Why the news blackout on the most important news of the day?

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8LMT1E01.html

Iraq, Iran Reach Agreement on Security

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By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press Writer

November 29,2006 | TEHRAN, Iran -- Iraq's president said Wednesday he had reached a security agreement with Iran, which the United States accuses of fueling the chaos in the war-torn country. Iran's president called on countries to stop backing "terrorists" in Iraq and for the Americans to withdraw.

Tehran is believed to back some of the Shiite militias blamed in the vicious sectarian killings that have thrown the country into chaos. The United States has said the Iraqi government should press Iran to stop interfering in its affairs in a bid to calm the violence.

Presidents Jalal Talabani of Iraq and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran held talks Wednesday hours before U.S. President George W. Bush was due to meet with the Iraqi prime minister in Jordan in talks aimed at finding a solution to Iraq's spiraling bloodshed.

Talabani gave no details on the security agreement with Iran, and Ahmadinejad made no mention of any deal at a joint press conference in Tehran.

"We discussed in the fields of security, economy, oil and industry. Our agreement was complete," Talabani told reporters. "This visit was 100 percent successful. Its result will appear soon."

http://www.nysun.com/article/44197
Bush Edges Closer to Iran Talks
By ELI LAKE
Staff Reporter of the Sun
November 28, 2006

President Bush will discuss Iraq- Iran relations tomorrow when he meets in Amman with Prime Minister Maliki. Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, arrived in Tehran yesterday for two days of talks with the Iranians. Mr. Talabani told reporters in Tehran that his discussions would address a wide range of issues, but added, "We need Iran's comprehensive help to fight terrorism, restore security and stabilize Iraq."

The National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, yesterday said that he expects Mr. Maliki will raise the issue of Iraq's recent talks with Iran and Syria with President Bush on Wednesday when the two leaders meet in Jordan.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/244076/1/.html
Iran tells Talabani that US-led forces must leave Iraq
Posted: 28 November 2006 2325 hrs


TEHRAN : Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that US-led forces had to leave Iraq if security was to be restored in the violence-riven country.

"The first step to solve the security issue in Iraq is the exit of the occupiers from this country and leaving the security issues to the people-based Iraqi government," Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television.

"Americans will absolutely not succeed in Iraq and the continuation of Iraq's occupation is not a mouthful that Americans can swallow," Khamenei said Tuesday during a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani

http://www.topix.net/content/trb/1098127449182660153624736693870160943158
Old enemies embrace in Tehran
Chicago Tribune

By Christine Spolar

November 30, 2006

When Saddam was toppled everyone was happy.
Iran reached out to Iraq and the American public in separate gestures Wednesday, giving the Baghdad government a $1 billion line of credit while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a personal letter to 'noble Americans' calling for a military withdrawal from Iraq.
The financial arrangements were revealed on the third and final day of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's meetings here with Iran's political elite. Ahmadinejad also made clear for the first time that Iran would support Iraq's government in setting a timetable for U.S. troops to leave the country.

In an interview with the Tribune in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that in addition to the line of credit, Ahmadinejad and Talabani had signed 'hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of no-bid contracts and trade pacts for Iraqi reconstruction. Under the agreements, Iran will help rebuild schools, hospitals, pipelines and power plants.

Iran's gestures underscored its deep religious bond with its Shiite-majority neighbor but also what some believe is its desire to displace the U.S. as a powerbroker in Iraq. They were announced as possible tensions surfaced in the U.S.-Iraq relationship when a summit between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Bush in Amman was postponed by a day

On the 8th September, 2006, the US Treasury prohibited all US banks from trading with Saderat , one of Iran biggest banks.According to treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, the Itanian bank was financing terrorism (read, Saderat is the banker of Hezbollah which has just defeated Israel and is rebuilding Lebanon ). This prohibition extends to a whole series of banks having subsidiaries in the USA.
In an interview on the 16th September with Emerging Markets, published on the fringe of the anual meeting of the 183 governors of the central bank members of the IMF and the World Bank, Ebrahim Shebanu, director of the Iranian central bank has declared Saderat's innocence. He underlined that in order to continue its activities, Saderat found itself constrained to abandon the dollar. As a result, the Iranian central bank envisaged partial sale of its dollar holdings and abandoning the use of that currency.Mr Shebanu added that, given this circumstance,Iran had decided to transfer its international transactions to clearing houses in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Faced with the risk of global destabilization, the US gave way allowing the governor of the Japonese central bank annonce that he will compensate any sell-off by the Iranians, in violation of US directives. There will then be no crisis, but it is clear that in the event of a war between Iran and the USA, the dollar will be gravely threatene http://www.voltairenet.org/article143510.html
http://iransolidarity.endofempire.org/news.php?page=989

Saderat Bank of Iran explores int'l channels to thwart US sanctions
Tehran, Nov 29, IRNA
Iran-US-Saderat Bank-Transactions
Saderat Bank of Iran explores international channels to thwart US financial sanctions, managing Director of Saderat Bank Hamid Borhani said on Wednesday.

"Saderat Bank of Iran has replaced US dollars euro in its international transactions to deal with the US measure."
He lambasted the US department of the Treasury for taking illegal action against Saderat Bank of Iran and said that Saderat Bank of Iran will take action with International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US action creating nuisance for Iranian trade with the free world.

He made it clear that the allegations made by the US Department of the Treasury against Saderat bank of Iran is baseless and the measure taken by the US department runs counter to international banking rules.http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_19197.shtml

U.S. Asks Finance Chiefs to Limit Iran's Access to Banks
September 17, 2006, Sunday
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN (NYT); Foreign Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section 1, Page 8, Column 3, 812 words

DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - The United States pressed the top finance officials of the world's leading industrial nations on Saturday to crack down on what Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said was the exploitation of their banking systems by at least 30 Iranian front companies involved in illicit activities. Mr. Paulson said ...

AP
Angola, Sudan Look to Join OPEC
Thursday November 30, 11:20 am ET
By Casimiro Siona, Associated Press Writer
Angola, One of Africa's Largest Oil Producers, and Sudan Seek to Join OPEC

LUANDA, Angola (AP) -- Angola, the largest sub-Saharan oil producer in Africa after Nigeria, said it will apply to join OPEC next month, while the oil cartel's secretary general said Sudan also was poised to join.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo, speaking to Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday on the sidelines of a producers' meeting in Egypt, gave no timetable for Angola or Sudan to join the group, which has not welcomed a new member since 1975.

Joining offers prestige, but would mean adhering to OPEC production quotas -- though members routinely violate the limitations. OPEC agreed in October to cut total production by 1.2 million barrels a day to about 26.3 millions barrels a day as of Nov. 1, and further cuts aimed at shoring up prices could be coming. OPEC controls about 40 percent of the world's daily oil consumption.
Angola steered closer to the United States in the early 1990s and has maintained close ties with France. However, since the civil war ended Angola has deepened cooperation with China and, more recently with Russia.

Last month Russia's OAO Lukoil and Sonangol signed a memorandum of understanding on joint exploration of Angola's offshore oil fields.http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061130/angola_opec.html?.v=6

Iran Strengthens Ties With Afghanistan
Nov 29, 2006
AP
From cheap ice cream to 24-hour electricity, Iran is strengthening economic ties with western Afghanistan that could undermine support for U.S. and NATO forces.

Western Afghanistan has a newly paved 75-mile stretch of highway between the Iranian border and its main city, Herat, courtesy of the Islamic republic. Iran is also considering building a rail line on the busy route, and has pledged another $560 million to help rebuild Afghan infrastructure and businesses.http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_19185.shtml

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made an unprecedented and direct appeal to the US people, urging them to reject US foreign policy. In a letter to "Noble Americans" Iran's president said the US administration's use of "coercion, force and injustice" weakened its global position.

~snip~

He also accused the US administration of ignoring public opinion.



Mr Ahmadinejad said he hoped that US President George W Bush would recognise the anger over the war in Iraq expressed in the mid-term election losses. "I hope that in the wake of the mid-term elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the open letter.

~snip~

In his latest letter, Mr Ahmadinejad took a conciliatory tone as he sought to bypass the US government and speak directly to its citizens.

~snip~

The Iranian leader's discursive, five-page letter also urged Washington to recognise a Palestinian state, saying it was ignoring public opinion in "trampling the rights of the Palestinian people".

~snip~

The Iranian president also warned the Democratic Party that, after gaining control of Congress, they would be "held to account by the people and by history." Only a shift in policy could mend damaged relations and with other states and a bruised global image, he said. "If the US government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America," he said.

Mosaic features selections from daily TV news programs produced by national broadcasters throughout the Middle East. The news reports are presented unedited and translated, when necessary, into English.

Mosaic includes television news broadcasts from selected national and regional entities listed on the right. Some of the broadcasters are state controlled and others are private networks, often affiliated with political factions. These news reports are regularly watched by 280 million people in 22 countries all over the Middle East.
http://www.linktv.org/mosaic/index.php3