration and customs offences without any link to terrorism.

This new deal is intended to replace another accord applied provisionally since 2007. The European Parliament refused to vote for the old deal, believing that the 2007 agreement offered too little protection of privacy and personal data, forcing Washington and the European Commission to negotiate a new PNR agreement in May 2010.

The EU agreed a PNR deal with Australia in October last year that will allow Australian authorities to store passenger data for five and half years. Another deal is currently being negotiated with Canada.

Justice and Home Affairs Ministers will formally approve the agreement on 26 April. It will then apply for the next seven years.

Peer sacked for predicting Israel’s end

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/229365.html

The veteran British peer, Baroness Tonge, has been forced to resign as a Liberal Democrat frontbencher in the House of Lords after saying she sees the Israeli regime’s end coming.

"It will not go on for ever, it will not go on for ever. Israel will lose support and then they will reap what they have sown," Tonge was filmed as saying during a student panel address at Middlesex University last week.

"Beware Israel… One day, the United States of America will get sick of giving £70 billion a year to Israel to support what I call America's aircraft carrier in the Middle East - that is Israel. One day, the American people are going to say to the Israel lobby in the USA: enough is enough," She added.

Following her remarks, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg apparently gave Tonge an ultimatum to apologize or step down, but the peer refused to make an apology and resigned.

"I have been asked to apologize but refuse to do so and resign the whip of my party," she said in a statement.

The outspoken anti-Israeli peer, who once said she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were a Palestinian, also attacked the Lib Dem leadership over their decision saying they seem “always to abet the request of the pro-Israel lobby.”

"The comments I made were in protest at the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” she said in the statement.

“Israel is acting against international law, the Geneva conventions, and Human Rights. They do this with impunity and if our political parties will not take action then individuals must,” she added.

Tonge has been a Lib Dem MP between 1997 and 2005 when she was appointed to the House of Lords.

She has been a fierce critic of the Zionist regime of Israel and a thorn in the Lib Dems’ side over the past years.

Back in February 2010, Clegg removed Tonge as a Lib Dem health spokesman in the House of Lords after she called for an inquiry into reports that the Israeli soldiers were guilty of body parts trafficking in Haiti.

The reports showed that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) who were allegedly deployed to the Caribbean country for humanitarian purposes after the killer 2010 earthquake, were actually busy harvesting victims’ body parts.

Tonge was also removed as Lib Dems spokesman on children’s issues in 2004 after suggesting she could become a suicide bomber.

US congressional nominee: Holocaust ‘blackest lie’ in history

American Republican congressional hopeful Arthur Jones

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/229369.html

A US Republican congressional hopeful has emphasized that “Holocaust never happened” and that such an event amounts to “the blackest lie in history.”

Arthur Jones, who hopes to challenge Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District, noted that the claim of killing millions of Jews and other people by Nazis during the World War II “is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews,” Hoffington Post reported.

“It’s the blackest lie in history. Millions of dollars are being made by Jews telling this tale of woe and misfortune in books, movies, plays and TV,” he said

"The more survivors, the more lies that are told," the 64-year-old candidate said.

Jones said he hopes to win the Republican primary nomination and move on to challenge Democrat Dan Lipinski next November.

He also questioned Lipinski’s strange affiliation with powerful pro-Israeli lobby group in the US-- American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Jones underlined that the pro-Israeli lobby “was bragging on their website” on how Lipinski is “spearheading an effort in the [US] House of Representatives with a Jewish Congressman from Virginia named Frank Wolf to get tough with Iran, including closing off any oil exports to China that could lead to World War III.”

Jones, a Vietnam War veteran, also compared current conditions in the US to the situation in Germany following the end of World War I and insisted that “our country is falling apart economically, politically, culturally, militarily.”

“We are going down,” he noted angrily.

“These war-mongering fools in congress like [Republican presidential candidates] Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney -- we can’t let Iran have one nuclear weapon but we let Israel have all the nuclear weapons they want,” Jones said. “This is ridiculous.”

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on a number of occasions for a historical examination of ‘the Holocaust’ in an effort to uncover realities of the much publicized World War I event. His remarks, however, have sparked outrage among pro-Israeli Western powers, labeling him as a “holocaust denier.”

Latin American nations looking for Iran ties, playing with fire

Senator Marco Rubio warns Latin American states that deepening relations with Iran was playing with fire

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227524.html

US senators have warned the Latin American nations against the deepening financial and military ties with Iran, stressing that the relations with Iran is like “playing with fire.”

According to the Inter-American Security Watch, Iran's relations with Latin America, especially with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, were the subject of heated discussions at the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on February 16.

“Countries in this [Western] hemisphere that, for political and financial gain, have courted Iran's overtures proceed at their own risk: the risk of sanctions from the United States,” Democratic Senator Robert Menendez told the session.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio echoed Mendez also warned in this regard by saying that “the leaders of these [Latin American] countries are playing with fire.”

Addressing the committee meeting, researcher Douglas Farah claimed that Iran was trying to develop ties with Latin America to use the region for attacking US interests and to reduce the impact of international sanctions on its economy.

“Of particular concern is Iran’s quest for raw nuclear materials and what US National Intelligence Director James Clapper recently described as Iran’s increasing willingness to mount attacks on US soil,” he added.

Former US ambassador to the Organization of American States Roger Noriega said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “are conspiring to wage an asymmetrical struggle against US security [from Latin America].”

On Saturday February 11, US State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said Iran's growing clout in Latin America has greatly concerned Washington as they believe the Iranian influence is “not positive” for that region.

Iran has been seeking to expand relations with the Latin American countries over the past few years, describing the endeavor as one of its major foreign policy strategies.

The country’s rising popularity in Latin America has raised major concerns in the United States, which regards the region as its strategic backyard and traditional sphere of influence.

Leaders of the Latin American nations have enhanced diplomatic and trade ties with Iran in recent years while their relations with the United States have been downgraded amid popular demands for an end to dependence on Washington.

On January 6, the US warned the Latin American states against expanding diplomatic and business ties with Iran, expressing concern over “Iran's outreach to the Western Hemisphere.”

US lawmaker calls for "punitive actions" against Egypt

Egyptian officials say US-funded groups fueling unrest in the country.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227092.html

A key US Republican lawmaker has called for “punitive actions” against Egyptian officials as the tensions between Cairo and Washington over activities of US-sponsored groups in Egypt remain unabated.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, made the remarks on Thursday.

"The Egyptian government's actions cannot be taken lightly and warrant punitive actions against certain Egyptian officials, and reconsideration of US assistance to Egypt," Ros-Lehtinen said.

US-Egypt relations were frayed on December 29 after Egyptian authorities arrested 43 employees of US-funded nonprofit groups, including 20 Americans, accusing the groups of trying to foment protests against the country's military rulers and sow discord in the country.

One of those arrested was Sam LaHood, the son of the US transportation secretary.

However, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that adopting punitive measures against Egypt by cutting military aid, estimated around $1.3 billion in military aid annually, would backfire.

“When we use funding to separate ourselves from prior partners, nothing good comes of it," Dempsey told the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, which controls US aid to other countries.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Hassan, an Egyptian scholar has launched a campaign, urging his fellow countrymen to pay 10 pounds ($1.66) each to raise money for the government in response to US threats of holding aid to Egypt.

“The Egyptian people never accept to be insulted or humiliated ... This people won't kneel to anyone but God," Hassan said in a TV interview broadcast this week.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abul Naga said on Thursday that the government had received 60 million pounds in donations so far.

Why one-fifth of US representatives went to Israel this summer

U.S. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, (D-MD) speaks at a press conference in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, on August 10, 2011

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/195901.html

Back in May, Congress lavished 29 standing ovations on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a resounding demonstration of solidarity just days after a very public clash between the Israeli leader and President Obama.

There's been a follow-up act this month: a record delegation of 81 US representatives to Israel. The virtual airlift of more than a fifth of the House, funded by affiliates of America's powerful Israeli lobby, is seen as a circling of the wagons just weeks before an expected Palestinian statehood vote at the United Nations.

With Israel facing the potential of increased isolation from the UN move, the congressional show of force sends a clear message to the White House to stand by the Jewish state. It also sends a warning to Palestinian officials that Congress will cut off hundreds of millions in annual aid if they follow through with plans for a unilateral declaration of statehood backed by the UN, analysts say.

"It's like coming here on the eve of the [1967] Six-Day War. Israel is isolated and under diplomatic threat," says Akiva Eldar, a diplomatic columnist for the liberal Haaretz daily newspaper. "[Netanyahu] wants to send a clear message: 'Don't mess around with me. Congress is with me on both sides of the aisle.' "

Making a case for $3 billion in aid during austere times

The visit is funded as an educational trip by the American Israel Education Foundation - a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

While such visits are routine, the unusual size of this year's delegation reflects several factors ranging from the UN vote and rising criticism of White House policy toward Israel, to the bumper crop of freshman representatives who don't have to spend the summer campaigning for reelection. AIPAC wants to use the visit to make the case to newcomers for continued US foreign aid of about $3 billion at a time of fiscal austerity.

"The question isn't so much going away with a different attitude, it's going away with more information," says David Kreizelman, who heads AIPAC's office in Israel. "They have to go back to their constituents who are saying, 'We want [government help] and you are voting to give money to Israel.' "

AIPAC has arranged meetings with Israeli politicians ranging from Netanyahu to opposition leader Tzipi Livni to parliament members who are die-hard supporters of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Like many foreign dignitaries, representatives visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, are hosted at residence of President Shimon Peres, and are bused to southern Israeli towns.

US lawmakers threaten to withhold aid to Palestinians

They also paid visits to Palestinian leaders in Ramallah to hear their perspective. But during those conversations, US congressmen have been making it clear that the Palestinian Authority is jeopardizing donor support from the US with its UN statehood initiative.

"We've given a clear communication to Prime Minister [Salam] Fayyed that we thought that it's a step back ... and is not helpful," says Rep. Tom Price, a fourth-term Republican from Atlanta who spoke by phone en route from the Sea of Galilee to the Israeli-Lebanon border. "There is great sentiment for not continuing the aid, because the vote is so destructive to formulating a bilateral agreement on a peace."

Palestinian leaders say the congressional support of Israel reflects a bias that has hurt US efforts to mediate the negotiation process. They were outraged in May by the standing ovations Netanyahu received. Despite that the congressmen got a hearing with top leaders.

Successive American congresses have always been supportive of Israel. This is a fact of life that we are trying to deal with," says Ghassan Khatib, a spokesman for the Palestinian government. "Palestinians are always motivated to explain their views to visiting delegations, especially American ones."

The Glenn Beck factor

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) of Virginia and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D) of Maryland have led two separate waves of representatives, largely split along party lines. A large portion of the participants were freshman Republicans who have never visited the region.

The number of visiting lawmakers is at least double that of similar contingents in the 1990s. Over the years, Israel has become an increasingly frequent stop on the campaign trail for presidential candidates and politicians with hopes of gaining nationwide prominence.

In the special election to replace Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) of New York, Republican candidate Bob Turner has turned pro-Israel credentials into a campaign issue. Republican house members are also paying attention to former Fox News anchor Glenn Beck, who spearheaded a pro-Israel solidarity rally of thousands of US tourists at the foot of Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Wednesday.

"They can't help but notice that this is on Glenn Beck's radar," says Lenny Ben David, a former head of the AIPAC office in Jerusalem and a former Israeli diplomat. The size of the delegation "may reflect that it's a campaign issue. The race to replace Anthony Weiner is of interest in both parties."

Shmuel Rosner, a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, says congressional support is especially crucial given rocky relations between the Netanyahu and Obama governments. "Since Israel and the American administration are suspicious of one another, and has a lot of tension, Congress is the institution on which Israel will rely."

US congress super committee under fire over fundraising

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195266.html

When Congress created the debt reduction "Super committee" it gave unprecedented power to a small group of congressional lawmakers whose mission is to slash billions of dollars in spending from the federal

Budget:

But already the committee is coming under fire. The Washington Times reports some members of the "Super-Committee" were "super fundraisers " in July. The appointment of six lawmakers from each party ignited a fast and furious competition among special interest groups hoping to gain access to the committee to protect their piece of the federal pie.

But are members of the committee being cautious? Let's take a look at just a few examples. In July, Super committee member Dave Camp collected 134,000 dollars. That's more PAC money than anyone else in Congress received, including party leaders. Rep. Fred Upton raked in 92,000 dollars.

Senator Patty Murray will co-host a fundraiser where attendees will pay thousands of dollars for tickets, just days before the "Super committee's" first meeting.

In July, some members of the super committee received more campaign contributions from political action committees than anyone else in Congress, The Washington Times reports nearly a half-million dollars in PAC money came from finance, insurance, real estate, and health industries. All of which stand to lose billions if their interests are not protected by the super committee.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics is asking "super committee" members to cease all fundraising operations while making budget cuts. Brookings Bill Galston says that's unrealistic.

Galston say it is important the "super committee" be viewed as working in the best interest of the country and not just serving the needs of special interest groups.

Super Committee at risk with campaign donors

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/194364.html

The 12 lawmakers on the new deficit-cutting Super Committee have their hands full. They're under orders to bring Congress a plan for cutting the deficit by more than a trillion dollars, and to do it before Thanksgiving.

At the same time, they're also raising funds for their next campaigns, and that could be a problem if the Super Committee members are under pressure to bite the hands that feed them money.

Last week, White House spokesman Jay Carney said concerns about Super Committee members and their fundraising are silly.

"Elected members of Congress are responsible; they take an oath, they are responsible to serve their constituents and their country," Carney said. "We expect every member on that committee to take that responsibility seriously and the mandate that committee has."

With the exception of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who's retiring next year, all of the other committee members plan to stay in Congress. And that means raising money for re-election, much of it through fundraisers and sponsored events.

In two weeks, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) has a fundraising reception sponsored by the political action committee, or PAC, for investment companies. They'll be interested in tax policy, loopholes and a host of other things. And early next month, Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has a "food, fun and wine" event. One sponsor of the event is the PAC of the Pfizer drug company, likely to be concerned about Medicare and Medicaid.

Who's Giving

To look at the broad sweep of who gives to these 12 lawmakers, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics ran the numbers back to 1989.

According to Sheila Krumholz, the center's director, the No. 1 source of contributions was The Club for Growth, a group that promotes smaller government and a deregulated market. Not surprisingly, every penny of its $1 million in contributions went to Republicans.

"Microsoft was second, with $944,000," she says. That's money from employees and its PAC.

Democrats on the committee got almost all of it, especially their co-chair, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), whose state is where Microsoft's home base is located.

There are many other ways to parse the donor numbers: by industry, by party and so forth. But the point is, when the Super Committee meets, its members will be pressured to make changes that would affect some of those very groups that helped them get elected.

Murray, for instance, ran an ad last year during her re-election campaign that reminded voters how she helped Boeing land a controversial Air Force contract. In Washington state, 79,000 residents work for Boeing.

But now the Super Committee has to consider whacking billions out of the Pentagon budget, and Murray will help to decide whether big contracts, likely including some for Boeing, end up on the cutting board.

Potential Solutions

The Sunlight Foundation says one answer to these potential conflicts is transparency. It says committee members should disclose campaign contributions immediately online.

"Clearly, more transparency in government is never a bad idea," says David Schultz, a professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.

But Schultz says lawmakers don't bond with donors or lobbyists in just a few weeks. These things evolve over years.

"So, to simply isolate this small little period of time and say we can render them pure ... for three months, six months, or nine months - [it's] not going to work," he says.

As for the Super Committee's work, much of it will be done in September and October, two months that are also prime fundraising season on Capitol Hill.

US House OKs funding for Libya war

The US House of Representatives

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186116.html

The US House of Representatives has rejected a Republican move to cut funding for American military operations in Libya but slammed President Barack Obama's decision to go to war.

The bill to limit the use of funds was rejected on Friday as 238 members of the House voted “No” to defeat the effort, AFP reported.

"You can't say 'we would like to remove [Libyan ruler Muammar] Gaddafi, we'd like to support the Libyan people, but we're going to offer up resolutions that are going to stop that from happening," said Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

A total of 180 representatives, including 36 Democrats, voted in support of the bill.

The rejected bill would have prevented the drone attacks and airstrikes but allowed the US to continue involvement in the Libyan war by gathering intelligence, refueling NATO warplanes and reconnaissance.

However, the House voted overwhelmingly, 295-123, including 70 Democrats, to deny Obama the authority to continue the Libyan mission for one year. The plan also prohibited the deployment of US ground forces in the North African country.

“We don't have enough wars going on? The war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, we need one more war?” said Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich, who was opposed to the US involvement in the Libyan conflict.

Obama came under severe criticism for failing to get congressional approval for the Libyan conflict, as well as for not laying out the goal and likely duration and costs of the war.

According to the 1973 War Powers Resolution, US armed forces cannot remain in military actions over 60 days -- with a further 30-day withdrawal period -- without getting consent from the Congress.

The incumbent US president says he does not need additional congressional approval, as US forces are simply supporting NATO.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner said Obama “failed to fulfill his obligations.”

Analysts say the Republican-led vote against approving the conflict is mainly a symbolic political move.

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said after the House vote that she expected a different outcome on the authorization vote but was “gratified that the House decisively rejected” the plan to cut funds.

US House rejects Libya war mandate

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186095.html

The House of Representatives in a scathing rebuke to President Barack Obama has rejected a resolution authorizing US military action in Libya for one year.

War-fatigued American lawmakers defeated the measure on Friday with 295 votes against and only 123 votes in its favor, AFP reported.

The congressional action was a swipe at Obama over growing discontent among US lawmakers after a decade of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that has cost more than a trillion dollars and has helped fuel a USD 1.4 trillion budget deficit.

"We don't have enough wars going on? The war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, we need one more war?" Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich said during Friday's vote.

“This war is a distraction. Our flailing economy demands the full attention of Congress and the president," he noted.

The White House, meanwhile, said it was disappointed by the House of Representatives vote.

"We are disappointed by that vote. We think that now is not the time to send the kind of mixed message that it sends," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The United States has conducted hundreds of strike sorties since NATO took over the Libya operation on March 31.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has vowed to intensify the bombing missions in Libya despite Italy's call for an immediate ceasefire to the ongoing fighting.

“NATO will continue this mission because if we stop, countless more civilians could lose their lives,” the Western military alliance's chief said in a video statement on the NATO website on Wednesday.

Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called for “an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities” in Libya.

Embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi has accused NATO of murder, vowing to retaliate for the killing of civilians during air raids by the Western military alliance.

“You said, 'we hit our targets with precision', you murderers,” Gaddafi said in the message broadcast on Libyan television late Wednesday, Reuters reported.

"One day we will respond to you likewise, and your homes will be legitimate targets," he commented.

The Libyan ruler vowed to continue the battle until the West is "wiped out."

He said no agreement can be reached over the crisis in Libya after their children and grandchildren were killed in air attacks.

Boehner warns Obama on Libya war

House Speaker John Boehner finishes a news conference following a political strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184732.html

US House Speaker John Boehner has asked President Barack Obama to either end US mission in Libya or seek congressional authorization for continuing operations beyond June 19.

“It would appear that in five days, the administration will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution unless it asks for and receives authorization from Congress or withdraws all US troops and resources from the mission (in Libya), Boehner said in a letter on Tuesday.

Boehner, a Republican, asked Obama to explain the legal grounds for further operations in Libya by Friday, June 17, Reuters reported.

The 1973 War Powers Resolution provides that US armed forces cannot remain in military actions over 60 days-with a further 30-day withdrawal period-- without getting consent from the Congress.

Earlier this month, the House voted to censure Obama for not seeking congressional approval and accused the president of not providing a “compelling rationale” for the military campaign in Libya. The House's resolution also demanded information about costs and scope of the mission.

The Obama administration had said it provided answers regarding the Libya mission at various briefings in the House. However, the White House pledged last week to respond to detailed questions on the issue within the deadline.

The US plays a significant role in the NATO-led operations in Libya by carrying out airstrikes, refueling warplanes and providing intelligence.

Saudi diplomat assassinated in Karachi

Pakistani security guards and police stand guard at the entrance of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Karachi after a grenade attack on May 11, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/180132.html

A Saudi diplomat has been assassinated by unknown assailants in a drive-by shooting near the Saudi consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

The Saudi diplomat was onboard a vehicle with diplomatic plates when two motorcycle riders opened fire at his car at a crossroads, Pakistani police in Karachi told AFP on Monday.

"The consulate employee died of multiple bullet wounds on the spot," said Karachi police chief Fayyaz Leghari.

"The attackers fled on the motorbike," he further explained.

The recent assassination marks the second offensive on Saudi interests in Pakistan's largest city in less than a week.

The attack came in the wake of a grenade attack on the Saudi consulate on Wednesday which left no damage or casualties.

The Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer, confirmed the attack but did not give details on the rank of the slain diplomat. A Pakistani Home Ministry official, however, said the man was a junior officer.

"We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim," the Saudi ambassador said.

Pakistani officials say the attack is a possible reaction to the US killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

US President Barack Obama announced that bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 1 in a hiding compound near Islamabad.

A US official later announced that bin Laden's body was abruptly buried at sea, falsely boasting that his hasty burial was in accordance with the Islamic law, requiring burial within 24 hours of death.

However, burial at sea is not an Islamic practice and Islam does not have a decree on a burial timeframe.

US officials also claimed their decision of the sea burial was made because no country would accept his remain, without elaborating on which countries were actually contacted on the matter.

Analysts, however, have raised serious questions as to why US officials did not allow for the application of a DNA test to officially confirm the identity of the corpse before the quick sea burial.

Furthermore, Obama announced in a televised interview that he decided not to publish "disturbing imaged" of bin Laden's dead body to avert "a national security risk" and due to concerns that it might be used as a "propaganda tool."