Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning, via Fox News, that government officials had killed a deal to relocate the church. The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, once a tiny, four-story building in the shadows of lower Manhattan, was destroyed in 2001 by one of the falling World Trade Center towers. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has, for the past eight years, been trying to rebuild its house of worship. Though talks between the church and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stalled last year, church leaders say they've been trying to kick-start discussions ever since. But amid debate over whether a proposed Islamic community center should go forward near Ground Zero, government officials threw cold water on the prospect of any deal with the church -- telling Fox News the deal is off the table. Confronted with the Port Authority's verdict, Father Mark Arey, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, said it's the first he's heard that. "Negotiations did break off last year. We were expecting to hear from their lawyers -- we never did. We're still expecting to hear from them," he told Fox News. "We're disappointed. ... 130 Liberty Street was promised to us." Arey was referring to the address, about 100 yards away from the original site, where the government earlier proposed relocating the church. The Port Authority and the church announced a deal in July 2008 under which the Port Authority would grant land and up to $20 million to help rebuild the church -- in addition, the authority was willing to pay up to $40 million to construct a bomb-proof platform underneath. Within a year, the deal fell through and talks ended -- apparently for good, according to the Port Authority. The archdiocese and Port Authority now offer sharply conflicting accounts of where things went wrong. The Port Authority has previously claimed the church was making additional demands -- like wanting the $20 million up front and wanting to review plans for the surrounding area. They say the church can still proceed on its own if it wishes. "The church continues to have the right to rebuild at their original site, and we will pay fair market value for the underground space beneath that building," a spokesperson with the Port Authority told Fox News. But Arey said the original site is no good. Archdiocese officials disputed the Port Authority's claims, saying the church has complied with all conditions. "It's not about money," Arey said. He expressed hope that the project can still be salvaged. "This little church deserves to be rebuilt. It's symbolic, not just for Orthodox Christians, not just for Christians, but for all Americans," Arey said, calling the mosque debate "helpful" to the church's cause. "I believe that people around the country are asking themselves the question -- why all this talk about a mosque being built near Ground Zero? What about a little church that was destroyed on 9/11? ... This is basically a bureaucratic impasse. This will dissolve in the face of the American public consciousness." Former New York Gov. George Pataki, who worked with the church as governor, told Fox News on Tuesday that the church should be rebuilt. Father Alex Karloutsos, assistant to the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Demetrios, told FoxNews.com that the Port Authority "simply forgot about the church" at Ground Zero. To read more about the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, please click here. To read about St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero, please click here.
II. THEHILL - Pelosi supports probe of mosque opponents
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that a proposed Islamic center in New York City was a local issue and that she supports an investigation into how the opposition is being funded. Pelosi told local reporters on Tuesday that the decision over whether to proceed with building an Islamic center, which includes a mosque, near the site of the 9/11 attacks should be left up to the local community. The Speaker also questioned what was motivating the political opposition to the mosque, suspecting that the issue might be being "ginned up" to help Republican candidates. Pelosi is the only high-ranking House Democrat to comment on the mosque at this point, though her approach and tone were markedly different from that taken by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who on Monday endorsed moving the proposed mosque elsewhere. President Obama has backed the right of developers to build the mosque, though the White House has emphasized that doesn't constitute an endorsement of the building.
III. JPOST - Iran asks IAEA to oppose sanctions
Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh called on the organization to oppose sanctions on Wednesday, Iranian news network PressTV reported. "The IAEA should counter incorrect and unfriendly attitudes including sanctions and resolutions by the UN Security Council which undermine cooperation," Soltanieh reportedly said. "The IAEA should know that Iran had cooperated with the agency beyond its undertakings to show its goodwill and build transparency." Soltanieh reportedly said that Iran is committed to international agreements and has based its nuclear policy on the IAEA, but "will never give up its inalienable rights." The ambassador also said that third-world countries are suspicious of sanctions on Iran, "because they know that if the Islamic Republic does not resist against pressure, Western powers will implement the same plot against them in coming years." Iranian officials continue to insist that the Bushehr nuclear plant has nothing to do with uranium enrichment, PressTV reported. "To decide on the timing of the enrichment activity is a domestic affair and the United States is not entitled to interfere in this issue. The protracted start-up of the Bushehr nuclear reactor demonstrates the scientific and technological capabilities of Iranian scientists," Iranian MP Mohammad Karim Shahrzad reportedly said. Another Iranian MP, Hossein Sobhaninia, added: "The fueling of the Bushehr plant can not be linked to Iran's nuclear enrichment program; Iran is well aware of its responsibilities." Also on Wednesday, PressTV reported that Iranian Army official Ali Shadmani threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz if the US attacks Iran.
IV. AFRIKNEWS - Japan reveals military plan in Djibouti to fight Somali pirates
After the signing of a land leasing agreement a few weeks ago between Japan and Djibouti allowing the construction of a military facility in Djibouti, Japan will be the third country to have a military base in Djibouti next to US and France. Japan has deployed two military ships and two reconnaissance airplanes to dispose of the pirates attack and as a contribution for the international effort against the piracy in the Gulf of Aden, the ambassador noted. With close to 90 percent of Japanese exports being shipped through the Gulf of Aden North into the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the Asian country’s international trade had been threatened by Somali pirate attacks. In order to create an internationally recognized transit corridor that provides security for about 30,000 cargo ships that transit the Gulf of Aden every year, some 24 countries formed the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia under the umbrella of the United Nations to maintain an international naval force in the corridor in January 2009. The group as at April 2010, included 47 countries and 10 international organizations ensuring that there is an average of about 17 naval ships on patrol in the troubled waters on any given day. September last year, Japan and a host of other countries including Britain, Cyprus, Singapore and the United States, in a concerted effort to coordinate international naval patrols, shipping self-protection measures and discourage the payment of millions of dollars in ransom to pirates, came together to sign the “New York Declaration,” an international plan to protect ships and thwart piracy off the coast of Somalia. Explaining why his government needs to have its own facility, Ambassador Kinichi indicated that while Japanese reconnaissance airplanes are now using Djibouti’s airport for landing and refueling his government does not intend to continue seeking accommodation at the US military base for their operational staff on a long-term basis.
Unknown perpetrators demolished three houses of Serb returnees that are under construction in the village of Žač near Istok last night. The construction of the houses for the returnees is being financed by the Kosovo Community and Return Ministry and the construction of 18 more houses was planned. The incident has upset the Serbs in the area. Kosovo police are guarding their tent camp 24 hours a day. Kosovo police Spokesman for the Peć region Zeqir Kelmendi said that the contractor reported the incident around noon. He also explained that a wall in one of the houses had been demolished and that concrete blocks had been scattered around the house and added that Kosovo police were working on identifying the perpetrators. Serbs have been exposed to numerous attacks since their return to the village of Žač.
VI. ALJAZEERA - Macedonia: Ancient name, modern dispute
I'm off today to the country that I dare not name, lest I offend the Greeks. Yes, I'm talking about that neighbouring state just to the north. It calls itself - and is recognised as such by many countries across the world - "the Republic of Macedonia". But Greece is concerned that name implies a territorial claim over its own northern region of Macedonia. So, at the United Nations, the country is officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM. This is an absurd and clumsy compromise that, almost everyone agrees, has long outlived its usefulness. But talks between Greece and FYROM/Macedonia, mediated by the UN, have been dragging on for years, with little sign of progress. At this point you are probably rolling your eyes and sighing in despair, (unless you are from one of the two countries involved, in which case you may be already preparing a furious comment for this blog, informing me that I need to know more about Ancient and Balkan history before I stray into such treacherous waters), but in this part of the world the "name dispute" is important. The two countries have been discussing new names for FYROM/Macedonia that they could both live with. "Republic of Northern Macedonia" and "Republic of Macedonia-Vardar" have been mooted as possibilities. But we soon run into sticking points; the Greeks would like any new name to be adopted by all countries, whereas the government in Skopje has said it should only apply to bilateral relations between it and Athens. It has argued that those countries (a comfortable majority within the UN General Assembly, by the way) that already have recognised "the Republic of Macedonia" could carry on using that name. In one sense, Greece holds some strong cards; it can veto FYROM/Macedonia's accession to the EU and Nato. On the other hand, the Greeks know, regardless of their conviction that they are right, that their insistence on this issue is, to put it politely, frustrating to most of the rest of the world. George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, must somehow weigh up the competing demands of domestic and international opinion, at a time when his country is reliant on financial support from abroad. I'll be interviewing Nikola Gruevski, the prime minister of "the Republic of Macedonia," in Skopje, the capital. Amongst other things, the Greeks accuse him of appropriating their ancient history, in order to give his country a false sense of identity. For example, he has renamed Skopje's airport as "Alexander the Great Airport", (you won't be surprised to hear that no Greek airlines land there, hence my journey from Athens involves complicated connections, and takes a lot longer than a glance at a map would suggest).
VII. KREMLINNEWS - Congratulations to President of Cyprus Dmitris Christofias
Dmitry Medvedev sent his congratulations to President of Cyprus Dmitris Christofias on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Cyprus. The message reads, in part: “It is pleasing to see that the longstanding traditions of friendship and cooperation between our countries are growing stronger and progressing. The sincere mutual sympathy and respect that our peoples feel for each other play an important part in consistent development of our bilateral political, trade, economic, and humanitarian partnership. I am sure that the talks we will hold in Cyprus in October will, as always, produce results and help to intensify our fruitful dialogue. We intend to expand our cooperation on the international stage too. In this respect, we are ready to continue joint efforts to consolidate the foundations of security and stability in Europe and the Mediterranean and help to achieve a fair and comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem.”