European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 21, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages stars and stripes wednesday March 21 2007 Hamas Iran link a contradiction while countries Are separated by sect they Are United by interests by scheherazade faramarzi the associated press Beirut Lebanon when Iraq hanged Saddam Hussein furious sunni muslims in the Mili Tant group Hamas held mourning ceremonies that did not sit Well with shiite Muslim Iran one of Hamas key backers but also a Strong Saddam foe yet the dispute Over Saddam execution did not break the Hamas Iran Alliance either instead the two bound by common strategic interests have solidified their relationship in the last year creating a grow ing worry both for some Arab countries and for Israel Israel has in recent weeks accused Iran of training Hamas Mili Tants from Gaza and smuggling weapons to Hamas the weekend formation of a palestinian coalition government Between Hamas which won a democratic election a year ago and the More Moder ate Fatah is sure to bring new at Tention to the Issue at their Core Iran and Hamas Are far apart ideologically Iran espouses a fundamentalist shiite version of islam while Hamas adheres to an equally strict rival sunni version but when it comes to Hamas Iran interests Are based primarily on its rivalry with Washington iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left shakes hands with the Leader of the militant palestinian group Hamas Khaled Mashaal at the Start of their meeting in Tehran Iran on March 6 and with its Arab allies for influence in the Region political islam is very prag Matic said Beirut based pales Tinian analyst Souheil Natour they Are playing realpolitik iranian analyst Saeid Seylaz said Iran strategic goals Are based on its perception that the United states is a threat to its sur Vival Iran rushed to the Aid of Hamas last year after most Arab states went along with an International Boycott against the Hamas government imposed by the us and Europe because of Hamas Refus Al to recognize Israel or renounce violence after the palestinian coalition governments formation however some Western governments including key donor Norway Are Likely to resume payments to the palestinians which could Lessen the need or desire for iranian Aid last month saudi King Abdul Lah mediated a truce in the bloody fighting Between Hamas and president Mahmoud Abbas Fatah movement at a Summit in Mecca and persuaded them to agree on forming the palestinian Unity government but the Mecca meeting did not mean Hamas would abandon Iran As an ally either said Mousa Abu Marzouk a Hamas spokes Man ties remain Strong with Iran he said indeed relations Between the two were tight even before Hamas election win Iran and Hamas forged a United front against Israel during Hamas Leader Khaled Mashaal visit to Tehran in december 2005 when Mashaal pledged to step up attacks against Israel if it took military action against Iran the position contrasts that of the moderate Fatah faction which regards Arab states such As Egypt and saudi Arabia As the palestinians natural allies the ties Between Iran and Hamas first began in the Early 1990s when Israel expelled 400 Hamas and islamic jihad activists to Southern Lebanon ties strengthened and financial support grew after the 2000 pales Tinian uprising against Israel Beirut based palestinian expert Majed Azzam and others note that Hamas has taken inde pendent positions from Tehran such As when it participated in the 2006 palestinian elections against Iran objections Egypt democracy movement is fading by Anthony Shadid the Washington Post Cairo Egypt for two de Cades politics in Cairo the Arab worlds greatest capital had Emu lated the leadership of president Hosni Mubarak occasionally tedious and rarely inspired but seven years ago As a sweltering summer began to break along the Nile Cairns streets were jolted by the palestinian up rising protests were organized some times tolerated by the state activists collected Aid for the Palestin ians then on sept 10 2001 at one of their demonstrations out Side the downtown Headquarters of egyptian bureaucracy known As the Mug Amma a slogan was shouted no one could recall Ever hearing it at a protest Down with Hosni Mubarak one activist Wael Khalil remembered someone Yelling what followed was the Emer gence of the Arab worlds most ambitious democracy movement coalescing in opposition to the taciturn Mubarak now 78 a former air Force commander who has ruled Egypt longer than any Leader since the 19thcentury founder of the modern state with its pro tests banners and slogans the largely secular technically savvy movement represented what the Bush administration asserted was its vision of an effervescent Middle East set to be trans formed by us strategy in Iraq and the world after the sept 11 at tacks today that movement is in shambles its most committed supporters admit to a Lack of vision an inability to capture the imagination of the egyptian peo ple its leadership is riven by Dis Putes Over everything from the veil to charges of corruption the government has crushed its momentum with impunity the sense of powerlessness is Complete said Mohammed Elsayed said a secular activist and writer who is trying to win permission to publish a new news paper were Back to the status quo we wanted to liberate the country from from the Heady Days of Gamal Abdel Nasser Egypt Arab nationalist president through Mubarak Long reign the coun try often feeble opposition poli tics have revolved around two axes leftist currents that joined marxists socialists and communists and a More powerful islamic movement often repressed by the state then came the palestinian up rising or Intifada in september 2000 its images filtering across a landscape transformed by tech Jahl Washington Post a portrait of president Hosni Mubarak looms in a Cairo store in office since 1981 Mubarak has been accused of stifling Egypt fragile democracy moment ology and energizing older activists what Many saw As american aggressiveness in the Wake of the sept 11 attacks propelled it for Ward in 2004 anger gave Rise to a simple word Bifaya enough and on dec 12 2004 a Demon stration was held that was the first to be aimed solely at Mubarak More than 500 men and women stood silently in front of the supreme court Many with yellow stickers Over their Mouths or on their chests enough the stickers declared in red the months that followed in 2005 represented a flowering of egyptian dissidence unlike any in a generation the Muslim brother Hood Egypt oldest islamic move ment and the largest opposition group began organizing protests in a rare move the brotherhood and the largely secular Bifaya began reaching out to each other shattering a longheld taboo but Why we rent the protests drawing bigger crowds some admitted that a Paradox had begun to emerge in a country seemingly de politicized by decades of slumber ing civic life the More Freedom activists had the More their Lack of popular support was exposed said was direct a crisis is looming he said at the time we communicated the message we expressed the mood but that far from saying people support i Faya and engage in the struggle in any real numbers Zimbabwe opposition leaders aide attacked Johannesburg South Afri Ca the spokesman for Zimba bees main opposition Leader was assaulted by Security forces As he tried to leave the country a party official said Nelson Chamisa aide to move ment for democratic change Leader Morgan tvs Angira was assaulted at Harare International Airport on sunday As he was Leav ing for Belgium via London to at tend a meeting of the european Union and Africa Caribbean and Pacific group in Brussels the Par Tys Secretary general Sendai Biti said from Johannesburg he was beaten on the head with Iron bars there was blood All Over his face he is in a critical condition at a private Hospital in Harare Biti said British Helo crashes in Ireland several injured Belfast Northern Ireland a British army helicopter crashed sunday night near a Northern Ireland Border base and several soldiers and police aboard were reported injured none critically the crash occurred in a Field near the British army helipad in Crossmaglen in South Armagh a Northern Ireland Border Region Long known As a Power base for the outlawed Irish Republican army the British army Headquarters in Northern Ireland said a the injured were hospitalized but were not in life threatening condition it said the cause of the crash was under investigation Chavez says allies who resist party not wanted Caracas Venezuela presi Dent Hugo Chavez on sunday urged some of his political allies who Are resisting his plan to form a single socialist party to leave his movement and go their own Way saying he Hopes the split will be amicable even if they defect to the opposition Chavez Aims to create the United socialist party of Venezuela to replace some two dozen smaller pro government parties but the idea has faced resistance from the parties Podems fatherland for All and the venezuelan communist party Chavez said he already consid ers the leaders of Podems including a handful of state Gover nors and lawmakers to be Al most in the opposition chinese editor jailed for defaming9 government Beijing a chinese activist accused of posting subversive articles on the internet was sentenced to six years in prison for defaming the government state Media said monday Xinhua news Agency said the sentence for Zhang Dianhong was handed Down by the Ningpo inter mediate Peoples court in Zhe Jiang province in Eastern China Xinhua said Zhang was the former editor in chief of a Chi Nese web site called Ai Sinhai or Aegean sea and had written articles that defamed the chinese government and amounted to Agi tation aimed at toppling the government from the associated press