[AnNahar] The attackers who staged deadly twin bombings at an army base and French-run uranium mine in northern Niger came from neighboring Libya, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou said Saturday.
Pointing to the porous nature of the borders in the region, he warned that other "infiltrations" were possible and that Niger needed to examine what other security measures it needed to better defend its territory.
"The attackers, according to all the information we have received, came from Libya, from the south of Libya," Issoufou told television channel La Belle France 24.
"Libya continues to be a source of destabilization for the countries of the Sahel," the semi-arid band of territory that crosses Africa south of the Sahara desert, Issoufou said.
His comments came after a meeting with Luc Oursel, the chief executive of French nuclear giant Areva, the majority owner of the Somair mine targeted in Thursday's blasts.
The dawn attacks began with twin suicide kabooms at the army base in Agadez, the main city in northern Niger, and the Somair mine some 250 kilometers (150 miles) to the north.
Attackers then seized a building at the Agadez base, ending in a raid by French special forces and local troops.
In all, the Agadez attack claimed 24 victims in addition to eight Islamists killed, according to Niger's Defense Minister Mahamadou Karidjo.
One employee was killed and 14 maimed in the Somair attack.
Issoufou said the conflict that led to the overthrow and killing of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... was destabilizing the region.
"I had already warned from the beginning of the Libyan crisis... that it was necessary to avoid solutions after Gddhafi's defeat that would be even worse, and I had said that if the Libyan state turned into a Somalia or fell into the hands of fundamentalists, the solution would be worse," he said.
"Today the situation is very difficult, the Libyan authorities are doing their best to control it, but the fact is, Libya continues to be a source of destabilization for the countries of the Sahel," he said.
He noted that the Sahel is a "very open zone and difficult to control".
Therefore, "it is possible that in the future, there would be more infiltrations," warned the president.
"So we are going to learn lessons from what has happened at Agadez to see what additional measures would need to be taken to better defend our territory," he said.
Issoufou insisted however that "there have not been any failures in the security system".
"What we have to say is that no matter what measures we take, there will not be zero risk," he said.
The attacks were claimed by two Islamist groups, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and veteran jihadist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Signatories in Blood group.
Both said the bombings were in retaliation for Niger's participation in a French-led military campaign against al-Qaeda-linked groups in neighboring Mali.
Meanwhile, ...back at the desert island, Irene was indignant at the thought of doing such a thing without benefit of clergy... the United States has condemned the "vicious terrorist attacks" in northern Niger that left 33 people dead.
"These attacks targeted two of our key partners in the Sahel -- Niger and La Belle France," State Department front man Patrick Ventrell said in a statement late Friday.
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the vicious terrorist attacks," he added.
"We express our condolences to the Nigerien people and their government, who have stood steadfast in rejecting violent extremism," Ventrell said.
The U.S. commended both La Belle France and Niger "for their leadership within international efforts to combat terrorism and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to improving the security of the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... and its people," Ventrell said.
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[AnNahar] Cyber hackers attacked several official Saudi websites on Saturday, posting an Algerian flag on their homepages that later vanished, local media reported.
The website of the information minister was among the hacked sites, according to state news broadcaster Al-Ekhbariya and newspapers.
The websites of Al-Ekhbariya itself, along with sports channel Al-Riyadiyah, Channel One and Koran Radio, as well as King Fahd Cultural Center, were all hacked.
No one grabbed credit for the electronic raid, while those websites went down.
Earlier this month, the website of the Saudi interior ministry was among several official websites that came under hacking attacks.
In August, Saudi oil giant Aramco was the target of a cyber attack that the authorities said was aimed at halting production in the world's largest crude oil exporter.
DHAKA, May 25: The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on Saturday, issued a stern warning to the government, saying that their partymen would not hesitate in courting arrest, to fulfil the demand for non-party caretaker government. BNP chairperson's adviser, Shamsuzzaman Dudu, said this at a pre-hartal briefing at the party's headquarters at Naya Paltan, as the BNP-led 18-Party Alliance is set to enforce yet another daylong hartalacross the country, from 6am on Sunday.
"Our stance is clear that no concession will be given on non-party caretaker government. If necessary, we will take any tougher action, including self-imprisonment in all the 64 districts of the country, to force the government to accept our demand, he said.
The BNP leader, who announced the shutdown call from the partys central office on Friday, said the party is willing, if the government wants to hold talks with them on the issue. Even though we are waging a movement, we are ready for talks, he added.
The 18 Party Alliance called the hartal protesting the government ban on holding rally and bringing out procession and demanding restoration of the non-party caretaker government, and the release of its arrested leaders and activists.
Announcing the shutdown call, Dudu said the unofficial ban on all kinds of demonstrations, including holding rallies and public meeting across the country compelled the opposition alliance to declare the programme.
On May 19, minister for home affairs, MK Alamgir, at a function in Chittagong, announced that the government would not allow any rally or public meeting across the country for the next one month. The announcement triggered a row among in the political arena.
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David Cameron is planning new powers to muzzle Islamic hate preachers accused of provoking terrorist outrages such as the killing of soldier Lee Rigby.
The Prime Minister wants to stop extremist clerics using schools, colleges, prisons and mosques to spread their 'poison' and is to head a new Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Task Force (TERFOR) made up of senior Ministers, MI5, police and moderate religious leaders.
Assuming they can find one of the latter...
The high-powered group will study a number of measures, including banning extremist clerics from being given public platforms to incite students, prisoners and other followers -- and forcing mosque leaders to answer for 'hate preachers'.
A senior Whitehall source said: 'The PM is determined to challenge the poisonous narrative of extremist clerics and confront religious leaders who promote violence.'
One easy way to 'challenge' them would be to deport the ones who are not British citizens. They can spew their hatred from their country of origin, be it Egypt, Pakistain or Mauritania. Preaching hatred such be considered sufficient grounds for revocation of any visa or residency permit, either in Britain or in the U.S. As we like to say on our side of the pond, the Constitution is not a suicide pact...
The move comes as it was revealed that Woolwich suspect Michael Adebolajo was known to MI5 after being held over terror charges in Kenya and deported to the UK.The Mail on Sunday has been told that Adebolajo was offered cash by MI5 to work for them -- then sought legal help to 'get them off his back' after refusing to do so.
I find it hard to believe that MI5 could be this clueless; but then again I look at some of the bone-headed things our government has done with hateful immigrants...
The Government, police and security services and religious and ethnic leaders have all struggled to come to terms with the Woolwich outrage.
That is a major part of the problem right there. It should not be hard at all to come to terms with terrorism, murder and outrage...
Government insiders say Mr Cameron's new TERFOR group is intended to 'disrupt' the activities of extremist clerics wherever they preach their 'hateful message'.
One said: 'We are looking at the range of powers and current methods of dealing with extremism at its root, as opposed to just tackling criminal violent extremism. And we will look at ways of disrupting individuals who may be influential in fostering extremism.
You 'disrupt' them best by deporting them. Just repeating in case you missed it...
'We cannot allow a situation to continue where extremist clerics go around this country inciting young people to commit terrorist acts. We will do everything we can to stop it.'
The source stressed that Mr Cameron was 'aware of the importance of avoiding a kneejerk reaction,' and added: 'This new group will study the issue in great depth before acting.
And study, and then study some more, and then ask 'why do they hate us', and then decide that it's the fault of the British people, and then recommend to Parliament that they give the foreign preachers more benefits...
'There is no question of restricting freedom of speech -- this is about preventing people spreading the message of extremism and radicalisation in a totally irresponsible and reckless way. We cannot stand by and let people whip up violent hatred of Britain and its values and culture with the appalling consequences that we have seen.'
Wow: an outbreak of common sense. Wonder if it's contagious...
Mr Cameron will tell moderate Muslim groups they must be much more proactive in condemning pro-terrorist clerics. He believes that while mainstream organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain have unequivocally condemned the slaughter of Drummer Rigby, they have failed to take a similar firm stance in the past.
Mr Cameron will also ask police and security chiefs for more details on the number of young people who have been radicalised like Drummer Rigby's murderers.
'It is hard to measure the extent of radicalisation but we know there are many hundreds of individuals,' said one source. 'We have to encourage clear condemnation from groups that those vulnerable to radicalisation may listen to. TERFOR will want a better assessment of the size of the problem so they know what they are dealing with and can counter it.
'We must find ways to identify and tackle radicalisation in places which can be very hard to reach, such as unregulated schools and madrasahs. We must ensure imams and other religious leaders are not promoting extremist messages.
'Mosque committees need to be held to account for the choice of imams they make. And those attending religious services need a route to express their concern about extremist messages they hear at mosques.'
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05/26/2013 11:37 ||
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#1
They ban Michael Savage, but subsidize the hate vermin in their midst. YJCMTSU
#2
Who among these is most likely to be declared a 'hate cleric' by the Western political class:
Terry Jones, Geert Wilders, Pamela Geller, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Nasrallah, Khamenei, the Afghan judge responsible for the apostate's death sentence, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia ("All churches in the peninsula must be destroyed!")?
[Telegraph] One of the alleged killers of Drummer Lee Rigby appeared in court in Kenya suspected of leading a group of Islamists trying to join forces of Evil in Somalia.
The Sunday Telegraph can disclose that Michael Adebolajo was held by police close to the Somali border with a band of "radicalised" Moslem youths who wanted to join the notorious al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... group.
He was deported to Britannia after he appeared in court in Mombasa in November 2010.
Two months previously the head of MI5 had warned that Britons were training in Somalia and it was "only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside al-Shabaab". It also emerged that the other suspect in the soldier's murder, Michael Adebowale, 22, was tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! by police in London two months ago after shopkeepers complained about a group of Moslem activists.
The disclosures raise further questions about the monitoring by the security services of Adebowale and Adebolajo, 28, whom sources have said was known to MI5 but not assessed as a "threat to life".
o On Saturday night a further three men, aged 21, 24 and 28, were nabbed Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in south-east London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. Police used Tasers to detain two of them and were searching four addresses.
o Calls were made for Anjem Choudary, the leader of the al-Muhajiroun group to which Adebolajo has been closely linked, to be subject to a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure, the successor to control orders;
o Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, uses an article in The Sunday Telegraph to warn public bodies, including the police and judges, that it is time for them to bring the full weight of the law to bear on Death Eaters and not be hampered by political correctness;
o A leading historian who was a member of a Whitehall panel intended to tackle bad turbanMoslem preaching at universities told how officials opened a "dialogue" with a body that seemed to endorse aspects of extremism;
o In what was feared to be a copycat attack in Gay Paree, a uniformed soldier was knifed in the throat by a man said to be "bearded and of North African origin", who was on the run on Saturday night. The soldier was badly hurt in the attack, which police were treating as a terrorist incident;
o The father of Damilola Taylor, the boy murdered in 2000 in south-east London, told how he had mentored Adebowale before the former gang member turned to radical Islam.
A report on MI5 and MI6's knowledge of and assessment of the two suspects will be given this week to MPs on the parliamentary committee that scrutinises the security services.
The Sunday Telegraph has established that Adebolajo was arrested by Kenyan authorities in the coastal town of Lamu, before being taken to Mombasa, where he was detained. He appeared in court in late November 2010 alongside other alleged Islamists. He and the others, who were said to age from 18 to 22, were remanded to a local cop shoppe. A court report at the time said he was a "Nigerian who had a British passport" and spelt his name incorrectly. Sources in the country confirmed his identity yesterday and said Adebolajo was subsequently deported. He later complained that he had been mistreated.
Adebolajo is understood to have said in court that he wanted access to legal services and to talk to the British Ambassador to Kenya. He also complained that the police said he was a Christian, when he was a converted Moslem.
"He was very arrogant, he was restrained and handcuffed very well," the source said. "We deported him back to the UK. When he was back in the UK he complained about us, that we tortured him. The British embassy in Nairobi wrote to us about the complaint, we told them that we did not torture him. I do not know if the letter arrived but that was what we wrote to them."
According to newspaper reports at the time, the group boarded a speedboat from Lamu Island to the village of Kizingitini before their arrest. Police suspected Adebolajo of criminal masterminding a plan for the youths to join al-Shabaab in Somalia. Pamphlets connected with al-Shabaab were recovered during the police operation.
The other youths who appeared with Adebolajo said they were recruited from a mosque in Mombasa by a radical imam. While in Lamu, they spent time at an isolated madrassa. Lamu, 68 miles from the Somali border, is considered the key crossing point to the country and is a major area of operations for Kenyan security forces.
The case raises questions about why Adebolajo was not put under greater surveillance or even prosecuted after his deportation from Kenya. Under the Terrorism Act 2006, it is an offence to travel or intend to travel overseas to commit acts of terrorism or take part in terrorist training.
Evidence from the Kenyan authorities could have been used to prosecute Adebolajo.
Several Britons have been convicted of similar offences, including the white Moslem convert Richard Dart and his co-defendants earlier this year. They admitted planning to travel to Pakistain to seek terrorist training, and had discussed attacking the military-supporting town of Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire.
Kenyan police believe that Jermaine Grant, a Briton who is on trial in Mombasa on charges of possessing explosives and planning an attack in the port city, has links to al-Shabaab. Grant's alleged accomplice Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of the 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, is on the run after slipping a police dragnet. Some reports suggest she may have crossed the border into Somalia.
Jonathan Evans, the then head of MI5, warned in September 2010 that a "significant number of UK residents" were training with al-Shabaab. At the time security services said Somalia was the most significant destination for foreign jihadis. The Foreign Office said of Adebolajo's arrest and deportation: "We do not comment on individual cases."
The arrest of the other suspect, Adebowale, two months ago in London, followed complaints from shopkeepers about the activities of bad turbanMoslems, sources said.
More details of his life were disclosed by Damilola Taylor's father, Richard, who recalled how he tried to mentor the suspect when he was younger.
Mr Taylor is Nigerian-born while both suspects are of Nigerian descent. He said: "He [Adebowale] was a young lovable boy, quiet. Suddenly I started hearing that he's getting involved in issues around gangs and drugs and I was not very happy with that. I'm terribly shocked."
The murder of Drummer Rigby has caused concern on several levels across Whitehall, highlighting apparent failures to rein in bad turban preaching and the radicalisation of young Moslem men. Writing in The Sunday Telegraph today, Mr Pickles urges politicians, judges and the public sector to take a robust line against bad turbans.
"Our laws are there to ensure preachers of hate are not given a licence to incite violence or public disorder," he writes. "And the police and judiciary should use their powers when the line has been crossed."
He urges members of the public not to "stand idly by" and for broadcasters not to give fanatics the oxygen of publicity. Local authorities should not give taxpayers' money to organizations that promote segregation or shelter bad turbans, he adds.
A senior academic who advised the Government on combating Moslem extremism in British universities today condemns the showpiece counter-terrorism strategy as a "sad shambles".
Professor Michael Burleigh, a research fellow in modern history and the history of terrorism at Buckingham University, was invited to take part in a Home Office and Department for Business advisory group two years ago, which helped update the £63 million-a-year "Prevent" strategy.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph today, Prof Burleigh says civil servants in charge of the "entrenched bureaucracy" worked to undermine the experts and even met with one Islamic group that he regarded as "the main problem".
Prevent was set up under the Labour government in 2005 after the London bombings of July 7. After the last general election, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, commissioned a review because she regarded it as highly flawed, and was critical of the higher education sector's "complacency" in dealing with the Islamists on campus. She later admitted that Prevent had handed taxpayers' money to hard-line Moslem groups that promote bad turban views.
One senior counter-terrorism source said: "Would a university allow someone to speak on campus if they were advocating the best way to be a paedophile or an armed robber? No, they would not. But they allow speakers who advocate terrorism."
Greenwich University last night began an investigation into radicalism on its premises after confirming that the older suspect had been a student there.
Research by Student Rights, a group set up to tackle extremism on campus, found that radical Islamist preachers addressed students at 200 official events in the 12 months to March 2013, including at Greenwich.
In February its Islamic society invited Dr Khalid Fikry, who has given speeches in which he appears to suggest that Shia Moslems believe "raping a Sunni woman is a matter that pleases Allah" and stated that "Shia are one of the worst and greatest enemies of our Ummah (community) nowadays". Most recently he spoke at the University of Westminster's Islamic Society.
University Islamic societies are grouped under the umbrella of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis). It has hosted bad turban speakers including Azzam Tamimi, who supports the Paleostinian group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and has spoken in support of martyrdom, and Haitham al-Haddad, who believes that music is a "prohibited and fake message of love and peace". Fosis has been criticised by Mrs May and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, for its failure to "fully challenge terrorist and bad turban ideology".
Its chairman, Omar Ali, said last night: "There has been no investigation or inquiry that has identified a link between the activities of Islamic Societies and acts of terrorism. There's no evidence to suggest there is more extremism on university campuses than in any other sector of society."
The murder in Woolwich, south-east London, has led to calls for internet companies to take down bad turban material from the web, but those were rejected by Google ...contributed $814,540 to the 2008 Obama campaign... . Speaking at the Telegraph Hay Festival yesterday, Eric Schmidt, its executive chairman, said the company had no plans to change its policy.
"We cannot prima facie identify it and take it down. It establishes censorship as a slippery slope; where do we stop?" he said.
Continued on Page 49
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean military has approved a plan to buy 20 maritime patrol aircraft to improve the Navy's surveillance capabilities of North Korea, a military source said Sunday. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has recently approved the Navy's request to add 20 maritime patrol aircraft to supplement the aging squadron of 16 Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions.
"The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is currently working on a plan, which is likely to be an overseas purchase program," the source said, asking for anonymity as it is not yet open to the public. The budget for the project is estimated at 1 trillion won (US$889 million).
Among the potential candidates are Airbus Military's C-295 MPA, Boeing's P-8 Poseidon, Lockheed Martin's SC-130J Sea Hercules, according to officials. The U.S. Navy has recently received the seventh production of Boeing's P-8 Poseidon to replace its P-3Cs.
So we have some used P-3Cs cheap if the SKors want them...
Separately, a naval modernization program has been underway to upgrade P-3C's radar and censor system by 2016. Deployed in 1995, the maritime aircraft is capable of conducting various operations in anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare. It is armed with Harpoon Block II air-to-ground missiles and a tactical information system interoperable with the KF-16 fighter jet.
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05/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
If SK is smart they would pass on the P3Cs, maintenance headache. Lots of wing and fuselage fatigue issues beginning to pop up even with structural upgrades. The P8-As would be nice in that they are common to the US, but the C-295 already has a large customer base ( about 120 ac in 15 countries, according to wiki). the 130 J would be good also but not existing as a maritime surveillance platform like the 295.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday visited Turkey's southern town of Reyhanli where twin car bombings killed 51 people including Syrian nationals, and wounded many others two weeks ago, Anadolu agency reported. Erdogan's visit in Reyhanli follows amid fears that the more than two-year-old war could ignite an all-out conflict in the region.
"Those who are trying to protect their own posts and continue their dictatorships are now harassing our peace in Turkey [...] But these days will pass and with God's willing, the day is near for the opposition forces in Syria to topple this dictator," Erdogan told the crowds.
"You should that they [Syrian refugees] are here because they have trusted us. We will embrace our Syrian brothers and sisters and we will not allow anyone to sow seeds of hatred among us. I believe when the day comes and peace is restored in Syria our brethren here will return to their homes," Erdogan said.
Turkish security forces have detained nine people -- all Turkish nationals -- in the connection with the May 11 blasts which Turkish officials have blamed on a former Marxist terrorist organization with "direct links" to groups and intelligence services loyal to the Assad regime.
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ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court has constituted a two-member division bench to hear on Monday Musharrafs plea in judges detention case against ATCs verdict cancelling his bail. The two-member bench comprises Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan and Justice Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui.
Former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf had moved Islamabad High Court on Friday challenging the cancellation of his bail by Anti Terrorism Court in judges detention case. In his petition, filed through his counsel Ilyas Siddiqui, Musharraf said being former president, he could not be tried under Anti-Terrorism Act and the charges levelled against him were bailable.
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[AnNahar] An organization calling itself the "Syrian Electronic Army" has launched a cyber attack against the water distribution system of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, an expert said on Saturday.
The attack "by this organization which we don't know exactly who is behind" was carried out two weeks ago and failed,
This is where we point and laugh.
said Professor Yitzhak Ben-Israel, head of Israel's National Council for Research and Development, quoted on Israeli radio.
The professor, a former cyber warfare adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attack was launched in retaliation for air raids on Syria reportedly carried out by Israel since the start of the year.
Golly, that'll make those Juices think a moment before doing whatever they planned.
In April, the Shin Bet domestic security agency said a mass cyber attack by hacker groups targeting Israel had caused negligible damage.
[Jpost] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, health minister says Israel provided carbon monoxide instead of nitrous gas used for anesthesia.
The latest blood libel. They'll throw everything against the wall, then run with whatever sticks.
Hamas Health Minister Mofeed al-Mokhalalati accused Israel of poisoning Paleostinians patients in Gazoo by providing the hospitals in the Strip carbon monoxide gas posing as nitrous gas, the Middle East Monitor reported on Friday.
Four Paleostinian patients were reportedly poisoned by the carbon monoxide gas and suffered cardiac arrest, in what Mokjalalati described as an "unprecedented case which almost killed several patients at the hospital's main operation room," according to Paleostinian news agency Ma'an.
Israel, Mokhalalati said, is the sole source of nitrous gas brought to the Gazoo hospitals, that is used in anesthesia.
"In Gazoo, we are not allowed to produce nitrous dioxide or import it except via Israel, so we are investigating how the anesthetic gas was replaced with carbon monoxide," Ma'an quoted him as saying.
Mokhalalati formed an inquiry committee of experts to investigate how the carbon monoxide came to be in Gazoo hospitals, and postponed all surgical operations until further noticed, the Middle East Monitor reported.
"We have stopped all surgical operations until we are able to check all medical tools and equipment imported through Israel," he said.
His ministry also notified the Red Thingy and the World Health Organization about the incident, Ma'an reported.
[Jpost] Ex-officials in a 'New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... ' report say Israeli intervention in Syria unlikely, unwise.
Gotta love those experts...
A New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... report on Wednesday stated that Israel is contemplating directly intervening in Syria's civil war with the possible creation of a buffer zone inside Syria or by supporting a proxy force such as the Druse. The report noted that Israeli security forces are quietly working with Syrian villagers, supplying humanitarian aid and gaining intelligence information.
Several Israeli experts and ex-government officials told The Jerusalem Post that any direct intervention in Syria's civil war by Israel is both unlikely and unwise. Itamar Rabinovich, the vice chairman of the Institute for National Security Studies, a former ambassador to the US and Israel's chief negotiator with Syria from 1992 to 1995, is one of the experts quoted in the Times report. Rabinovich clarified to the Post that he does not see Israel getting involved before Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... falls, but would not rule it out in case he does.
"Assad currently has the wind at his back," said Rabinovich emphasizing that the situation is not an Israeli concern, but an international one, and that "we must not leap to the head of the line."
Commenting on what the future could hold in Syria, Rabinovich opines the longer the civil war lingers, the more danger it creates because the country could fall into the hands of jihadists and destabilize neighbors such as Jordan. He urged US President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... to intervene, but not with troops on the ground -- only by arming and aiding certain rebel elements.
A failure to act demonstrates weakness, he said.
Dore Gold, the former Israeli ambassador to the UN and the president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told the Post he does not see Israel getting involved either by proxy or by creating a buffer zone. "It is not Israel's approach to use proxies," he said.
In regard to the buffer zone idea, he said that Israel has had bad experience with buffer zones, noting that Israeli military leaders also dislike the idea.
Gold noted that the French and British drew the modern map of the Middle East 97 years ago and it is not in Israel's interest to get involved in these kinds of activities today as it will only make peace harder to achieve in the long run.
The main issue, said Gold, is how Tehran has increased its profile in this conflict, putting Iranian boots on the ground to fight Sunni Arabs in Syria and sending in Shi'ite militias from Leb and Iraq to assist.
"The Iranians made a decision that they cannot lose Syria at all costs," said Gold. Thus, "it is not Israel" that seeks to intervene in Syria, but Iran.
Mehdi Taaib, a leading Iranian official, called Syria "the 35th district of Iran," which Gold said shows Iran's expansionist doctrine as opposed to Israel's approach which remains defensive. Further supporting this claim is that Major-General Qasem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander of Iran's elite special operations force, which operates overseas, is in charge of Iran's forces fighting in Syria.
Gold added that the senior officer who is running the operation receives orders directly from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Efraim Inbar, the director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, agreed with Gold that Israel is better served by not involving itself in Syria's war.
"Syria is a mess that nobody can fix at the moment. While trying to make contacts with potentially ascending powers is tempting, caution is needed in the treacherous region we live in," he said.
"Prudence should be Israel's guiding motto."
Eyal Zisser -- an expert on Syria at Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center -- said Israel's experience in Leb serves as a warning against intervention, because at first "we were welcomed and then everybody joined forces against us."
"If the regime falls then they will look for other targets and we shouldn't give them this opportunity," he said.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... Zisser does see an opportunity for Israel to take limited action or targeted strikes if there is a lack of stability and chaos, which lead to groups attacking Israel. "On a tactical level an army commander could say there is an important hill on the other side of the border," he said, warning that the worry is once you get in, it will be difficult to get out.
Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum, says he is neither pro-Assad nor pro-rebels necessarily.
"I am in favor of helping whichever side is losing, whichever that might be, because they are enemies," he said.
Rabinovich disagreed with Pipes and cautioned against such statements. "It is not in our interest to perpetuate the civil war and it is better that this not be said publicly in Israel," he said. Rabinovich said that when he met opposition leaders in Europe, they complained about pro-Assad statements from Israeli officials.
[Ynet] An Iranian semi-official news agency reports the country has fielded a "massive" number of new long-range missile launchers.
The Sunday report by Fars quotes Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as saying the new weapons enable Iranian forces to "crush the enemy" with the mass simultaneous fire of long-range surface-to-surface missiles.
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05/26/2013 06:28 ||
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Al-Mustaqbal Party leader Saad Hariri stated on Saturday that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is demanding the recognition of the "State of Hizbullah," considering that the resistance has announced its "suicide" in the Syrian border town of al-Qusayr.
"You have announced yourself the end of the resistance on Liberation's Day," Hariri addressed Nasrallah in a released statement in which he responded to Hizbullah leader's speech in the commemoration of the liberation of the South earlier on Saturday.
"You have announced the resistance's political and military suicide in al-Qusayr."
Hariri accused Nasrallah of releasing a Fatwa that calls on the Lebanese to get involved in a war on Syrian territories.
"Your speech has no value to us, to most Lebanese and definitely to the Syrian people in all political, national, ethical, legal, religious and human measures."
Nasrallah had said earlier on Saturday that the Lebanese rooting for the victory of President Bashar Assad's regime or the opposition's rebels should fight in Syria instead of clashing in the northern city of Tripoli.
"The age of referring to the Palestinian cause, the resistance and national unity for personal interests is over, and the Lebanese as well as Arabs and Islamic nations have come to recognize the truth. Time will reveal more lies," Hariri told Nasrallah.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Thursday that 104 Hizbullah members had been killed in Syria since last autumn.
Nasrallah has said before that his party's involvement in Syria's war aimed at defending 13 Syrian villages along the border where Lebanese Shiites live, and the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine, revered by Shiites around the world.
But on Saturday, however, the Hizbullah chief pointed out that Syria is "the backbone of the resistance, assuring that he will not let this bone break."
Hariri criticized Nasrallah for "undermining the Lebanese state, the army and the civil society's potentials to face anything."
"The state in Nasallah's eyes, is powerless and helpless in politics, security and economic matters and his solution is for Hizbullah to take the state's place and keep its arms for ever," Hariri stressed.
"Nasrallah is telling all the members of the National Dialogue, on top of them President Michel Suleiman, that any talks about a defense strategy is worthless as there is only one party in Lebanon in charge of safeguarding the border and of using weapons whenever and wherever it desires."
"He is asking the president and all Lebanese factions to recognize the state of Hizbullah," Hariri announced. "Other parties must abide by this in order to avoid internal clashes."
The former premier considered that Liberation's Day is the fruit of the Lebanese people's will "to liberate their land and defend it with all means."
"This truth has been confiscated more than once since the year 2000, and Hizbullah and its followers wanted to consider this achievement an exclusive right for a party."
[AnNahar] Hizbullah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... will make a televised speech on Saturday on the occasion of Liberation Day at a time when his party's involvement in the Syrian war is drawing largescale local and international condemnation.
Political sources expected Nasrallah to snap back at the parties that have expressed frustration at Hizbullah's support for the Syrian army against the rebels mainly in the town of al-Qusayr.
Nasrallah will make the speech after 5:30 pm during a ceremony that will be held in the eastern village of Mashghara, the hometown of Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a boom-mobile blast in Damascus on February 12, 2008.
Liberation Day commemorates the Israeli army's withdrawal from south Leb in May 2000.
Hizbullah's deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... said Friday that the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... would be making a "big mistake" to label the group "terrorist."
He told al-Mayadeen TV that such threats "do not concern" or worry the party. He did not elaborate.
La Belle France this week joined an EU push to declare Hizbullah's military wing a terrorist organization.
La Belle France's move could prove pivotal after Germany joined a British effort to make the move. The U.S. has long pressured Europe to add Hizbullah to its terrorist list, which would hamper its operations in Europe.
[AnNahar] Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria last month are "in good health," though there is no news on their whereabouts, an opposition official told news hounds Saturday in Istanbul.
"Two or three days ago, a doctor visited the two bishops. They are in good health," said Abdul Ahad Steipho, member of the main opposition's National Coalition and of its committee established to follow up on the kidnappings.
Steipho added that his committee's attempts to enter into direct telephone contact with the kidnappers or the bishops have so far failed.
"We are receiving a lot of contradictory information on the identity of the kidnappers and their demands for ransom," he said.
Asked about any other leads the Coalition had, the dissident said: "These kidnappings are sometimes carried out by criminal gangs... other times by the regime (of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... ) and sometimes by the brigades of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army, who use kidnappings as a way to exchange prisoners."
"The two bishops are well known in Syria for their humanitarian work, and their defense of peaceful coexistence among religious groups in Syrian society," said Steipho.
Their kidnapping "sends a signal to Christians in Syria and other countries in the Middle East... For these reasons we want to ensure they are released," he added.
The two bishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, were kidnapped at the end of April, reportedly near the rebel-held town of Kafr Dael, near Aleppo in northern Syria.
No group has grabbed credit for their kidnap, but sources close to the Greek Orthodox Church and the Syrian authorities have claimed the kidnappers were "Chechen jihadists".
Christians constitute some five percent of Syria's population, a patchwork of religious and ethnic groups.
Rights groups say Christians are especially vulnerable in the chaos that has engulfed Syria ever since the outbreak of a conflict in March 2011, which has so far killed some 90,000 people.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has warned against the danger of Iran's nuclear program to the region's security and said Iran should not threaten its neighbors since countries in the region harbor no ill-intentions to the Islamic Republic.
"We stress the danger of the Iranian nuclear program to the security of the whole region," Prince Saud said Saturday in a joint news conference with Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in the city of Jiddah.
Apparently he also doesn't believe the Iranians when they say their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2013 00:00 ||
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Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Saturday that Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad should not take part in the proposed peace talks aimed at ending that country's deadly conflict, Alarabiya reported.
"It is impossible for Assad, his regime and its affiliates to play a role in the future of Syria," the Saudi minister told reporters in Jeddah.
Not that you can do a lot about it, except sent more young, disaffected youts cannon fodder to join the rebels...
An upcoming peace conference, expected to be set in Geneva, is a joint Russian and U.S. proposal to bring together representatives of the Syrian opposition and Assad's regime. However, the opposition's long-standing position has been that it will not negotiate until Assad agrees to leave, and there is no formal precondition for the conference of him stepping down.
Prince Faisal said he believes the Syrian National Coalition should be supported as a true representative of the Syrian people.
"We support the will of the Syrian people, which has expressed its will clearly, saying it does not wish to see any role in the conference for Bashar al-Assad, or any of those whose hands are stained with Syrian blood."
Prince Faisal voiced hopes that the upcoming Geneva 2 peace talks will put an end to bloodshed in Syria. Faisal said he hoped the conference would lead to an "immediate ceasefire and meet the aspirations of the Syrian people to achieve a peaceful transfer of power."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[MercoPress] Two suspects in the bombing of the AMIA Jewish centre in Buenos Aires are candidates in Iran's presidential election. Mohsen Rezai and Ali Akbar Velayati, who are believed to have planned the 1994 attack, were among the eight candidates approved for the June 14 election by Iran's Guardian Council to succeed Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad.
Rezai is under an international arrest warrant, or red notice, from the Interpol international police agency.
Argentina has accused the Iranian government of criminal masterminding and directing the bombing, which killed 85 and injured 300, and the Leb-based terror group Hezbollah of carrying it out. No arrests have been made in the case.
Six Iranians have been on Interpol's most wanted list since 2007 in connection with the bombing, including the current defence minister, Gen. Ahmed Vahidi.
Iran also is believed to be behind the 1992 boom-mobileing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Bombing sounds rather extreme. Could their campaigns simply have been hobbled by Iranian Revenue Service (IRS) targeting ?
#2
Go to Paris, while still technically a commissioned naval officer, and flirt with the enemy during time of war, work towards their ends, and you get to be a Senator and Secretary of State in America.
[Jpost] Suleiman warns of guerrillas averting focus from Israel.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... warned Friday against Hezbollah divulging the country into sectarian conflict, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported him saying in reference to Hezbollah fighting in neighboring Syria.
"How can a nation [like Leb] provide such a wonderful example of resistance and sacrifice, while at the same time promoting sectarian differences?" Suleiman was quoted as saying.
The Lebanese president's remarks came following a major assault by Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... 's forces on a rebel held town over the past week, which has drawn in fighters from Assad's Shi'ite allies Hezbollah, justifying fears that the conflict would cross borders at the heart of the Middle East.
"The meanings of resistance (Hezbollah's military wing) are loftier ... than sinking into strife, whether in Syria or Leb," the Daily Star quoted Suleiman as saying at a ceremony marking 13 years since Israel pulled out of southern Leb.
"The resistance is more noble and more important than anything, and should not get bogged down in the sands of dissension, whether in Syria or Leb," he added allegedly in reference to Hezbollah's focus on Israel.
Hezbollah guerrillas have been engaged in fighting their biggest battle yet for Assad, and about 30 were killed on Sunday, Syrian activists said, during fighting in the rebel stronghold of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border.
Assad wants to secure the coastal region which is the homeland of his Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. He is backed by Shi'ite Iran and Hezbollah against mainly Sunni rebels supported by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and Qatar.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition London-based monitoring group, said Syrian army and Hezbollah forces at Qusayr were trying to cut off rebels in the nearby village of Hamidiya. State media said the army had destroyed "terrorist dens" in Hamidiya and also killed eight "terrorists" in another village, Daba, close to Qusayr.
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.
ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court has constituted a two-member division bench to hear on Monday Musharrafs plea in judges detention case against ATCs verdict cancelling his bail. The two-member bench comprises Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan and Justice Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Mahmoud 
