[Dawn] The head of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission and his number two have stepped down, the government said Wednesday, amid international pressure following last year's fraud-tainted vote.
"The tenure of the president of the election commission, Dr Azizullah Ludin, has come to an end," President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omer told a news conference in Kabul.
"Yesterday (Tuesday) he told the president that he did not want to continue in the position any more. It was accepted by the president.
"(Chief electoral officer) Daoud Ali Najafi also resigned. His resignation was accepted and a new figure will be appointed," the spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Yemen's government and Shiite rebels should investigate allegations of war crimes in their conflict in the north now that a truce has taken hold, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
"It is time to end the impunity surrounding the cycle of civilian suffering in northern Yemen," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
After failing to obtain visas to Yemen, the team of the New York-based watchdog released in Dubai its report "All Quiet on the Northern Front? Uninvestigated Laws of war Violations in Yemen's War with Houthi Rebels," saying both sides may have targeted or endangered non-combatants.
The report documents how "government forces may have indiscriminately bombed and shelled civilian areas, causing civilian casualties, and how Houthi forces may have committed summary executions and unlawfully deployed in populated areas," HRW said in a statement released at a media conference.
"Houthi forces also allegedly carried out pillage and looting, used 'human shields,' and prevented civilians from fleeing war zones, even to seek medical treatment," it said.
It charged that "both sides used children in combat, in violation of international law."
"The recent truce is an opportunity to strengthen protection for civilians by investigating alleged war crimes and making sure the victims receive justice," Stork said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
HRW - the terrorist's friend™
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2010 19:07 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A special court of Bangladesh Rifles yesterday sentenced all the 29 accused of 25 Rifle Battalion to different terms of rigorous imprisonment for their involvement in February 25-26 BDR mutiny in 2009.
BDR Director General Maj Gen Mohammad Mainul Islam delivered the first verdict of BDR mutiny case in Panchagarh. After the arguments from the defendants and prosecutors on Tuesday, the Special Court-2 delivered the judgment yesterday around 4:00pm.
Thirteen jawans were sentenced to seven years' term while one to six years', one to four years', six to three years', two to two years', five to thirteen months' and another to four months'.
The same court on Sunday framed charges against the 29 accused.
Before delivering the verdict the president of the court said all the facts and evidence proved that the mutiny in Panchagarh battalion took place on February 26 and the accused were involved in it.
Sentenced to seven-year-term are Assistant Nayek Manjur Hossain, lance nayeks Siddiqur Rahman, Jakaria and Nuruzzaman, sepoys Giasuddin, Shafiqur Rahman, Mohibur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, SM Suman Ahmed, Abdul Karim, Monir Hossain, Sepoy Armourer Md Mehedi Hasan and Habilder Monwar Hossain.
Lance Nayek Zahidul Islam was sentenced to six years' term while Sepoy Waheduzzaman to four years'.
The mutineers sentenced to three years' imprisonment are Medical Assistant Lance Nayek Abu Md Nazer Chowdhury, Sepoy driver Balai Chandra Biswas, Sepoys Ahsanul Azam, Masudul Karim, Mostafizur Rahman and Kamal Chandra Roy.
Lance Nayek Akhteruzzaman, and Nayek DM Enamul Kabir were awarded two years' imprisonment while sepoys Lutfor Rahman, Faruque Hossain, Mozammel Hossain, Habilder Armourer Md Rafiqul Islam and Sepoy (driver) Fasiar Rahman to thirteen months'.
Sepoy Mizanur Rahman was awarded four months' imprisonment.
The court awarded lesser punishment to seven of the 29 accused as they sought mercy confessing to their guilt at the beginning of the trial, which saved time in completing the proceedings.
The president of the court said this day and the verdict would remain as an example in the history of BDR. All legal proceedings were maintained during the trial and the accused were given 57 days' time instead of 27 days.
He also mentioned that six civilian lawyers and one BDR official were appointed for legal assistance to the accused.
The trial was held in presence of visitors and journalists.
The convicts, soon after Mainul pronounced the judgement and left the court, cried out loud. Many of them said they have been punished for nothing while the real culprits are still at large.
Wife of convict Lutfor Rahman alleged her husband didn't get justice as the court refused to listen to the accused. On the day of the mutiny Lutfor was engaged in duties at the quarter guard, she said claiming her husband's innocence.
Abdul Qayum, brother of Sepoy Abdul Karim, said he was not allowed to see his brother even after waiting for four days.
Government lawyer Lt Col Sirajul Haque, commanding officer of 25 Rifle Battalion, in a press briefing said such verdict was necessary for a disciplined force.
He added the court has given its judgement after considering all the evidence. Allegations against the accused have been proved beyond doubt.
Rafiquddin Ahmed, lawyer for five accused, said there is no scope for questioning any witness in accordance with the BDR law.
Government lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal said justice has been done and this is the first step to rid BDR of the stigma.
He noted, the special court is the highest court of BDR and no other option is left to challenge the verdict.
Charges were framed against the accused on April 4. Seven of them admitted their offences and begged pardon while the rest claimed to be innocent. None however agreed to give deposition for the accused, the BDR DG informed the court.
He also ordered government lawyers to send copies of the verdict to BDR headquarters, district commissioner, jail superintendent and superintendent of police.
The trial began on February 3 and was adjourned on February 4 giving the accused about 61 days to take preparation for their defence.
The Special Court-2 will resume hearing of charges against 51 BDR men of 20 Rifle Battalion today.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Consolidating their victory after a bloody uprising, opposition leaders declared Thursday they would hold power in Kyrgyzstan for six months and assured the U.S. it can keep a strategic air base here — at least for now.
There were signs of instability, though, as deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev refused to relinquish power after the revolt, which left at least 75 people dead and hundreds wounded. As he spoke, gunfire broke out after nightfall in the capital, Bishkek.
Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister now heading the interim government, said there were no plans yet to review the lease agreement for the Manas air base, which runs out in July. She said her government would meet U.S. diplomats for talks in Bishkek. "Give us time, it will take time for us to understand and fix the situation," Otunbayeva said. As the saying goes, the situation is fluid.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2010 20:37 ||
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Kyrgyzstan's self-proclaimed new leadership said on Thursday that Russia had helped to oust President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and that they aimed to close a U.S. airbase that has irritated Moscow.
Their comments set Wednesday's overthrow of Bakiyev, who fled the capital Bishkek as crowds stormed government buildings, firmly in the context of superpower rivalry in central Asia.
No sooner had presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed an arms reduction pact in Prague as part of an effort to "reset" strained relations than a senior official in Medvedev's delegation urged Kyrgyzstan's new rulers to shut the base.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2010 20:20 ||
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Roza Otunbayeva, the woman lifted to power by Kyrgyzstan's second popular revolt in five years, is a Moscow-educated, English-speaking former foreign minister who will likely find quick acceptance in Russia and the West alike.
Skip to next paragraph
Ms. Otunbayeva, who served as Kyrgyz ambassador in London and Washington during the 1990s, held her first official conversation as head of the interim government with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Mr. Putin appeared to throw Moscow's support her way.
"It is important that the conversation was held with her in her role as the head of the government of national confidence," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. "Otunbayeva said she fully controls the situation in the country," he added.
The US is likely to back her as well. She promised today that the US Transit Center at Manas (formerly Manas airbase), a key logistical hub for the US war in Afghanistan, will remain open.
Otunbayeva is described by analysts as tough but soft-spoken, and politically moderate in her views.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2010 15:22 ||
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[Dawn] Opponents of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev took control Wednesday of Kyrgyzstan after a day of spectacular violence that ended with Bakiyev fleeing the capital of the strategic Central Asian state. "All this to be the president of Kyrgyzstan? I'm outta here!"
Opposition protesters seized the presidential administration Wednesday night and announced on state radio that they had formed a provisional government with former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva at its head.
A worker at Bishkek's international airport told AFP that the 60-year-old Bakiyev had fled the capital aboard a small plane as his opponents consolidated their grip on key national institutions. Memo to self: Ensure my personnal pilot and ground crew are highly paid and well trained. Then have backup plan to include sleezy charter pilot operating out of obscure small airfield.
Opposition leader Temir Sariyev said on Kyrgyz radio that Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov had signed a letter of resignation and Otunbayeva vowed that the new leadership in the country would move quickly to normalize the situation.
"Power is now in the hands of the people's government," Otunbayeva said in an address on state radio. "Responsible people have been appointed and are already working to normalize the situation." "Who's been appointed?"
"Responsible people. Now shaddup."
But who could have appointed them, with the president fled into the night on his trusty biplane?
The fast-moving events in Kyrgyzstan capped a day of ferocious clashes in Bishkek and other cities that quickly turned into a nationwide revolt against Bakiyev that was believed to have left scores dead. As unrest swept the Central Asian republic, the opposition took control of the national television, the prosecutors' office was set alight and state media reported that a deputy prime minister was held hostage in the remote northwest.
The riots were the culmination of spiralling protests in the Central Asian nation with the opposition demanding Bakiyev's resignation and accusing his government of rights violations, authoritarianism and economic mismanagement.
Despite briefly arresting three leading opposition figures and declaring a state of emergency, the authorities failed to prevent the rebels from rapidly taking control of some of the main levers of power.
A health ministry official said 47 people had died, many from gunshot wounds, and more than 400 were injured. Officials said that the toll could be expected to rise.
Opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev said separately that more than 100 people had been killed in the violence.
The United States, which maintains an air base in Kyrgyzstan used in the Nato campaign in nearby Afghanistan, voiced "deep concern", while Russia also appealed for calm in the former Soviet republic.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow had no involvement in unrest in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. If you can't believe Vlad on a matter like this, who can you believe?
"Neither Russia nor your humble servant (Putin) have any links" to the events in Kyrgyzstan, Putin told reporters during a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Smolensk, western Russia.
"At the same time, when (Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek) Bakiyev came to power a few years ago, he severely criticised (former president Askar) Akayev for nepotism, that only his family held power. I have the impression that Mr.Bakiyev is now stepping on the same rake," Putin said.
Prior to seizing the presidential offices, opposition protesters laid siege to both the national parliament and the offices of the government, demanding that Bakiyev quit. An AFP journalist meanwhile saw flames coming from the ground floor of the four-storey prosecutors' office.
Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades in repeated bids to disperse the demonstrators and Usenov declared a state of emergency, but all to little effect.
A police source and a witness said Interior Minister Moldomus Kongantiyev had been killed in the northwest hub of Talas where the first protests erupted. Kongantiyev was attacked by protestors who had also taken deputy prime minister Akylbek Zhaparov captive, the Kabar Kyrgyz state news agency reported.
An interior ministry spokesman, Rakhmatullo Akhmedov, later said Kongantiyev was alive but admitted the government had little information on the situation in Talas, saying it was "checking" reports the minister was taken hostage.
In Bishkek, explosions from stun grenades reverberated across the city and the crackle of automatic weapons fire filled the air as protesters in the main square gasped for breath in a fog of tear gas.
Witnesses said security forces had fired live bullets into the air as between 3,000 and 5,000 protestors overturned cars and set them on fire in Bishkek. Protestors appeared to have seized several heavily armoured police vehicles and were standing on them waving red Kyrgyz flags and the blue flag of the opposition movement.
Looters also ransacked the home of Bakiyev's family, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
The violence came a day after more than 1,000 opposition protesters burst through police lines and took control of government offices in Talas.
And in the central city of Naryn, hundreds of opposition protesters on Wednesday stormed the regional government headquarters after the local governor refused to negotiate.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION YAHOO NEWS > KYRGYZSTAN UPRISING: DID MOSCOW SUBVERT A US ALLY?
AFAIK the Muslim former SSRS are heavily dependent on $$$ remittances, etc. from Moscow = Russia for their economic hence national survival.
RUSS ECON TRUBLES = NO BORSCH = NO $$$ = NO HONEY FOR THE -STANS. The alternative is for the Stans to give and expand US BASE + LOGISTICS ROUTING RIGHTS which Russ doesn't want in its backyard.
#2
60-year-old Bakiyev had fled the capital aboard a small plane as his opponents consolidated their grip on key national institutions.
Most of the successfully exercised E&E plans involve some type of small, dependable aircraft. Obviously not wishing to repeat Chauchesku's mistake, the key to the benefit program is not getting KILLED.
Speaking in Prague hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama signed a treaty there cutting their nuclear arsenals, a senior Russian official indicated the U.S. base at Manas should close.
"In Kyrgyzstan there should be only one base -- Russian," the official told reporters in Prague on condition of anonymity,
[Iran Press TV Latest] Protestors have seized the presidential administration building in the capital city of Bishkek and installed their own "people's government," a key opposition leader says.
"Opposition leaders are already in the government palace where a new people's government has been formed," said lawmaker Temir Sariyev.
Sariyev added that Roza Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister has been appointed as the head of the new government.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is no longer in Bishkek as he departed onboard a small plane as riots escalated in the capital city, a Bishkek airport staff told AFP.
The US State Department says Washington still regards the government of President Bakiyev to be in power.
"We continue to think the government remains in power," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, adding the US has no additional information to confirm reports that the opposition had seized control.
At least 19 people were killed and 180 others injured in the unrest in the central Asian nation.
The demonstrations were triggered by growing discontent about government policies and a rise in fuel prices.
The protestors demanded the resignation of President Bakiyev.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Kyrgyz troops opened fire on anti-government protesters on Wednesday outside the offices where President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was sheltering from clashes that have killed dozens of people according to a witness, 100 according to the opposition.
As unrest swept the central Asian republic, the opposition took control of the national television, the prosecutors' office was set alight and state media reported that a deputy prime minister was held hostage in the remote northwest.
The riots were the culmination of spiraling protests in the Central Asian nation with the opposition demanding Bakiyev's resignation and accusing his government of rights violations, authoritarianism and economic mismanagement.
Despite arresting three leading opposition figures and declaring a state of emergency, the authorities failed to prevent the rebels from rapidly taking control of some of the main levers of power.
A health ministry official said 19 people had died, many from gunshot wounds, and almost 200 were injured.
"Most are young people under the age of 30," the official, Larisa Kachibekova, told AFP.
"According to our count, around 100 people have been killed in the disorder," opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev said, speaking during an address to the nation on a state television channel seized by opposition supporters during riots earlier Wednesday. He called for Bakiyev's government to step down.
"The leaders of the opposition have held negotiations with the head of the Kyrgyz government (Prime Minister) Daniyar Usenov," Tekebayev said in a televised address.
"Our only goal is that they relinquish their authority."
"What kind of negotiations with the government can we talk about when they are killing our people?" prominent opposition and human rights campaigner Toktoaim Umetaliyeza told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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If a counter-terrorism strategy can be measured by the enemy's reaction, then the American military's predator drone campaign can be judged an overwhelming success.
This was proven this week when the Taliban staged a desperate and unsuccessful suicide attack against the American consulate in Peshawar in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Seeking to retaliate for losses from Hellfire missile strikes, the Taliban sent a half dozen heavily-armed fighters, disguised as paramilitary soldiers, on a one-way mission to attack the consulate, using two explosives-packed vehicles in a well-planned assault.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2010 10:11 ||
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[Geo News] NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that al-Qaeda may have carried out bombings in front of the US consulate in Peshawar as undeclared third world war against the militant network is underway in Fata and NWFP.
He was speaking to media persons after inquiring the health of injured of Teemargarah blast, who were under treatment at Lady Redding Hospital in Peshawar.
Hussain said one of attackers of US consulate looked like a foreigner. But he said probe was still underway.
The minister said that some 50, 00 militants, including foreigners, were involved in carrying out acts of terrorism in FATA and NWFP. However, most of them were either killed or fled.
He urged the need to take an organized and effective action against the terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Wednesday Pakistan had asked the United Nations to delay a report into the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto so that input from Afghanistan, the United States and Saudi Arabia could be included.
Bowing to Islamabad's request, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on March 30 delayed until mid-April the release of the sensitive report by the three-member panel into the assassination of former prime minister.
Interior Minister told reporters Wednesday that the Pakistani people "want a proper report substantiated by facts."
"I have requested that the commission should seek input from former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Saudi Arabia, and include it in its report," Malik added.
He did not elaborate further on what information he wanted to be included.
"The UN has informed me that they expect the information would be available to them and the good thing is that president Karzai's office has confirmed that information will be provided," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq said it was in "open war" with al-Qaeda, after bombings in Baghdad killed dozens, as Washington insisted the bloodshed will not delay the withdrawal of its troops from the war-ravaged country. "We are in a war. In our case, it is an open war with remnants of al-Qaeda and the Baath" party of Saddam Hussein, Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta told Al Arabiya.
"There has been support for terrorist groups from outside Iraq, from people who don't want to see the political process be a success," he added, without elaborating.
Six bombs in the capital on Tuesday killed at least 40 people, in the second spate of bloody attacks in three days, increasing fears that insurgents are making a return due to a political impasse following elections.
The blasts destroyed residential buildings in mostly Shiite neighborhoods, leaving bodies and rubble strewn across streets in scenes reminiscent of the height of Iraq's bitter sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007.
Tuesday's attacks, which also injured around 140 people, followed triple suicide vehicle bombings minutes apart on Sunday targeting foreign embassies which killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, said Sunday's embassy attacks bore the signature of al-Qaeda and attributed the bombings to groups who wanted to derail the formation of a new government.
"This is a political attack, aimed at derailing the process, sending a message that the terrorists are still in business," Zebari told AFP.
Iraqi political parties are still locked in negotiations in a bid to form a government, nearly a month after the election left four main blocs each without sufficient seats to form a parliamentary majority on its own.
Destabilizing the country
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance finished with 89 seats in the 325-member parliament after the March 7 parliamentary elections, two fewer than ex-premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc.
Allawi has accused Iran of seeking to prevent him becoming prime minister again by inviting all major parties except his secular bloc to Tehran.
Security officials had warned that protracted coalition building could give insurgents an opportunity to further destabilize the country.
The latest violence follows a Saturday attack south of Baghdad blamed on al-Qaeda in which security officials said 25 villagers linked to an anti-Qaeda militia were rounded up and shot execution-style by men in army uniforms.
The United States insisted that the upsurge of bloodletting would not compromise its goal of withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq by the end of August.
"I think many expected that insurgents would use this time to roll back the progress, both militarily and politically, that we've seen in Iraq," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.
Gibbs said the White House was in touch with U.S. ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill and U.S. commander General Ray Odierno.
Odierno "believes that this does not threaten our ability to draw down our forces later in the year," Gibbs said, but added Washington was very focused on the steps needed to be taken by Iraqi leaders to form a government.
Obama has ordered all U.S. combat troops be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of August and for all American soldiers to be out of the country by the end of 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Took them long enough to figure it out.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/08/2010 13:02 Comments ||
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#2
Took them long enough to figure it out.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/08/2010 13:02 Comments ||
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#3
Hmmm, now why did that repeat?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/08/2010 13:03 Comments ||
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#4
Sometimes there is a disruption in traffic during the posting so while it may have been posted to the server, your browser is still waiting for the confirmation that the post was in fact delivered. Yet since there was a disruption during posting, it posts again and then stops once confirmation is received.
H/T israel matzav
Link is in Hebrew.
Below is a Google translation cleaned up by israel matzav.
Professor Zeev Alfasi, the Chairman of the Nuclear Engineering Department at Ben - Gurion University, who is aware of what is going on, describes the deterioration of the American attitude regarding the nuclear reactor. "Some of our people did not receive visas to the United States because they are employees of Nuclear Research Center," explained Professor Alfasi, "The United States does not sell anything nuclear to the Nuclear Research Center, and this includes everything. For example, the Nuclear Research Center in Dimona is buying radiation detectors in France, because the Americans are not selling to the Nuclear Research Center's employees. "
Prof. Alfasi added that "the Americans want to know for what each item of equipment is used. They sell to universities, but they refuse to sell these same items of equipment to the Nuclear Research Center. I do not whether they will sell the same items that they refuse to sell us to Iran." The Nuclear Research Center refused to comment on the claims.
From the same post, this from the blogger:
Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor's employees have told Israel's Maariv daily that they have been having problems recently getting visas to the United States where they have for years attended seminars in Chemistry, Physics and Nuclear Engineering (link in Hebrew, Hat Tip: BA Wilson). They also complain of being treated in an 'insulting manner' by President Obama's people. Until recently, employees of the Nuclear Research Center routinely traveled to the United States for seminars and courses.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2010 19:11 Comments ||
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#2
Anyone who has kept up with Obama's campaign and presidential term so far should not be surprised.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/08/2010 19:21 Comments ||
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#3
yet Hillary(!) champions a visa for Tariq Ramadan
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2010 19:23 Comments ||
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#4
This is the way the US treated the Indian nuclear establishment after the 1974 and 1998 nuclear tests. The State department continues to deny licenses for equipment and visas to scientists.
If Israel is getting the test treatment, they should perhaps test.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/08/2010 19:42 Comments ||
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#5
How about testing a mini-nuke under the Al Aqsa mosque.
A journalist has been under house arrest for several months accused of "serious espionage" for leaking top secret military documents, Israeli media reported after a gag order was lifted.
Some of the documents are believed to be behind a 2008 Haaretz newspaper report that Israeli soldiers had received orders to carry out targeted killings of Palestinian militants in violation of a supreme court order.
The Israeli journalist, Anat Kam, 23, allegedly gave Haaretz newspaper reporter Uri Blau classified documents she stole during her military service from the office of the army's central command which covers the West Bank. The offence is considered espionage under Israeli law and can carry a life sentence.
Israel media, despite coverage abroad, had made only vague references to the case in previous days but were barred from giving details until a Tel Aviv court on Thursday lifted the more than three-month-old gag order.
Kam, who worked as a news website reporter, allegedly stole about 2,000 top secret documents while doing her military service between 2005 and 2007, according to army radio and other media outlets.
Blau, who is currently abroad, is believed to have used some of the documents as a basis for reporting on the assassination orders against Islamic Jihad militants. He is alleged to have failed to notify Israeli authorities that he was in possession of the documents.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel plans to maintain its policy of ambiguity, with U.S. backing, over its nuclear policy, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Wednesday as Iran dismissed the new U.S. strategy as "propaganda."
"This policy of ambiguity constitutes one of the pillars of Israeli national security and the Americans consider it very important," Ayalon told army radio.
"There is no reason for the Americans to change their approach or for Israel to change its position," he said.
For the past four decades, Israeli governments have insisted the Jewish state will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
But foreign military experts believe Israel has an arsenal of 200 nuclear bombs.
Ayalon's comments came ahead of next week's nuclear security summit in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be among the leaders attending the international gathering.
Israel has begun distributing millions of protection kits against biochemical warfare, Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai announced on Tuesday, stressing the campaign was not linked to any imminent threat.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration unveiled a new policy on Tuesday restricting U.S. use of nuclear weapons but sent a stern message to nuclear-defiant Iran and North Korea that they remain potential targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says Tel Aviv would annul previous peace accords with Palestinians if they decide to go ahead with plans to unilaterally declare an independent state.
Speaking to Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Tuesday, Lieberman threatened Palestinians that such a move could prompt Israel to annex parts of the West Bank and revoke 1990s Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements.
"Any unilateral decision will release us from all of our commitments and will allow us also to make unilateral decisions," Lieberman said. "For example, imposing Israeli sovereignty on certain areas, cutting off all kinds of ties and transfers of money and a string of benefits and agreements put into place since the (peace) accords."
Lieberman's remarks came in reaction to an announcement made by acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad about plans to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state -- possibly as early as 2011 and even without a peace deal.
The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem (al-Quds) as part of their future state. The areas were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Palestinians have called on Israel to halt all settlement construction in the two areas before peace talks can resume.
However, addressing the thorny issue of settlements in Jerusalem al-Quds, Lieberman said Israel would never agree to halt construction in the region.
"I think we have to make clear to Obama that we are not only not freezing construction in Jerusalem, but after the 10-month freeze we will go back to building," he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the hardline Israeli politician whose harsh tone has earned him critics both inside and outside Israel criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his stance regarding Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.
Lieberman said Erdogan should deal with Turkey's internal issues such as ''problems with the Kurds'' rather than ''preach'' to Israel.
Ankara has repeatedly censured Tel Aviv particularly over the regime's last offensive into Gaza which killed more than 1400 Palestinians and injured many others -- a large number of them civilians including women and children.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Doesn't seem that Bibi is too worried about being included on the White House social list or invited to dinner with the One. Oh, well.
[Ma'an] Despite turbulence in US-Israel relations, President Barack Obama is "seriously considering" proposing a new Mideast peace plan, two top administration officials told a US newspaper.
I wouldn't be surprised if he had problems with girls in his youth. He seems to have no concept of the word 'No' when said by the object of his attention.
"Everyone knows the basic outlines of a peace deal," said one of the senior officials quoted in a Wednesday report in the Washington Post, citing the agreement that was nearly reached at Camp David in 2000 and in subsequent negotiations.
He said an American plan, if launched, would build upon past progress on such issues as borders, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem. The second senior official said that "90 percent of the map would look the same" as what has been agreed in previous bargaining, the US daily reported.
The White House is considering detailed interagency talks to frame the strategy and form a political consensus for it, the newspaper quoted the first official as saying. The second official likened the process to the review that produced Obama's strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said the administration could formally launch the Middle East initiative by this fall, according to the report.
On Sunday, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said the lack of clarity surrounding US Middle East envoy George Mitchell's next visit to the region could be due to tense relations between Israel and the US over Israel's refusal to halt settlement activities.
Meanwhile, Israel's envoy to the US denied reports of tensions between the two allies. In a television interview with the US news network CNN, Ambassador Michael Oren said Sunday that relations were "great" between Israel and the Americans despite strains in recent weeks.
America's main pro-Israel lobby group is mobilizing members of the US Congress to pressure the White House over its confrontation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, news reports said Thursday.
The Guardian newspaper reported that the move, by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), appears aimed at exploiting differences within the Obama administration as it decides how to use the crisis around settlement building in Jerusalem to press Israel toward concessions to kickstart peace negotiations.
AIPAC has persuaded more than three-quarters of the members of the US House of Representatives to sign a letter calling for an end to public criticism of Israel and urging the US to "reinforce" its relationship with Israel, The Guardian reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
President Barack Obama is "seriously considering" proposing a new Mideast peace
There Barry goes, believing his own stuff once again. "Mideast peace" is the oxymoron of oxymorons... so GREAT! Let him put his name on something really stupid and watch it fail and die.
#5
Other countries don't like being dictated terms to anymore than Americans don't like having legislation shoved down theirs throats. BO has been talking with people like Chavez a little too much--he, like Chavez, is being deluded by his perceptions of his own magnificence and grandeur. BO should be careful that he doesn't pick up the sobriquet "dictator-in-chief."
#7
He said an American plan, if launched, would build upon past progress on such issues as borders, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem
If he demands the "right of return" he is either a fool or a genocidal antisemite.
[Straits Times] AN INDONESIAN woman accused of harbouring one of South-east Asia's most wanted terrorist suspects before he was killed in a shootout with police wanted to die a martyr rather than turn her guest over to authorities, prosecutors told a Jakarta court Wednesday.
The trial of 21-year-old Putri Munawaroh, who was arrested after September's gunbattle at a house in Central Java, is focusing on her ties to alleged militant mastermind Noordin Top, who was killed in the police raid along with three other suspected terrorists, including Munawaroh's husband.
Noordin, a Malaysian who eluded capture for more than seven years, was said to be an Al-Qaeda-funded bomb maker wanted in connection with five major bombings in Indonesia since 2002, including a blast in Bali that year that left more than 200 dead.
He was also accused of ties to twin suicide attacks last July at the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels in Jakarta that killed seven and wounded 50. Those strikes ended a four-year lull in terrorist attacks in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
Prosecutors say Munawaroh sheltered Noordin at the house from July until the September raid.
Munawaroh, who was wounded in the shootout, was pregnant at the time of her arrest and later gave birth to a son, who lives with her in prison. If convicted of harboring terrorists and concealing information about terrorist activities, Munawaroh faces up to 20 years in prison. She is the fifth alleged conspirator to go on trial since February over the hotel bombings. All the trials are ongoing.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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The Russian oil giant LUKoil has stopped shipping gasoline to Iran, following fears of US retaliation.
Previously, the company shipped between 250 and 500 thousand barrels of gasoline to Iran every month, reported Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.
Although sitting on vast oil and gas reserves, Iran's gasoline refinery output has not kept pace with the growing number of cars in the country. The country therefore imports a proportion of its required gasoline from abroad.
Recent unilateral US sanctions have focused on punishing international companies that supply gasoline to Iran.
Speaking on April 3, the head of Iran's Committee for Transportation and Fuel Management said Iran was capable of becoming self-sufficient in gasoline production during the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2011).
"Iran's gasoline consumption stands at 62 million liters (16.38 million US gallons) per day, of which 45 million liters (11.89 million US gallons) are produced domestically," said Mohammad Rouyanian.
"In normal circumstances, we would not become self-sufficient in gasoline production this year, but, if certain conditions, such as sanctions are created, then we can increase our gasoline production to meet domestic demand and this can happen by the end of the year, and even during the first quarter of the new [Iranian] year (June 21)," he added.
Last month, LUKoil announced it was quitting a project in Iran's Anaran oil field.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Does this have anything to do with the recent nuclear drawdown agreement between Obama and the Russians?
#3
I think its a 3 part deal involving the recent US-Russia nuclear treaty, as payoff for Russia's delay in sending Iran S300 anti-air defense systems and implicit oil sanctions which are also justified by Iran's failure to pay
#4
LUKoil owns an oil refinery(s?) and a bunch of service/convenience stores in the US. If they want to continue to do business in the US, then they had to quit Iran. House passes Iran gasoline sanctions bill The House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply gasoline to Iran, a move lawmakers hope will deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2010 17:16 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Russian nuclear fuel producer confirms that the next batch of uranium required for the Bushehr power plant is ready for shipment to Iran.
Speaking in Bratislava, Slovakia, today, the President of TVER company, Yury Olenin, told journalists that the next fuel delivery will be needed a year after the launch of the reactor. "If the launch takes place this year, the fuel will be shipped in 2011," he added, quoted by RIA Novosti News Agency.
The much delayed nuclear power plant on the southern Iranian coast by the Persian Gulf is scheduled to come on line this summer and the first batch of two fuel canisters for the plant was delivered in 2007 in preparation for its launch.
Olenin has confirmed that the second consignment has been readied by his Novosibirsk, Siberia-based company and is to be installed one year after its start-up.
Regarding the prices for the fuel, Olenin said, "We are always in contact with our Iranian colleagues and agree on prices which change in line with world uranium prices and the cost of its enrichment,"
Russia's Ambassador to Tehran Alexander Sadovnikov was reported by the same news agency today as saying that "about 3,000 Russian personnel are currently working at Bushehr nuclear power plant."
When asked about the effects of possible new sanctions on this project, the ambassador said, "The Bushehr power plant is entirely peaceful. There is no mention at all of this plant in the decisions regarding Iran's nuclear program."
"We have complete understanding with the international community and the IAEA in this regard. IAEA has complete supervision over the process of construction, commissioning and utilization of this plant. Therefore, no new sanctions will touch the Bushehr power plant," stated Moscow's top diplomat in Iran.
The construction of the Bushehr electricity generating plant started in 1975. However, following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the deposing of the pro-US dictator, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the US government cajoled Germany to renege on its contractual obligations and abandon the project.
After years of inactivity, Iran signed a contract with Russia in 1998 for the completion of the plant, yet its completion has been postponed repeatedly since then.
In March 2010, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the plant will be launched this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Russian construction and insh'Allah maintainence - what could go wrong?
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has lashed out at the United States for its dual-based nuclear policies.
"The US is working on a new generation of nuclear bombs. It also defends Israel that has tens of nuclear warheads but it opposes Iran's peaceful use of nuclear energy. This shows a double-standard in their nuclear policies," ISNA quoted Vahidi as saying on Wednesday.
The Iranian minister also rejected the possibility of a military strike against Iran's nuclear sites by Israel or the United States.
"The Zionist regime of Israel is too weak to attack Iran," he added.
"No trace of Israel will remain if the Zionist regime declares a war on Iran," he warned.
Tehran has repeatedly dismissed Israeli threats of military strikes against Iran as psychological warfare aimed at pressuring the Islamic Republic to abandon its peaceful nuclear work.
Israel and its Western backers have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon capability under the guise of a civilian nuclear program.
The Iranian government, however, has fiercely dismissed such claims as mere attempts by Western nuclear powers to prevent Iran's rapid advances in the field of nuclear technology.
Aggressive Israeli efforts against Iran's nuclear program come despite widespread reports of its possession of over 200 nuclear warheads that was acquired with blessings from Tel Aviv's Western sponsors. Israel has refused to sign or commit to any international atomic regulatory treaties.
Meanwhile, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has opened its nuclear facilities to intrusive inspections and round-the-clock supervision by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Moreover, Iran has also called for an international abandonment of all nuclear weapon arsenals and development efforts, which has been ignored by all countries possessing nuclear weapons.
IAEA has repeatedly reported that it has found no evidence of any diversion of nuclear materials from civilian to military applications in Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Moreover, Iran has also called for an international abandonment of all nuclear weapon arsenals and development efforts, which has been ignored by all countries possessing nuclear weapons.
Well, uh, it's ignored partly because there are still barbaric regimes like North Korea and Iran creating havoc in the world. Allowing someone like the man-god Khameni, Hugo Chavez, Kim Ill Dong or Bob McGobie to have such weapons would be pretty dumb, given the violent nature of these miscreants.
#3
What would remain of Iran is Israel is nuked? That's the bigger question, one would think. That is, if one bothered to think, as opposed to duck-speaking.
#5
Reuters just posted the latest threat: "If America presents Iran with a serious threat and undertakes any measure against Iran, none of the American soldiers who are currently in the region would go back to America alive," Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.
#8
Israel should quietly announce a policy that if they are ever attacked again by a Muslim nation, they will expel all Muslims in their borders.
Literally make Israel Muslim free. And from that moment forward, no Muslims will be permitted in Israel, all Muslim sites in Israel will be razed, and the Muslim partner in any mixed marriage will convert to Judaism, or they and their spouse will have to leave Israel as well.
Posted by: chris ||
04/08/2010 16:15 Comments ||
Top||
#10
""Israel should quietly announce a policy that if they are ever attacked again by a Muslim nation, they will expel all Muslims in their borders.
Literally make Israel Muslim free. And from that moment forward, no Muslims will be permitted in Israel, all Muslim sites in Israel will be razed, and the Muslim partner in any mixed marriage will convert to Judaism, or they and their spouse will have to leave Israel as well.""
I'll vote for that.
And Iran is doing the "Bluster" which is Moslem culture at its finest..Line of Death and Mother of all Battles and Dire Revenge..it sort of goes with the bad teeth and the tight turban.
They will toss something at Israel and we will do what we did when Saddam fired on Israel. And Obama either goes along with what the American people tell him or he spends a week in the Dumpster. Remember when Nixon was the only thing in the White House except the cigarette butts on the floor? He was hiding under his desk when Kissinger handed him the paper to sign and said the helicopter was waiting. Obama is no different.
he works for us or he finds another job.
Iran is gonna learn that some fights last about three and half seconds...ever seen one of those.?
We can, you know. That fast...all we need is someone who doesnt eat bananas.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq said it was in "open war" with al-Qaeda, after bombings in Baghdad killed dozens, as Washington insisted the bloodshed will not delay the withdrawal of its troops from the war-ravaged country. "We are in a war. In our case, it is an open war with remnants of al-Qaeda and the Baath" party of Saddam Hussein, Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta told Al Arabiya.
