Ops and Intel up date, 10.08.09

Ops and Intel up date, 10.08.09

Special Dispatch No. 2590
Hizbullah-Affiliated Businessman's Ponzi Scheme Causes Upheaval in Lebanon

Hizbullah-affiliated Shi'ite Lebanese businessman Salah 'Izz Al-Din, suspected of running a $2 billion Ponzi scheme, was arrested in Lebanon in early September 2009 after declaring bankruptcy.(2)

Several days after the scandal hit the headlines, the Lebanese daily Al-Safir reported that thousands of Lebanese and other nationals had lost money in 'Izz Al-Din's scheme, and that the investigation was being closely monitored by Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and prominent Lebanese Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah.(3) It was also reported that many senior Hizbullah officials had invested money with 'Izz Al-Din and suffered financial losses.(4) Fuad Al-Hashem, columnist for the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan, claimed that the Hizbullah organization had likewise lost $683 million in investments with 'Izz Al-Din.(5)

In the aftermath of the scandal, numerous articles appeared in the Lebanese media criticizing Hizbullah and holding it responsible for the fraud, because of 'Izz Al-Din's affiliation with it. Hizbullah was blamed for encouraging the public to trust 'Izz Al-Din and to invest with him, and some even demanded that it compensate those who sustained losses.

To read excerpts from articles on the subject, visit http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD259009.

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A strong majority of U.S. residents say it is important to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action, a poll indicates.

SOURCE:

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Pakistan has forces,equipment for Taliban assault-US ( Paki giving advance notice so Talbi can move out, G )

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Russian soldiers ready to take on Blackwater

( NO COMBAT EXPERIENCE, g )

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Tehran accuses US in case of missing Iranian nuclear scientist‎ - 10 hours ago

DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report that Shahram Amid was a senior member of Tehran University's nuclear physics department which is directly involved in ...

( Paradigm intel says he defected, $1 million dollar cash bonus, G )

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October 6, 2009

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released the following statement after the Senate rejected Coburn amendments that would have forced Congress to shift earmark funds back toward vital operations and maintenance. By a vote of 25 to 73, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Dr. Coburn that would have restored to the troops $165 million earmarked within the Defense appropriations bill’s maintenance and operations accounts for congressional earmarks.

“In a time of war it is unconscionable for members of Congress to divert funds from vital operations to less-than-vital parochial pork projects. I regret the Senate voted today to protect their pet projects at the expense of our troops,” Dr. Coburn said.

SOURCE:

Gerald

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