It's melting, melting. My beautiful World is melting!

Last Updated: Monday, 29 January 2007, 17:57 GMT
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Melting of glaciers 'speeds up'
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website


Imaging a glacier's decline

In pictures
Mountain glaciers are shrinking three times faster than they were in the 1980s, scientists have announced.

The World Glacier Monitoring Service, which continuously studies a sample of 30 glaciers around the world, says the acceleration is down to climate change.

Its announcement came as climate scientists convened in Paris to decide the final wording of a major report.

There is reported to be some disagreement over what forecasts they will make for sea level rise.

But whatever form of words they agree on, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will declare that human-induced climate change is happening and needs to be tackled.


We will enter conditions which we have not seen in the past 10,000 years, and perhaps conditions which mankind has never experienced
Wilfried Haeberli, WGMS
"[The report] embodies substantial new research, it addresses gaps that existed in our knowledge earlier, it has reduced existing uncertainties," IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told reporters at a news briefing in Paris.

"I hope policies and actions will be formed to address the problem."

The report, due out on Friday, forms the first part of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, and will be the latest definitive assessment of climate science.

Melting away

Of all the various features that make up the surface of the Earth, glaciers are perhaps showing the starkest signs of rising temperatures.

The World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), based in Switzerland, continuously studies a set of 30 mountain glaciers in different parts of the world. It is not quite a representative sample of all mountain glaciers, but does give a reliable indication of global trends.


MOUNTAIN GLACIERS DECLINE
Graph of glacier decline. Image: BBC
Data comes from sample of 30 mountain glaciers
Glaciers have different densities, so thinning is expressed in metres of water equivalent (mwe)
One mwe is roughly equivalent to 1.1m of ice
The latest survey, just released, shows accelerating decline. During 2005, this sample of 30 glaciers became, on average, 60-70cm thinner.

This figure is 1.6 times more than the average annual loss during the 1990s, and three times faster than in the 1980s.

With mountain glaciers typically only tens of metres thick, this meant, said WGMS director Wilfried Haeberli, that many would disappear on a timescale of decades if the trend continued.

"We can say there were times during the warmer periods of the last 10,000 years when glaciers have been comparable to what they are now," he told the BBC News website.

"But it is not the past that worries us, it is the future. With the scenarios predicted, we will enter conditions which we have not seen in the past 10,000 years, and perhaps conditions which mankind has never experienced."

Last year, WGMS scientists forecast that the Alps would lose up to three-quarters of their glaciers during the coming century.

The WGMS is closely allied to the United Nations Environment Programme, whose executive director Achim Steiner commented: "Glaciers are important sources of water for many important rivers upon which people depend for drinking water, agriculture and industrial purposes.

"The findings... should strengthen the resolve of governments to act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Rough seas

The IPCC report due out on Friday is likely to contain stronger wording than its previous assessment, in 2001, on the likelihood that human activities are principally responsible for the climatic changes observed around the world.

Protest banner. Image: AFP/Getty
Campaigners have sent a message to IPCC scientists meeting in Paris
The 2001 report forecast that by the end of this century, temperatures would have risen by between 1.4C and 5.8C.

The new report is likely to reduce the range of uncertainty, though not rule out the possibility entirely of increases in the order of 5.8C.

But there is reported to be disagreement over the wording on expected sea level rise.

A bigger network of tide gauges and other instruments has enabled researchers to conclude that the sea level is on average rising by about 2mm per year, or 20cm per century.

This is one of the factors which led to earlier drafts of this report projecting rises by the end of the century which were a lot less than the maximum figure of 88cm contained in the 2001 version.

But some scientists are arguing that recent observations of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets suggest a major melt may be commencing. This, they say, should be reflected in the eventual IPCC projections.

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Killing and Oppression bring Defiance and Retaliation, so our "War on Drugs" is lost
Cocaine is king on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast

By Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent Mon Jan 29, 2:13 AM ET

BLUEFIELDS, Nicaragua (Reuters) - From the drug runners' point of view, the working environment along Nicaragua's Caribbean coast is as good as it gets.

Deep poverty, high unemployment and widespread resentment over decades of government neglect has made it easy for cocaine traffickers to set up support networks in the towns along the Miskito coast and the islands off it. The area is so remote and so different from the rest of Nicaragua, it could be another country.

Named after a 17th century Dutch pirate, Bluefields is the largest town in the area. The coast is populated largely by Miskito Indians and descendants of African slaves. English and Miskito are the dominant languages, corrugated iron and wood the dominant building materials.

To hear authorities tell it, many of the locals work for cocaine trafficking organizations as lookouts, intelligence agents, and suppliers of gasoline for speedboats refueling on the run from Colombia's northern coast to Mexico -- the penultimate stop on the long cocaine trail to the United States.

"On the islands, entire communities provide logistics support for the narcos," said Captain Manuel Mora, chief of Nicaragua's Atlantic Naval Command. "Everybody is involved, one way or the other. Everybody."

That gives an edge to the traffickers, according to authorities, and so does the fact that the smugglers are better equipped than those trying to intercept them. "They have night vision equipment," said Mora. "We don't. They have satellite communications. We don't. They have vast resources. We don't."

The Atlantic Naval Command has four patrol boats, all bought second-hand, more than 30 years old and in need of refurbishment. For three of the vessels, bought from
Israel, spare parts are virtually impossible to get. The United States is providing funds to replace their engines with American-made motors.

In the past four years, Mora said, his force had seized 11 tons (tonnes) of cocaine and 40 northbound speedboats. There are no estimates of how many managed to complete the trip but as a rule of thumb, narcotics experts say that for every vessel intercepted, at least four get through.

CRAFT OF CHOICE

According to the U.S. government's latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, most of the cocaine that ends up in the United States is shipped by speedboats, each capable of carrying 1.5 to 2 tons of cocaine, through the Western Caribbean, a route described as a "natural conduit for illicit drug trafficking organizations."

The report estimated that several hundred "go-fast vessels" leave the northern Colombian coast each year and added: "A go-fast boat is by far the hardest target to find and collectively they represent our greatest maritime threat."

The smugglers' craft of choice is a fiberglass vessel powered by three 250 horsepower motors for a top speed of 70 miles per hour (110 kmh) -- faster than the obsolescent patrol boats of Nicaragua's Atlantic Command.

What the U.S. sees as a threat, many of the impoverished inhabitants of the area see as an opportunity. Apart from steady incomes for those providing logistics support, many harbor hopes of winning the cocaine equivalent of the lottery -- finding 25-kilogram (55-pound) waterproof parcels of cocaine floating in the sea after being dumped by smugglers pursued by the navy or spilled in accidents.

One parcel would be worth around $75,000 here, a huge sum in the poorest region of the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (after Haiti). Half of Nicaragua's 5.5 million people live on less than a dollar a day.

Rags-to-riches tales involving seaborne cocaine have become part of the local lore on the coast, and the islet of Sandy Bay is spoken of frequently. A Miskito-speaking community of a few hundred people, it has changed from wooden shacks and transistor radios to solid homes built of stone and sprouting satellite dishes.

"Somebody who fishes out a cocaine parcel would see it as a blessing from God, not a reason to alert the authorities," said Capt. Jose Echeverria, head of the port authority in Bluefields. "Take poverty and joblessness, add easy money and you get a bad mix."

The mix gets even worse, Bluefielders say, when cocaine replaces cash as payment for services rendered, a trend that has accelerated over the past few years. As a result, drug addiction has become a growing problem in Nicaragua, particularly on the Atlantic Coast.

Crack is sold openly in several neighborhoods of Bluefields, where groups of young men waiting for customers stand in front of ramshackle houses. Prices have gone up, the local people say, because of a series of offshore cocaine busts last year. But at around $1.50 a "rock," it still finds clients. There are at least 65 know crack houses in the town.

"It's a sad thing to say," remarked Luis, a retired fishing boat captain who did not want his last name used. "But it is hard to find a Bluefields family which has not been affected by drugs." That includes his own family. "I have 11 children and one of my sons has gone to work for the narcos. I told him that was a bad idea. He didn't listen."

Protest against Evil!
Tens of thousands demand U.S. get out of Iraq

By Deborah Charles Sat Jan 27, 5:19 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chanting "bring our troops home," tens of thousands of anti-war protesters rallied in front of the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to pressure the government to get out of
Iraq.

Veterans and military families joined some lawmakers, peace groups and actors including Vietnam war protester Jane Fonda to urge Congress and
President George W. Bush to stop funding the war and pull troops from Iraq.

"When I served in the war, I thought I was serving honorably. Instead, I was sent to war ... for causes that have proved fraudulent," said Iraq war veteran Garett Reppenhagen.

"We need to put pressure on our elected government and force them to ... bring the troops home," the former sniper said to cheers from a sign-waving crowd.

Tens of thousands of people attended the rally on the National Mall, according to a park police officer.

For more than two hours, speakers atop a stage that also held a flag-draped coffin criticized Bush and the U.S. presence in Iraq before protesters marched around the Capitol.

In the crowd, a group of families of soldiers killed in Iraq held pictures of their loved ones, including one photo of a soldier in full dress uniform lying in a coffin.

More than 3,000 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The protest was one of several held around the United States. In California, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where several dozen people carried flag-draped, mock coffins.

Protesters also planned coordinated efforts in Washington and across the country over the next week to lobby lawmakers to take action against the war.

DISAPPROVE OF MORE TROOPS

Bush's approval ratings have dropped to some of the weakest of his presidency and polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of his plan to send another 21,500 troops to Iraq.

But Bush said he has no intention of backing off his plan.

Asked about the protests, White House national security adviser spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush "understands that Americans want to see a conclusion to the war in Iraq and the new strategy is designed to do just that."

The demonstrations come amid growing efforts by lawmakers to protest Bush's plans in Iraq. The Senate Foreign Relations committee passed a resolution on Wednesday opposing the plan to send more troops.

Protesters are trying to send Bush and Congress a message that Americans do not support the war.

"I'm convinced this is Bush's war. He has his own agenda there," said Anne Chay, holding a sign with a picture of her 19-year-old son, John, who is serving in Iraq. "We're serving no purpose there."

Fonda, who was criticized for her opposition to the Vietnam War, drew huge cheers when she addressed the crowd. She noted that she had not spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years.

"Silence is no longer an option," she said. "I'm so sad we have to do this -- that we did not learn from the lessons of the Vietnam War."

Democratic Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), a Michigan Democrat and chair of the
House Judiciary Committee, said the November 7 election -- which gave Democrats control of both houses of Congress -- showed Americans want change.

"It takes the ... outrage of the American people to force Washington to do the right thing," he said. "We've got to hold more of these ... until our government gets the message -- Out if Iraq immediately. This year. We've got to go."

(Additional reporting by Timothy Ryan in Washington and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles)

ROTC in Middle Schools and High Schools is Government Sanctioned Child Abuse!
No sex charges for S.C. Guard recruiter

By SEANNA ADCOX, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago

GREENWOOD, S.C. - A South Carolina National Guardsman who recruited at a high school and a former cheerleading coach each are accused of having sex with students, and the principal is charged with hindering the investigation, authorities said.

Former Ware Shoals High School coach Jill Moore, 28, took cheerleaders to a motel, where they met guardsmen for sex, according to Greenwood County sheriff's reports released late Thursday.

Moore, a married mother of two, also is accused of having sex with a male student on a different occasion, according to the reports.

Because all the students involved were 16 or older, none of the adults will be charged because the teens were old enough to consent under state law, according to the sheriff's reports.

Moore, however, is charged with supplying alcohol and cigarettes to students and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She resigned earlier this month.

Principal Jane Blackwell also is accused of telling students and a school staff member not to talk about the allegations against Moore, authorities said. She was charged Monday with obstruction.

Two soldiers were suspended as part of the National Guard's investigation. The Guard said in a news release Friday that its investigation was continuing.

The sheriff's reports state Moore was having an affair with Guardsman Thomas Fletcher, 29, whom she met through the school.

Last year, Moore told two cheerleaders she was taking them to visit a prospective college, the reports said. Instead, they went to a motel where she met Fletcher in one room, and gave the cheerleaders vodka and put them in a room with Guardsman Jeremy Pileggi, according to the reports.

Pileggi, 21, acknowledged having sex with a cheerleader last year, and one of the cheerleaders said she watched Moore and Fletcher have sex, according to the reports.

The coach and the principal have denied the allegations.

Moore and Pileggi did not immediately respond to phone messages left by The Associated Press.

A woman answering Fletcher's phone said, "He can't talk right now," and hung up.

Watch newly appointed counter Guerilla expert General lose a lot of asses, but not his!
Troops died after, not in, sneak attack

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers 20 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four American soldiers were abducted during a sophisticated sneak attack last week in the Shiite holy city of Karbala and their bodies were found up to 25 miles away, according to new information obtained by The Associated Press.

The brazen assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad on Jan. 20, was conducted by nine to 12 militants posing as an American security team. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles _ the type used by U.S. government convoys _ had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English.

In a written statement, the U.S. command reported at the time that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack." Now, two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials say four of the five were captured and taken from the governor's compound alive. Three of them were found dead and one mortally wounded later that evening in locations as far as 25 miles east of the governor's office.

The U.S. officials said they could not be sure where the soldiers were shot after being captured at the compound. Iraqi officials said they believe the men were killed just before the Suburbans were abandoned.

The commando team also took an unclassified U.S. computer with them as its members fled with the four soldiers and left behind an American M-4 automatic rifle, senior U.S. military officials said.

The new information has emerged after nearly a week of inquiries. The U.S. military in Baghdad did not respond to repeated requests for comment on reports that began emerging from Iraqi government and military officials on the abduction and a major breakdown in security at Karbala site.

The two senior American military officials now confirm the reports, gathered by The Associated Press from five senior Iraqi government, military and religious leaders. The U.S. military also has provided additional details from internal military accounts.

None of the American or Iraqi officials would allow use of their names because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The Karbala raid, as explained by the Iraqi and American officials, began after nightfall at about 6 p.m. on Jan. 20, while American military officers were meeting with their Iraqi counterparts on the main floor of the Provisional Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) in Karbala.

The first U.S. military statement on the raid, which reported five soldiers killed and three wounded, said "the PJCC is a coordination center where local Iraqi officials, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces stationed within the center meet to address the security needs of the population."

Iraqi officials said the approaching convoy of black GMC Suburbans was waved through an Iraqi checkpoint at the edge of Karbala. The Iraqi soldiers believed it to be American because of the type of vehicles, the distinctive camouflage American uniforms and the fact that they spoke English. One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond, but no other official confirmed that.

A top Iraqi security official for Karbala province told the AP that the Iraqi guards at the checkpoint radioed ahead to their compatriots at the PJCC to alert them that the convoy was on its way.

Iraqi officials said the attackers' convoy divided upon arrival, with some vehicles parking at the back of the main building where the meeting was taking place, others parked in front.

The U.S. military in Baghdad received a first report of the attack about 6:15 p.m., the senior U.S. military officials said.

The attackers threw a grenade and opened fire with automatic rifles as they grabbed two soldiers inside the compound. Then the guerrilla assault team jumped on top of an armored U.S. Humvee and captured two more soldiers, the U.S. military officials said.

One U.S. soldier was killed in the melee at the compound, and three were wounded.

All the officials agreed the four abducted soldiers did not die in the fighting at the compound in Karbala, but it was unclear where they were killed.

The attackers fled with the four and the computer and headed east toward Mahwil, in neighboring Babil province, about 25 miles away, the U.S. military officials said.

The U.S. accounts did not say where the soldiers were killed. Iraqi officials said the four were captured alive and shot just before the vehicles were abandoned.

Iraqi officials said the U.S. military found the four U.S. soldiers in the Suburbans near Bu-Alwan, a village near Mahawil.

The U.S. officials, who had seen incident reports of the assault, said the documents indicated two of the soldiers were found in one of the Suburbans at one location and two others in a second Suburban elsewhere. The exact locations were not specified, they said.

Both sides agreed that _ when found _ three soldiers were dead and one was wounded and died as U.S. troops rushed the service member away for treatment.

Three days afterward, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced the arrest of four suspects in the attack and said they had been detained on a tip from a Karbala resident. No further information was released about the suspects.

The Defense Department has released the names of troops killed last Saturday but clearly identified only one as being killed because of the sneak attack.

Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, Calif., "died of wounds suffered when his meeting area came under attack by mortar and small arms fire." Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, Ohio.

The only other troops killed that day in that region of
Iraq were four Army soldiers said to have been "ambushed while conducting dismounted operations" in Karbala.

The four were identified as 1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Neb.; Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, La.; Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, N.Y., and Pvt. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Ala. All were with the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, of Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Three days after the attack, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced the arrest of four suspects in the attack and said they had been detained on a tip from a Karbala resident. No further information was released about the suspects.

Oh NO, not a significant step to One World Government!
EU, U.S., divided on air passenger data, seek deal

Fri Jan 26, 8:46 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) -
European Union president Germany said on Friday it would work hard to strike a deal quickly on sharing air passenger data with the United States, which is pushing for easier access to European records.

Germany is under pressure to negotiate the agreement, designed to help fight terrorism, because a temporary deal signed last October expires in July.

But the two sides disagree over how the data should be used.

"We are determined to push ahead with talks on replacing the temporary agreement with a long-term one," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a joint news conference with U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff.

"I am confident we will find a solution," he said, without specifying when he expected an agreement.

Chertoff said the data were vital in identifying criminals or people connected to terrorists whom the U.S. wants to watch.

"I don't think we are looking for more data, I think what we are looking for is to continue the ability to analyze the data rapidly and make it available to our inspectors without having a lot of bureaucratic hurdles," said Chertoff.

He said Washington was trying to address Europe's concerns about privacy which were based on "historical traditions."

Schaeuble tried to play down the differences.

"I think the main reason for the difficulty is that there is an assumption that we take data protection more seriously than the Americans and that is not true," he said.

Some EU lawmakers have accused European negotiators of caving in to U.S. pressure after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and of sacrificing passengers' rights to privacy.

The United States has also been pushing for the right to hold data on passengers for longer.

Under October's deal, European airlines must pass on up to 34 items of data, including passengers' addresses, telephone numbers and credit card details, to be allowed to land at U.S. airports.

There are limits to how long U.S. agencies can keep the records and how they can use them.

The EU's top court struck down a previous passenger data agreement on a legal technicality last May after a challenge from the European parliament.

The two said they were also trying to boost cooperation in other areas and are discussing U.S. plans to conduct more checks on travelers who do not need visas to enter the country.

Hello Revisionists, remember Judas, maybe you should go and do thou likewise!
Auschwitz curator tries to preserve camp

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago

OSWIECIM, Poland - As they do on every anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops, witnesses to the Holocaust will gather Saturday _ growing older, frailer and fewer each year. After 62 years, the camp itself is also showing signs of aging under the pressures of tourism and time.

Its new director is searching for ways to preserve vital evidence of Nazi crimes and update the exhibits without chipping away at Auschwitz's authenticity _ or giving fodder for Holocaust deniers.

"The biggest dilemma of this place is preserving what is authentic while also keeping it possible for people to see and to touch," said Piotr Cywinski, a 34-year-old historian who took over in September.

"This wasn't built as a medieval castle with strong materials to last for all time," Cywinski told The Associated Press in an interview in his office in one of the Auschwitz barracks. "It was a Nazi camp built to last a short time."

Most sensitive, perhaps, is what to do about the remains of gas chambers which are slowly sinking into the ground, the result of weather, erosion and gravity.

The Nazis themselves blew up the gas chambers and crematoria toward the end of World War II as the Soviet army approached. Today, they are mostly in ruins as the Nazis left them, evidence of both the original crimes and the German attempt to cover them up.

Any decay at all poses a problem given the camp's role today as evidence of the atrocities inflicted on Jews, Gypsies, Polish political prisoners, homosexuals and others. Still visible are the railroad tracks along which inmates were brought in, the barracks where they lived in inhumane conditions, the gas chambers where they were murdered, and the crematoria where their bodies were burned.

For all that to crumble would deprive future generations of priceless historical evidence of Nazi atrocities _ a further concern in light of Holocaust denial. The site provides a clear picture of how the camp operated _ while many other former Nazi death camps, including Treblinka and Belzec, were dismantled and are marked today only by monuments.

Auschwitz's eventual decay is hastened because the materials used _ such as wood in the watchtowers and the barracks _ will eventually rot or collapse.

Cywinski also said some structures at the camp were constructed by weak and starving inmates exerting the minimum effort in order to preserve their strength.

Auschwitz is actually not one camp, but two, each with its own problems. Auschwitz I was built in an abandoned Polish military base, and Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, is a much larger complex built two miles away during the war to speed up the Nazis' "Final Solution."

Together, Auschwitz-Birkenau stands as a metaphor of evil and a symbol of all Nazi crimes, so making any change at all is fraught with great responsibility and potential controversy.

Cywinski is calling for retainer walls to be built around gas chambers to prevent them from sinking further.

"We are at a moment where we have to act," Cywinski said. "If we don't, there's the risk that in 10 or 15 years, it will no longer be possible to understand their construction."

But any tampering with the gas chambers is problematic because Holocaust deniers could seize on that _ and photographs of repair work _ to try to argue that the whole thing was fabricated, according to Jonathan Webber, a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Birmingham and a member of the International Auschwitz Council, a board that advises Auschwitz administrators.

Webber noted that the barbed wire at Auschwitz has already been replaced more than once since the war, because the original was so rusted. But "fiddling with the gas chambers" is different.

"Anyone tampering with gas chambers is tampering with the heart and soul of what Auschwitz represents," said Webber, who has urged the council to seek the advice of engineering experts before starting any work.

Another mission Cywinski has set for himself is modernizing the exhibit at Auschwitz I that was first set up in 1955. Included in the exhibit housed in the original brick barracks are photographs of inmates, SS offices left in their original state down to the picture of Adolf Hitler on the wall, and displays of suitcases, twisted eyeglasses, and hair taken from victims before they were killed.

Cywinski said he wants none of that removed, but some modernization is needed because the exhibit no longer meets international museum standards. He stressed that he is only starting to decide how to modernize it, and that all decisions would be made after consulting with authorities on Holocaust commemoration.

One of those is Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in
Israel, which says it welcomes the decision to update the museum. "It is a logical step for a museum that was erected in the 1950s," spokeswoman Estee Yaari told the AP.

The exhibit "was at the time created for people who remembered the war very well," Cywinski said. "Now we have a generation of young people whose parents don't even remember the war. ... If we don't change it, this exhibition will say always less to the next generations."

___

On the Net: Auschwitz-Birkenau http://www.auschwitz.org.pl

For what it is worth, Iran, the UN disagrees with your President's propaganda!
U.N. condemns denials of Nazi Holocaust

By Evelyn Leopold 35 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution on Friday condemning denials of the Holocaust, weeks after
Iran sponsored a meeting dominated by speakers questioning the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews in World War Two.

The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 100 countries, including all Western nations, was approved by consensus, without a vote. Iran disassociated itself from the action, calling the resolution a political exercise that
Israel would exploit against Palestinians.

The resolution "condemns without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust" and "urges all member states unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to this end."

It is a follow up to a broader November 2005 assembly measure making January 27 the International Day of Commemoration for victims of the Holocaust.

But at least 22 nations left their seats empty in the assembly hall, including Bolivia, Chile and Columbia, who had co-sponsored the resolution. Others not attending included Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan,
Syria, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe, according to U.S. officials.

Iran is not mentioned by name although the resolution is clearly aimed at a Tehran conference convened in December by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Most speakers expressed doubt about the Nazis' mass extermination of Jews.

Ahmadinejad came to power in August 2005 and caused an international outcry by terming the Holocaust a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumor" in the Middle East.

Iran's envoy Hossein Gharibi told the assembly, "In our view there is no justification for genocide of any kind, nor can there be any justification for the attempt made by some -- particularly by the Israeli regime -- to exploit the past crimes as a pretext to commit new genocide and crimes."

Responded U.S. acting ambassador, Alejandro Wolff, "Iran stands alone, in shame, isolated, against the international community."

"Conferences like those sponsored by Iran are designed solely to polarize and incite hatred. If successful they can then use that hatred as a catalyst to justify genocide," Wolff said. "To deny the event of the Holocaust is tantamount to the approval of genocide in all its forms."

Said Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman, "While the nations of the world gather here to affirm the historicity of the Holocaust with the intent of never again allowing genocide, a member of this assembly is acquiring the capabilities to carry out its own."

"The president of Iran is in fact saying, 'There really was no Holocaust, but just in case, we shall finish the job."'

Middle East nations were not among the co-sponsors. But Egypt's U.N. ambassador, Maged Abedelaziz, said while he agreed with the resolution the world should also speak out against the rising "Islamaphobia."

Friday's measure is timed to coincide with the January 27 commemoration, which Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin emphasized was the day the Soviet Red Army liberated the large Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

Up to 1.5 million prisoners, most of them Jews, were killed in Auschwitz alone. A total of six million Jews and millions of others including Poles, homosexuals, Russians and Gypsies were murdered by the Nazis and their allies during the war.

Germany's U.N. Ambassador Thomas Matussek, representing the
European Union, said he was aware that the "unprecedented crime of the Holocaust was committed by Germans and in the name of Germany and from that stems our special responsibility."

A significant aspect of the willful, conscious, systematic effort to dumb down US America!
College-loan fight looms for banks in Congress

By Kevin Drawbaugh 2 hours, 40 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Student loan giant Sallie Mae and some of the nation's biggest banks are bracing for a fight in the Democratic-led Senate over a problem facing many middle-class voters -- how to pay for college.

In hearings expected to start early next month, Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) will seek support for legislation he introduced on Monday directly threatening Sallie Mae and big student lenders such as Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Wachovia, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Nelnet.

The Massachusetts Democrat -- an old liberal lion brought back to committee leadership power in November's elections -- wants to reward colleges for steering more students to direct government loans instead of the government-guaranteed loans that furnish handsome profits for Sallie Mae and the banks.

The Kennedy proposal hits the lenders "in the pocketbook," said Mark Kantrowitz, a consultant and author who runs a Web site, FinAid.org, devoted to student financial aid issues.

"Diverting loan volume into direct lending means the banks will have less income ... and be forced to compete," he said.

Direct loans are cheaper, Kennedy said in a statement, citing estimates from
President George W. Bush's 2007 budget.

The lending industry disputes such figures and defends the cost and efficiency of the loans that private-sector lenders make under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL).

"This is a very successful program. It's in every congressional district. Students are getting better rates. It just doesn't make sense to cut the FFEL program," said Kevin Bruns, head of lender group America's Student Loan Providers.

Sallie Mae Chief Executive Tim Fitzpatrick put it more bluntly on January 18 in a teleconference with market analysts in which he said direct loans have fallen short of expectations.

"Unfortunately, Sen. Kennedy has attempted to smear the integrity of Sallie Mae, the student loan industry, and the financial aid professionals. I'm certainly personally disappointed in his baseless and insulting attacks," said the Sallie Mae CEO, according to a teleconference transcript.

BATTLEGROUND SHIFTS

The two sides have squared off before over this issue, but in some ways, things look different this time around.

Kennedy now chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that oversees student loans.

The House has already approved a bill to halve interest rates on many student loans to 3.4 percent over five years. Kennedy's bill proposes that and additional steps.

It also would boost funding for federal Pell grants, which are given to students and need not be repaid; let students cap their loan payments at a percentage of income; forgive loans after 25 years; allow students to consolidate loans; cut direct loan fees; and widen the tuition tax deduction.

Outside Washington, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking into allegations that college financial aid officers have been getting perks -- such as sporting event tickets -- in exchange for listing certain companies as preferred lenders.

Virginia-based Sallie Mae said last week it is cooperating with the Cuomo inquiry. People familiar with the probe said it is certain to spread to other lenders.

Student loan group Nelnet said separately last week it agreed to settle with the
Department of Education to resolve a dispute over certain loan payments. Kennedy said the Nelnet "scandal has cast a black mark on the student loan industry."

Legal troubles like these put the industry on the defensive just as it confronts the Kennedy bill, Kantrowitz said.

Another new development is a drop in the stock price of Sallie Mae, known formally as SLM Corp., in an otherwise bullish market. SLM shares closed on Thursday at $45.41 on the
New York Stock Exchange, down from $55 a year ago.

In other ways, the student loan debate is unchanged.

U.S. college costs continue to rise, with the average, in-state expense of attending a public four-year college approaching $13,000 a year, up 35 percent since 2002. Private college costs are averaging about $30,000 a year.

Scratch a human and find a thug!
Worldwide, 'War on Terror' Used as Excuse to Oppress, Charge Activists

Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US Thu Jan 25, 8:37 AM ET

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (OneWorld) - Government leaders across the world must stop using anti-terror laws as a tool to suppress opposition movements and deprive ordinary citizens of their due civil and human rights, say international civil society groups attending the World Social Forum in Kenya this week.

"The 'so-called war on terror' is being used by both democratic and repressive governments alike to justify restrictions on civil society activities," said Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of the World Alliance for Citizens' Participation (CIVICUS), a Johannesburg, South Africa-based coalition of hundreds of advocacy groups.

On Tuesday, in collaboration with the international human rights group Oxfam and the U.S.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Naidoo's group held a news conference where they charged that many governments were committing human rights abuses and imposing unlawful restrictions on the movement of activists.

From Tunisia to Tonga and from the United States to Uzbekistan, the voices of activists and organizations are being silenced, said the groups' representatives, noting that many governments were trying to justify new security laws as a means to protect their citizens, but in practice, they were using them to create a climate of fear.

Many held the United States particularly responsible for the rise of such disturbing trends.

"The Bush administration has used the guise of the 'global war on terror' to obliterate fundamental principles of habeas corpus and sanction torture in Guantanamo," Emira Woods of IPS, who was present at the news conference, told OneWorld.

Describing the recent U.S. air attack on the Somali people as "unprovoked," she added: "This irresponsible set of policies constrains civil liberties, undermines democracy, increases anti-American sentiment, and makes the world less safe."

In amplifying concerns over the governments' abuse of power and restrictions on oppositions' movements, a number of Nobel Laureates and prominent figures from the entertainment world, who are attending the Forum meetings, also joined the activists' call to respect civil liberties and fundamental human rights.

"The war on terror in the world will never be won by force and injustice," said Desmond Tutu, the Noble Peace Prize-winning archbishop of South Africa, at the Forum. "It will remain a problem as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate, like dehumanizing poverty, disease, and ignorance."

Attending the Social Forum, Danny Glover, the award-winning Hollywood actor and former UN goodwill ambassador, and Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jodi Williams, said they fully shared such concerns and assured their full support for those demanding the protection of human rights and justice.

In addition to taking the United States to task, some activists expressed their grave concerns over the Russian government's use of draconian laws that threaten the activities of local and international non-governmental organizations. Others admonished the governments of Belarus and Zimbabwe for their continued attempts to silence political dissent.

Noting that in most cases, the definition of terrorism remained "vague and broad," activists said they had every reason to believe that anti-terror laws could be used to criminalize peaceful activities and violate freedom of expression, association, and assembly, a point that many
United Nations experts on human rights have fully acknowledged in a number of reports.

Expressing their concerns as far back as October 2005, UN officials warned the General Assembly that attempts by many states to adopt new anti-terror measures could undermine international human rights standards.

In a report submitted to the General Assembly at the time, they emphasized that terrorism required "concerted action by the international community," not legislative steps that deny individual rights to a fair trial, freedom of speech, assembly, or to strike.

"Nothing can combat irrational acts and extreme forms of violence more effectively than the wisdom embodied in the rule of law," UN special rapporteur on human rights Leandro Despouy told the General Assembly.

His remarks came just a month after the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that called on all governments to adopt laws prohibiting people from "inciting" others to commit terrorist acts, and to deny safe haven to anyone seriously considered guilty of such conduct.

Introduced by Britain, the resolution was fully backed by the United States, despite strong criticism from the world's leading human rights groups who feared it could be used to suppress political opposition.

In Nairobi, activists such as Naidoo and Woods urged their colleagues to join them in demanding governments live up to the standards of human rights and democracy promised through their constitutions and international treaties.

"We have a responsibility to remember our brothers and sisters around the world who are, at this very moment, facing legal action, detention and torture as a result of their peaceful activism," said Naidoo.

"For them, for ourselves, and for future generations of activists we call on governments to re-examine their actions taken through the war on terror."

Poppy Income safe...!
Afghanistan won't spray poppy plants

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 4 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - Rebuffing months of U.S. pressure, Afghan President Hamid Karzai decided against a Colombia-style program to spray this country's heroin-producing poppies after the Cabinet worried herbicide would hurt legitimate crops, animals and humans, officials said Thursday.

The decision, reportedly made Sunday, dashes U.S. hopes for mounting a campaign using ground sprayers to poison poppy plants to help combat
Afghanistan's opium trade after a record crop in 2006.

Karzai instead "made a very strong commitment" to lead other eradication efforts this year and said if that didn't cut production he would allow spraying in 2008, a Western official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Counternarcotics, Said Mohammad Azam, said this year's effort will rely on "traditional techniques" _ sending laborers into fields to trample or plow under opium poppies before they can be harvested. A similar campaign during 2006 failed.

Fueled by the Taliban, a powerful drug mafia and poor farmers' need for a profitable crop that can overcome drought, opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 percent to 6,700 tons _ enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. That is more than 90 percent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.

The booming drug economy, and the involvement of government officials and police in the illicit trade, compounds the many problems facing Afghanistan's fledgling democracy as its struggles with stepped-up attacks by insurgents loyal to the former Taliban regime.

Top Cabinet members _ including the agriculture, defense and rural redevelopment ministers _ pressured Karzai to reject the spraying plan, saying herbicide would contaminate water, hurt humans, farm animals and legitimate produce, officials said.

The ministers also feared a violent backlash from rural Afghans, the Western official said.

Afghan farmers have sometimes turned to violence to protect poppy plants, which are harvested in the spring and whose profits are believed to flow partly to Taliban militants. Police said two eradication workers were wounded by gunmen Wednesday in western Herat province.

"We're happy with Karzai's decision. Spraying affects the animals and vegetables, even humans," said Asadullah Wafa, the governor of the top drug-producing province, Helmand.

"There is another way to eradicate, like launching operations through all the districts, and I hope the international community will give us tractors and provide more troops to destroy poppies."

U.S. officials have said the herbicide in question _ glyphosate, sold as Roundup in the United States _ is safe. It would have been applied by ground spraying rather than planes to allay Afghan fears of chemicals falling from the sky.

U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann said this week that Afghanistan has eradicated 1,483 acres of poppies so far this year _ compared to none by the same time last year.

Still, that's only a fraction of the 407,000 acres of poppies that were cultivated in 2006, including 173,000 acres in Helmand province alone, according to U.N. figures.

There were indications the U.S. was ready to implement spraying if Karzai had approved the project.

"We're prepared to do spraying if the Afghans want us to do it," said Gregory Lagana, a spokesman for Virginia-based DynCorp International Inc., which runs the U.S.-backed aerial eradication campaign in Colombia and is also present in Afghanistan.

U.S. and Afghan officials agree eradication must be matched with a crackdown on traffickers as well as programs to help farmers switch to legal crops and get their produce to market. Few Afghan crops can be transported far without spoiling or damage because of insecurity and poor roads. By comparison, poppy resin, the main ingredient in heroin, can keep for years.

Karzai's decision capped months of behind-the-scenes pressure to allow spraying like that already used in countries such as Colombia, where coca plants supply much of world's cocaine.

Just last month, John Walters, top U.S. anti-drug official, said Afghan poppies would be sprayed, although he did not say when. Walters, on a visit to Kabul, warned that Afghanistan could turn into a narco-state unless "giant steps" were made toward eliminating poppies.

However, no top Afghan officials had said publicly the government would carry out spraying.

Joe Mellott, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, said the U.S. still "stands ready to assist the Afghans if they want to use herbicide."

"We always said that the ground-based spraying is a decision for the Afghans to make," he said. "We understand they are going to focus on a robust manual and mechanical program to eradicate poppies this year."

___

Associated Press writers Fisnik Abrashi and Amir Shah contributed to this report.

Anne Frank died of typhus at age 15 at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945.
Anne Frank's father's letters disclosed

By ULA ILNYTZKY, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 52 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Newly disclosed letters written by the father of Anne Frank illuminate his desperate attempts to get the family out of Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, a New York-based institution that focuses on the history and culture of Eastern European Jews, said Thursday it had discovered the file among 100,000 other Holocaust-related documents about a year and a half ago. The institute did not immediately disclose the find because it had to explore copyright and other legal issues, said Cathy Callegari, a spokeswoman for YIVO.

"We have come across the file which belonged to Otto Frank, documenting his efforts to immigrate his family and get them out of Holland," she said.

On Feb. 14, she said, the institute will release Frank's letters and documents and records from various agencies that helped people immigrate from Europe.

The disclosure came as a surprise to Bernd "Buddy" Elias, Anne Frank's cousin and the president of the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, Switzerland. The organization, established by Otto Frank, holds the rights to Anne Frank's writings, according to its Web site.

"We would love to have them in our archive. I mean, we are the heirs of Otto Frank," Elias told The Associated Press.

Callegari said the documents include letters that Otto Frank wrote to relatives, friends and officials between April 30, 1941, and Dec. 11, 1941, when Germany declared war on the United States.

The Frank family's hiding place in a secret annex in an Amsterdam canal-side warehouse has been turned into a museum.

Patricia Bosboom, of the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam, said officials there had heard about the discovery of the letters but had not seen them. But she said they would fit with the general picture that's known about Otto Frank's many efforts to get the family out of Europe.

It also fits with Frank's other contingency planning: the family's hiding spot. "He organized it well before the war," she said.

The letters document how Otto Frank tried to arrange for his family _ wife Edith, daughters Margo and Anne and mother-in-law Rosa Hollander _ to go to the United States or Cuba.

His attempts to arrange a route out of the Netherlands were unsuccessful. The family took refuge in July 1942, hiding for more than two years before being arrested. Anne Frank described the family's life in hiding in a diary that has sold an estimated 75 million copies.

The letters were initially held by the New York City-based Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which gradually transferred its archives to the YIVO Institute in 1974. Callegari said that the HIAS archives consisted of documents from various agencies so that the true origin of the Otto Frank letters may never be known. She said a volunteer archivist at the YIVO Institute discovered Otto Frank's letters about a year and a half ago.

Anne Frank died of typhus at age 15 in a concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945. Her father returned to the Netherlands to collect his daughter's notes and published them in the Netherlands in 1947.

Time magazine first reported on the newly discovered documents on its Web site Thursday.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Jordans in Geneva and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research: http://www.yivo.org

Anne Frank Foundation: http://www.annefrank.ch

Liz has never been a good judge of character, BUT... maybe that is an asset!
Liz Taylor gives Hillary Clinton campaign $100,000

39 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Elizabeth Taylor likes the way
Hillary Rodham Clinton thinks and that is worth a check for $100,000.

While the rest of Hollywood starts to choose sides in the 2008 U.S. presidential race, Taylor has already picked the New York Democratic senator as her favorite candidate and written her a $100,000 check for the campaign.

In a statement released on Thursday, the actress said, "I have contributed to Sen.
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign because she has a mind of her own and a very strong one at that.

"I like the way she thinks. She is very savvy and a smart leader with years of experience in government, diplomacy and politics."

Taylor's spokesman Dick Guttman said the campaign donation was $100,000. Taylor, 74, is one of Hollywood's leading
AIDS activists and supporters of liberal causes.

With the fight for the presidential nominations of both parties just starting, Hollywood -- a key center for fund raising and celebrity -- is still choosing sides. Some former key supporters of the senator and her husband, former President
Bill Clinton, are showing interest in Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record).

What are they going to do, cut off women's feet for operating the pedals?
Saudi princess would let women drive

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 25, 1:15 PM ET

DAVOS, Switzerland - The most prominent princess in Saudi Arabia's royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive _ a rare and direct challenge to the driving ban imposed by the kingdom's ruling male elite.

The remarks from Princess Lolwah Al-Faisal, daughter of a former Saudi king and sister of the current foreign minister, came at the
World Economic Forum _ a gathering known for getting world leaders to engage in frank, often off-the-record dialogue without fear of criticism.

Al-Faisal, however, spoke at a public session on promoting religious tolerance. Other attendees included former Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami, the prime minister of Malaysia, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and peace activist from
Israel and an American cleric.

The moderator, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, asked panelists at one point to "self-criticize" and say what they would change to promote greater interfaith understanding.

Turning to the princess, he quipped: "What would you do, princess, if you were 'queen' for a day? I won't tell anyone."

"First thing, I'd let women drive," Al-Faisal said dryly, as the audience erupted in applause and laughter. She added as the applause died down, "Or else have a great transportation system, which we don't have."

Women in Saudi Arabia now can work at many jobs that once were off-limits _ a point the princess made. But critics say their inability to drive holds them back from many jobs by forcing them to rely on hired drivers, or on male relatives, to get to work or to school.

Some critics say the driving ban particularly impacts poorer Saudi families who cannot afford to hire drivers. Because of that, some consider the driving ban not just as a women's rights issue, but also as a factor holding back the country's economic development.

Al-Faisal's comments are particularly interesting because they show that while Saudi Arabia often presents a united front to the outside world, different opinions and even vigorous debate exist in private.

The 59-year-old princess is the most publicly visible female member of the royal family and one of the highest-profile Saudi women. She led a delegation of Saudi women business leaders to Hong Kong last year, has appeared at U.S. forums on interfaith dialogue and heads a prominent Saudi women's college.

But it is rare for her to speak in public or in front of the media. And she has never before publicly pushed for an end to the driving ban.

Her comments also are intriguing because her father, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964-1975, had a reputation as more progressive on social issues than his successors.

King Faisal first instituted education for Saudi girls, for example, in the 1960s, and some have wondered if he might have pushed for more reform in the conservative, religious kingdom had he lived longer. He was assassinated in 1975 by a disgruntled royal family member.

When the current monarch, King Abdullah, assumed the throne in 2005, expectations were high that he would decisively and quickly lead the country toward more openness. Indeed, for a while, Saudi Arabia made small but striking steps toward reform, such as instances where Saudi female journalists were allowed to interview men.

But the reform pace has slowed, partly because of reported differences within the royal family over the pace and direction of change and partly because of resistance by religious conservatives who fear reform will dilute their strong influence.

The issue of women drivers has been mostly dormant from Saudi public debate in recent years. It flared after the
Gulf War in 1991, when a group of prominent Saudi women staged a protest by driving through the capital of Riyadh. But the government cracked down hard, confiscating many of the women's passports and thus preventing them from leaving the country for months afterward.

The debate has occasionally flared in newspapers since but never to such an extent as in 1991. Yet many Saudi women privately view the ban as a main barrier to progress.

Conservatives, however, are vocal in pushing to retain the ban _ saying that allowing women to drive would inevitably lead to their moral corruption, by forcing them to interact with men who are not relatives in places such as gas stations.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries allow women to drive.

Al-Faisal is a sister of two prominent members of the current government, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Only a very small guillotine would be needed to set these woman free...
Saudi princess would let women drive

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 25, 1:15 PM ET

DAVOS, Switzerland - The most prominent princess in Saudi Arabia's royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive _ a rare and direct challenge to the driving ban imposed by the kingdom's ruling male elite.

The remarks from Princess Lolwah Al-Faisal, daughter of a former Saudi king and sister of the current foreign minister, came at the
World Economic Forum _ a gathering known for getting world leaders to engage in frank, often off-the-record dialogue without fear of criticism.

Al-Faisal, however, spoke at a public session on promoting religious tolerance. Other attendees included former Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami, the prime minister of Malaysia, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and peace activist from
Israel and an American cleric.

The moderator, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, asked panelists at one point to "self-criticize" and say what they would change to promote greater interfaith understanding.

Turning to the princess, he quipped: "What would you do, princess, if you were 'queen' for a day? I won't tell anyone."

"First thing, I'd let women drive," Al-Faisal said dryly, as the audience erupted in applause and laughter. She added as the applause died down, "Or else have a great transportation system, which we don't have."

Women in Saudi Arabia now can work at many jobs that once were off-limits _ a point the princess made. But critics say their inability to drive holds them back from many jobs by forcing them to rely on hired drivers, or on male relatives, to get to work or to school.

Some critics say the driving ban particularly impacts poorer Saudi families who cannot afford to hire drivers. Because of that, some consider the driving ban not just as a women's rights issue, but also as a factor holding back the country's economic development.

Al-Faisal's comments are particularly interesting because they show that while Saudi Arabia often presents a united front to the outside world, different opinions and even vigorous debate exist in private.

The 59-year-old princess is the most publicly visible female member of the royal family and one of the highest-profile Saudi women. She led a delegation of Saudi women business leaders to Hong Kong last year, has appeared at U.S. forums on interfaith dialogue and heads a prominent Saudi women's college.

But it is rare for her to speak in public or in front of the media. And she has never before publicly pushed for an end to the driving ban.

Her comments also are intriguing because her father, King Faisal, who ruled from 1964-1975, had a reputation as more progressive on social issues than his successors.

King Faisal first instituted education for Saudi girls, for example, in the 1960s, and some have wondered if he might have pushed for more reform in the conservative, religious kingdom had he lived longer. He was assassinated in 1975 by a disgruntled royal family member.

When the current monarch, King Abdullah, assumed the throne in 2005, expectations were high that he would decisively and quickly lead the country toward more openness. Indeed, for a while, Saudi Arabia made small but striking steps toward reform, such as instances where Saudi female journalists were allowed to interview men.

But the reform pace has slowed, partly because of reported differences within the royal family over the pace and direction of change and partly because of resistance by religious conservatives who fear reform will dilute their strong influence.

The issue of women drivers has been mostly dormant from Saudi public debate in recent years. It flared after the
Gulf War in 1991, when a group of prominent Saudi women staged a protest by driving through the capital of Riyadh. But the government cracked down hard, confiscating many of the women's passports and thus preventing them from leaving the country for months afterward.

The debate has occasionally flared in newspapers since but never to such an extent as in 1991. Yet many Saudi women privately view the ban as a main barrier to progress.

Conservatives, however, are vocal in pushing to retain the ban _ saying that allowing women to drive would inevitably lead to their moral corruption, by forcing them to interact with men who are not relatives in places such as gas stations.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and other Arab countries allow women to drive.

Al-Faisal is a sister of two prominent members of the current government, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States.