Closure of Famous Restaurant That Prevents Blacks from Entering, in Peru's Capital The Peruvian authorities closed a famous restaurant in the capital Lima after receiving several complaints that the restaurant does not welcome blacks and colored people, and ordered its temporary closure until further notice. The "Café Del Mar" restaurant, situated in the wealthy Miraflores district in the capital Lima, is considered the first restaurant in the country to be closed as a result of accusations related to racism. The authorities have decided to initially close the restaurant for 60 days and to charge its owners with a 70,000 dollars fine. According to the BBC yesterday, the leaders of a nationwide campaign calling for full equality between Peruvians announced that they hope that the decision to close "Café Del Mar" is the beginning of a serious path toward handling the severe ethnic and economic discriminations in the Peruvian society. Activist Wilfredo Ardito, one of the leaders of the Equality in Rights campaign: We view this closure as a symbol and an example. This is the first time that we stand up to a case of discrimination among clients based on their color. And we view it as a first step. He added, "Racism is an obvious phenomena here in the Peruvian communities, but it is a shame that it now includes a place like this restaurant that is open to the public". It is worth mentioning that since 2004 the government of Peru has imposed fines on those who commit racist acts. This was strengthened a few months ago when the Peruvian parliament allowed imposing jail sentences on those convicted with racist offences. For centuries, the white elite has controlled wealth and power despite the fact that the majority of the population come from the original and historical country residents or are of mixed race descent. But at the same time, Peru is witnessing an increasing social agitation. The government of President Alan Garcia has announced recently that the economic and social discriminations cripple the country's development. Washington: Syria Sends 80 Suicide Bombers Monthly into Iraq. Al-Maliki Government Rated at 8 out of 18, Bush Sends Rice and Gates to the Region, and a New Plan with 8 Objectives. American President George Bush appeared confident yesterday of the success of his policy in Iraq, hours after the White House issued an interim report about the war strategy in Iraq, which gave a dim picture of the conditions. He indicated that what has been achieved in this country is "unsatisfactory" with regard to about half of the objectives that Congress set for Baghdad. Despite all this, President Bush confirmed his confidence in the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, and said that he is finding him excuses because "the situation is tough." The report, which is 25 pages long, said that the al-Maliki government achieved only eight out of the 18 objectives, with two of which rated as "weak." Bush said that he would wait until after he receives the full progress report on Iraq, on the 15th of next September, which would be presented by both David Petraeus, Commander of American Forces in Iraq, and the American Ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, before taking any decisions about the path of the American war strategy. And he threatened again to use the veto right against any decision calling for a "hasty" withdrawal of the American soldiers from Iraq. He said that withdrawing American forces without an improvement in the security situation "would represent a disaster." He called upon Congress to avoid limiting the numbers of forces in Iraq, pointing out that it is an idea that lacks wisdom, today and in the future. Bush announced that he will send the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, to the Middle East at the beginning of August to consult with the United States allies on Iraq. The report, which was prepared by the White House and sent to Congress, concluded that the situations in Iraq have not yet reached a satisfactory point and that the security situation is still complicated. It expected a fierce fight throughout this summer. The report said that Iran and Syria continue their actions to destabilize Iraq, pointing out that Iran funds and supervises attacks against the coalition and Iraqi forces, while the suicide bombers use Syrian territory as a route to Iraq. It said that Damascus supports a network that sends between 50 to 80 suicide bombers monthly to "al-Qaeda" in Iraq. The report notes that 80 percent of the suicide bombers are foreigners, and that since the implementation of President Bush new strategy in last January, 280 suicide bombings occurred resulting in the murder of 5,500 Iraqis. The report set eight new objectives for the United States in Iraq throughout this year and the next one. They include defeating "al-Qaeda", supporting Iraqi efforts to end the sectarian violence in Baghdad, limiting the interference of Iran and Syria, protecting the democratic experiment, achieving a national reconciliation, strengthening and promoting Iraqi security forces, supporting Iraqi economy through protection of oil exports, and promoting the support of Iraq by its neighbors, the region and the international community. International Investigation Commission Identifies Individuals Involved in the Hariri Assassination The International Commission responsible for investigating the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri arrived to a conclusion that the operation was executed by a suicide bombing. In the eighth report presented by the International Independent Commission, headed by Belgian Judge Serge Brammertz, to the Security Council, the Commission managed to identify a number of individuals with an interest in assassinating Hariri. The report said that "The Commission identified a group of individuals with a special interest who have contributed to some aspects in preparing and funding the crime and have some knowledge that the 'assassination' was under way". Brammertz explained that the next step after the investigation will concentrate on probing the likelihood of these individuals' involvement in the Hariri assassination. The Commission concluded in its latest report that the person named Ahmad Abu Adas, who claimed responsibility for executing the assassination, has no relation whatsoever with the assassination of Hariri. The Independent Commission confirmed that the assassination took place as a result of a suicide bombing, and according to DNA analysis, the Commission concluded that the person who executed the operation is between 20 and 25 years old, has short black hair and is from the region but not from Lebanon. The Commission confirms that he lived in Lebanon for three months before being killed. Brammertz said that the Commission's investigators conducted analyses of soil samples from several locations in Lebanon and Syria, and it is now about to conduct analyses of other samples from the countries of the Middle East region. The Commission reached a preliminary conclusion that this person had spent the first 1ten years of his life in an urban environment and spent the last ten years of his life in a rural environment. The Commission could not yet identify the nationality and the name of the person who executed the operation. And as usual, Judge Brammertz made sure that the special Commission's work was confidential, but he stressed making major progress with regard to investigating the Hariri assassination. The Commission is sure that the explosive material is a combination of PETN, RDX and TNT, and is sure that the explosion of the Mitsubishi truck took place above ground and the explosives detonated from inside the truck, and from its center. In his report, Brammertz confirmed making some progress in the investigation of the other cases. And the Commission saw that the same explosive material was used in the other assassinations, except the assassination of the Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel. The Commission is still finding out about the motives for the Hariri assassination, and still believes that a number of political conditions that prevailed at the time, including the issuing of Security Council Resolution 1559 and extending the tenure of President Emile Lahoud, may have been one of the motives for the crime.