In this issue:

'Economist' Announces: Big Mideast War Coming in 2011

British Alert: Looming Crisis in Egypt

Iranian Commission Votes To Break Ties with Britain

Rigi's London Pedigree: Pakistan To Hand Over Terrorist to Iran

From Volume 38, Issue 1 of EIR Online, Published Jan. 7, 2011
Southwest Asia News Digest

'Economist' Announces: Big Mideast War Coming in 2011

Dec. 30 (EIRNS)—The Economist, mouthpiece for the British oligarchy, has prominently announced that 2011 will be the year for a very big Middle East war. "Every time an attempt at Arab-Israel peacemaking fails, as Barack Obama's did shortly before Christmas," the Economist gloated, "the peace becomes a little more fragile and the danger of war increases. Sadly, there is reason to believe that unless remedial action is taken, 2011 might see the most destructive such war for many years."

According to the Economist's account, the military balance has been radically altered since the 2006 Lebanon War and the 2008 Gaza invasion, by a large infusion of advanced and longer-range rockets to Hezbollah and Hamas. Claiming that Iran and Syria have covertly supplied the two groups with more than 50,000 missiles and rockets, the magazine concluded, "For the first time a radical non-state actor has the power to kill thousands of civilians in Israel's cities more or less at the press of a button." Israel, consequently, is prepared to strike back with vastly greater fire power, and, therefore, "a war of this sort could easily draw in Syria, and perhaps Iran."

While the Economist says that all this can be avoided, if only President Obama would step in and effectively dictate the terms of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, its editors know that Obama will do no such thing, if London wants a new and bigger Middle East war.

In fact, the only true remedy, as spelled out repeatedly by Lyndon LaRouche, is for Obama to be kicked out of office, through invocation of the 25th Amendment, Section 4.

British Alert: Looming Crisis in Egypt

Dec. 27 (EIRNS)—In the context of an ongoing British-manipulated crisis in Sudan, a senior Egyptian source warns that Egypt could also be on the verge of a political/social explosion. According to high-level Egyptian government officials, the recent parliamentary elections were seriously tainted by strong-arm measures by the ruling party, as an op-ed in today's Washington Post by Mohamed ElBaradei charges. President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in November 1981, is preparing to pass the Presidency on to his son Gamal, who has been in the middle of all of the disastrous privatization of state assets in the past decade, and is deeply unpopular.

The recent parliamentary elections were crucial, because in April 2011, the parliament will elect the next President. According to the Egyptian source, "The Egyptian government is not in the least afraid of Obama, so they had no fears about backlash after highly irregular parliamentary elections. "In the recent elections, the Muslim Brotherhood candidates were wiped out, and the "liberal" opposition Wafah Party got a scant six seats.

The expected election outcome in April—the anointing of Gamal Mubarak as his father's successor—could trigger widespread protests and a possible military takeover under emergency-law circumstances. "There is no telling what would happen next," the source warned. "It could be as dramatic as Iran 1979. The two contending power centers in Egypt are the Army and the Muslim Brotherhood."

Like the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, this situation cannot be understood from the internal dynamics alone, given the overall desperation of the British oligarchy, over the bankruptcy collapse of its Inter-Alpha Group system, and the longstanding British controls over the politics of the region, dating back to before the Sykes-Picot deal at the end of World War I, when Britain and France divided up the Middle East into spheres of influence after the crushing of the Ottoman Empire. With the British running a major destabilization in Sudan right now, the fact that the Egyptian situation is also moving in a highly unstable direction has larger ramifications for all of Africa and Southwest Asia.

Egypt has been a leading force in the Arab world, and the prospects of Egypt going into a prolonged period of instability, at the same time that there is a succession crisis ahead in Saudi Arabia, and Israel continues to threaten military strikes against Iran, can spark an out-of-control perpetual war in the heart of Eurasia. And that has "London" written all over it.

Iranian Commission Votes To Break Ties with Britain

Dec. 20 (EIRNS)—On Dec. 19, the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission approved a bill to fully break diplomatic relations with Britain, and urged the full Parliament to expedite its passage. The Commission's chairman, Mohamad Karami-Raad, told Fars News Agency: "The Commission members also condemned the recent remarks made by the British Ambassador to Tehran, as well as hostile moves made by the British Government against our country, throughout the history."

The bill is next scheduled to go before the Parliament's Presiding Board, for a final discussion, and approval by all Parliament members. Among the reasons for cutting relations that are cited in the bill are: the British government's blatant stance and repeated remarks in support of last year's unrest inside Iran; London's ongoing espionage activities; and, financial and media support for opposition groups.

According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the formulation of the bill follows the Dec. 15 suicide bombing, that killed 30 and wounded more than 50 men, women, and children. Initially, various Iranian officials blamed Britain, the U.S., and Israel, for assisting the Pakistan-based terrorist group, Jundallah, in the bombing, which claimed responsibility for it.

A month ago, the U.S. officially designated Jundallah a foreign-based terrorist group, drawing a cautious welcome from Iran.

After a judicial proceeding, Iran executed 11 Jundallah members in the morning of Dec. 20 for the bombing. It is believed that Jundallah has at least 100 more terrorists based in Pakistan, near its border with Iran.

Rigi's London Pedigree: Pakistan To Hand Over Terrorist to Iran

Dec. 27 (EIRNS)—Pakistani sources said on Dec. 25 that Abdul Rauf Rigi, a senior member of the terrorist Jundollah group who was arrested by Islamabad a few days ago, will be handed over to Tehran soon, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency (FNA).

The Pak Tribune said the Pakistan's security forces were able to trace Rigi, and find his hideout in Pakistan's bordering Baluchistan province, after he turned on his cell phone to contact a newspaper in London. The paper said that Rigi probably intended to make a phone call to the London-based daily Alsharq al-Owsat. The paper also said that Pakistani security agencies plan to extradite Rigi terrorist to Iran after interrogations.

The operation came after Iran warned Islamabad about terrorists' safe havens in Pakistan, and after a meeting between Iranian and Pakistani Presidents on the sidelines of a heads-of-state summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this week.

Pakistani authorities announced on Dec. 24 that they had arrested Rigi, along with eight other members of the Jundollah group, in the bordering Torbat region.

Tehran has arrested or killed a large number of the Jundollah terrorists, including the ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi and his brother, and number two man Abdolhamid Rigi. Iran says there remain just a few members of the group, but that U.S. and British intelligence services still extend all-out support to these few people in order to make Southeastern Iran an insecure region.

Jundollah has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks in Iran. The group has carried out mass murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, acts of sabotage and bombings, FNA said. They have targeted civilians and government officials as well as all ranks of Iran's military.

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