[Al Arabiya Latest] Major Sudanese political parties are to meet on Saturday for talks on crucial issues in the buildup to the first full elections in Africa's biggest nation for 24 years.
The Juba Conference has been put back several times but is to finally open on Saturday evening in the capital of semi-autonomous South Sudan and is scheduled to continue until Tuesday.
Even so, it will not include anyone from President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party, which is boycotting the event.
The conference is being hosted by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a former rebel group that since 2005 has been part of a national unity government with the NCP.
More than 2,000 people have died and 250,000 been displaced in inter-tribal violence across the south since January, according to the United Nations, with the rate of violent deaths now exceeding that of war-torn Darfur in west Sudan.
People promising to take part in the Juba meeting include Umma party leader Sadek al-Mahdi, who was elected prime minister in 1986 but overthrown three years later when Bashir launched a coup.
Islamist opposition figure Hassan al-Turabi and heads of around 20 parties and factions will also attend.
"It is a meeting to discuss (the) important issues for Sudan," namely Darfur, implementation of the 2005 peace deal that ended the 22-year civil war, the April 2010 elections and a proposed referendum in 2011 on independence for South Sudan, said Malik Agar, SPLM deputy secretary.
"We are not here (for) forming alliances," he said. "(If) you make alliances you must have an enemy. We all are Sudanese, all these parties are Sudanese, and we are all concerned about the Sudan."
"We are not grouping ourselves into alliances, we are grouping ourselves into a unified front to discuss the issues of importance," Agar told journalists.
"What we want to achieve is the continuation of the dialogue between the Sudanese parties that will lead us to a national consensus around the issues," the SPLM official said.
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09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Yemen's government is ready to fight Shiite rebels in the mountainous north for "years," the president vowed on Saturday, though he also said hostilities could end if the rebels agree a ceasefire.
"We will continue the battle for five or six years. We will not backtrack, we will not stop," Ali Abdullah Saleh said at a celebration to mark the anniversary of the 1962 revolution that ended the Zaidi Shiite imamate and established the republic.
"If the rebels abided by the six points (of the truce), we do not want war. It is a war that was imposed on us," he said to cheering crowds shouting "No" and urging him to continue the war.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan are slated to hold a three-way summit in Beijing on Oct. 10, China's Foreign Ministry has announced.
Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said the North Korean nuclear issue will be the main agenda of the trilateral summit. Other topics will be decided when foreign ministers from the three countries meet in Shanghai next Monday.
China stressed this summit will strengthen communication and coordination among the Northeast Asian countries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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A poster has been spotted in North Korea hinting at progress in the succession question and indicating that the third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is Jong-eun, not Jong-un.
MBC on Thursday showed images of a propaganda poster taken near Wonsan by a Taiwanese photographer on a recent visit to the country. The poster read, "Kim Jong-eun, a young leader who succeeds the lineage of Mangyongdae and Mt. Baekdu," along with the full lyrics of a song related to the succession. MBC said the image shot was taken at a collective farm near Wonsan open to visits by foreigners on Sept. 19.
A North Korean propaganda poster photographed near Wonsan /Courtesy of flickr.com
Mangyongdae is the birthplace of Kim Il-sung, and Mt. Baekdu the alleged birthplace of Kim Jong-il.
National Intelligence Service director Won Sei-hoon, at a meeting of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, said, "We've had reports that the name of Kim's third son was Kim Jong-eun for quite some time. We did not disclose it because it's not something that North Korea would confirm for us, and whether he is Jong-un or Jong-eun wasn't an important issue."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I guess it's time for Jong-eun to start drinking from the lead-lined cups.
The US Justice Department has said two detainees who were being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, have been sent to Ireland to be resettled here.
The US government did not identify the men, but the Government had said earlier that both were citizens of Uzbekistan who feared persecution if they were returned there.
The moves are part of President Barack Obama's plans to shut the camp by January of next year.
The Minister for Justice said the move underscored Ireland's commitment to assist in bringing about the closure of the Gunatanamo Bay detention centre.
Mr Ahern said the two men should be allowed time and space to rebuild their lives.
The men arrived in Ireland yesterday.
A team from the Department of Justice is assisting them in a resettlement programme.
Ignoring threats by Islamic militants, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main rival held their final political rallies Saturday before Germany's national election, focusing on the key domestic issues of jobs and economic recovery.
Two videos surfaced Friday -- one by al-Qaida and another by the Taliban -- threatening retaliation for Germany's military presence in Afghanistan. The Taliban video showed top German landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and Munich's world-renowned Oktoberfest.
In response, authorities on Saturday banned all flights over Oktoberfest until it ends on Oct. 4. The annual 16-day beer festival, which was targeted by terrorists in 1980, draws some 6 million visitors from around the globe.
Security had been already tightened around the country after the first Islamic threats two weeks ago, with many more officers now visible at airports and train stations.
Merkel hopes to win a second four-year term in Sunday's national election and ditch her conservative party's "grand coalition" with her main rivals, the center-left Social Democrats, led by her foreign minister and challenger, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The 55-year-old chancellor wants to form a new center-right government with her preferred partners, the pro-business Free Democrats.
"Germany needs stability," Merkel told supporters on Saturday. "Stability is only possible with a strong (Christian Democratic) Union in a coalition with the FDP."
But a poll published Friday underlined how close Sunday's race could be, with Merkel's sound lead being whittled away in the past weeks.
The survey by the Forsa institute showed her Christian Democrats with only 33 percent of the vote, compared to 37 percent over the summer.The Social Democrats polled 25 percent and the Free Democrats had 14 percent, enough for a razor-thin lead with the Christian Democrats.
The Greens polled at 10 percent and the Left party at 12 percent. However, the two major parties have ruled out any coalition with the Leftists.
The survey of 2,001 people gave a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
At his party's final rally in Dresden, Steinmeier accused Merkel of lacking the creativity to govern and warned that a victory for her party and the Free Democrats would benefit only the wealthy.
"Tomorrow's election is not just a decision for the next four years, but will decide (Germany's) direction for the coming decade," Steinmeier said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
It worked.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/27/2009 16:10 Comments ||
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#2
What worked, European Conservative? Did Frau Merkel win yet?
[Geo News] Continuing his animosity with the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, former President General Pervez Musharraf has described the former Prime Minister as a 'closet Taliban'.
In an interview to a foreign news channel, Musharraf called Sharif 'abrasive' and 'confrontational'.
"He (Sharif) has never been on good terms with any president of Pakistan," Musharraf said.
Musharraf said Sharif maintained a close link with extremist groups, as the latter has never said anything against terrorism.
It is worth mentioning here that Sharif has been pushing hard for Musharraf's prosecution under the Article Six of the Constitution.
Sharif, time and again, has accused the former military general of abrogating Pakistan's Constitution by imposing emergency in the state in November 2007.
Sharif also maintains that Musharraf had taken an 'illegal' and 'extrajudicial' step by removing the judges of higher judiciary following declaring an emergency in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's comment that Islamabad needs to change its attitude has no link to reality, a private TV channel has cited Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Abdul Basit as saying. "Pakistan has a transparent agenda during the meeting of Indo-Pak foreign secretaries today. We want to hold dialogue with a positive attitude," he added. He said the judiciary would decide on the action to be taken against the Mumbai attackers. That means they're not gonna give up terrorism is state policy.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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India wants to normalise its relationship with Pakistan, but Islamabad must stop using terror as an instrument of state policy against New Delhi and act against those involved in the Mumbai attacks, the Indian Express quoted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying, a day after President Asif Ali Zardari urged for the resumption of composite dialogue.
"We have supplied material and evidence for them to carry out an investigation. Although the tragedy took place in India, the conspiracy took place in Pakistan. Pakistan has admitted to this. We want them to bring to book the culprits involved," he told a press conference ahead of the Indo-Pak foreign ministers meeting in New York.
Under threat: The Indo-Asian News Service quoted Singh as saying he had gotten an opportunity to speak with US President Barack Obama during the G20 summit, adding he had explained the aid being given to Pakistan to fight terrorism was being used to build military assets that could only be used against India.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > INDIA CAN DO NOTHING IFF THERE IS ANOTHER MUMBAI?; + BHINDIA IS KILLING US [Pakistan] SLOWLY AND STEADY, BLOCKING OUR WATER/ 30-35 PERCENT WATER SHORTAGE [and perceived to rise higher oer time]IN PAKISTAN DUE TO INDIA.
ME > I like to belabel this as REGIO "WAR/BATTLE OF THE DAMS"???
* PDF POSTERS > INDIA may be basing two squadrons of new SUkhois at NYOMA, close to the SIno-INdian border, notsomuch as per CHINA BUT TO MIL PROTECT MAJOR SOURCE OF WATER FOR BOTH IT + PAKISTAN [to Pakistan's detriment]???
Ma'an -- The Islamic Jihad movement called on the Fatah-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to release its members from prison as a step toward renewed national unity.
This call came as a part of Jihad's official response to Egypt's current proposal for national unity. The issue of political prisoners is a also major point of contention between Fatah and Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Islamic Jihad spokesperson Dawoud Shihab said that holding elections is a point of national consensus, and that the only problem will be setting a date. This pronouncement came in spite of Islamic Jihad's traditional rejection of elections.
With regard to reform of security services, Shihab said, "it should be built on a professional basis, and the national interests of the people. We are against any foreign agenda."
Shihab also argued that Palestinian National Council elections should be separate from Palestinian Legislative Council elections. He also said reform of the PLO must be in accordance with the Cairo Agreement of May 2005.
Shihab said the Islamic Jihad will not sign of any agreement that violates the Palestinians' inalienable rights. As a people under occupation, he said, the national project must aim at full liberation. It is also Palestinians' right to resist occupation, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an -- An Israeli airstrike that killed three Palestinian fighters on Friday night was targeted at Islamic Jihad in a calculated move intended to disrupt a precarious calm in the Gaza Strip, political analysts told Ma'an on Saturday.
There is calm in Gaza? Who knew?
The strike targeted Islamic Jihad in hopes that the group would respond violently, thus embarrassing the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza, which has assiduously enforced a unilateral ceasefire since the end of Israel's three-week war on Gaza last January.
Islamic Jihad has generally observed the ceasefire until now, but has vowed to avenge the deaths of its members. Islamic Jihad also generally enjoys warm relations with Hamas, which it views as a fellow member of the pro-armed resistance camp.
The airstrike targeted the three men who were driving in a car in the Tuffah neighborhood of eastern Gaza City. One of those killed was the son of Islamic Jihad Leader Khaled Ad-Dahduh.
A spokesman said the men were en route to launch projectiles into Israel. He said the same group had launched two projectiles toward the southern Israeli town of Sderot in recent weeks.
Abu Ahmad, a representative for Jihad's armed wing, also confirmed in a statement that the three "were on a standard mission" when their car was struck, and warned that the attack would not go unanswered.
Gaza-based writer and political analyst Yahiya Rabah said pointed to the timing of the airstrike, days before an anticipated summit of factions in Egypt in hopes of restoring Palestinian national unity. The strike, he said, was an attempt to create tension between Hamas and Islamic Jihad at a moment when the factions were making gestures toward reconciliation.
There was evidence for this view at the funerals for the three men on Saturday, where Islamic Jihad gunmen fired shots into the air, in violation of a Hamas-imposed ban on carrying weapons in public. It was the first such display of arms at a funeral in Gaza since the end of the recent war in January.
Rabah highlighted the fact that in its stated justification for the killings, Israel said the men had fired projectiles in the past. This made the assassination an act of "retroactive murder," he said.
Political analyst Ibrahim Abrash said that Israel usually does not allow situations of calm, or cease-fire to last long, but that it chooses to end ceasefires at specific times and for political reasons. Abrash pointed to what he said was the "failure" of the trilateral meeting between US President Barack Obama, President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to re-launch formal peace negotiations. He also noted the failure of US Envoy George Mitchell to compel Israel to freeze illegal settlement construction in the West Bank, thought to be a key condition for peace talks.
Abrash said that Israel wants to create tension between Hamas and Islamic Jihad because it does not Hamas to govern Gaza. Furthermore, a violent response from Islamic Jihad would provide a pretext to end the current period of relative calm. An escalation in Gaza, in turn, would draw the world's attention away from the West Bank and Mitchell's efforts to secure a settlement freeze, the analyst argued.
Analysts also noted that Israel used a carefully-timed strike to end the six-month ceasefire that preceded Operation Cast Lead, the three-week onslaught last winter. On 5 November 2008, while the world awaited the results of the US presidential election, Israel launched an incursion into Gaza, killing five people and shattering the previous four months of ceasefire. The ensuing cycle of violence culminated in Cast Lead.
Responding to this analysis, senior Islamic Jihad leader Khaled Al-Batsh, said that his group's response would not "embarrass Hamas."
Al-Batsh said that the assassination of the three men on Friday was "a crime that all the factions should respond to." "Israel should bear all the consequences of this action," he said.
In an interview in Gaza last Monday, Islamic Jihad spokesperson Dawoud Shihab told Ma'an that his group views the current quiet as a temporary pause to give the people a chance to recover from the war and "allow the resistance to develop its capabilities."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an -- The Gaza Strip's militant groups ramped up efforts against Israeli forces on Saturday, as a Salafi group announced an attack on an Israeli military patrol, and Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades jointly claimed a projectile launch.
In a statement declaring their participation in the joint launch of a projectile against Israeli targets in the western Negev desert, the Al-Aqsa Brigades vowed to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike on the northern Strip that killed three Palestinians on Friday. Israeli sources reported that a projectile landed in the western Negev on Saturday morning.
In their statement the group called upon all Palestinian military groups to retaliate for what they called the "criminal act" that killed three Palestinian activists in the north eastern Gaza Strip on Friday, and to unite in the face of "Israeli arrogance."
No injuries or damage resulted from the projectile attack.
In a separate incident the Salafi group Jund Ansar Allah (Soldiers for God), said they shot two mortars at a gathering Israeli force in military jeeps near the city of Khan Younis. The group clashed with Hamas forces in the city of Rafah in mid-August after denouncing the local Hamas-run government as insufficiently Islamic and declaring a mosque the headquarters of a new Islamic emirate. Twenty-five people were killed in the ensuing clashes.
A statement from Jund Ansar Allah on Saturday said the "attack [on the Israeli patrol] came as a response to the Israeli attacks on Palestinian prisoners and the latest Israeli attack during that killed three members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad on Friday."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an -- The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, put out a call on Saturday for Palestinian resistance groups to form a united front to respond to a recent Israeli attack.
The group urged resistance groups to put aside their political differences in order to respond to the Israeli airstrike that killed three fighters, members of Islamic Jihad, in Gaza on Friday.
In a statement the An-Nasser Brigades also called for the formation of a permanent, central operation room with a unified leadership for all the armed groups in order to coordinate the fight against Israeli forces. The statement also said that the factions are prepared to respond to a possible Israeli escalation in attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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IRAN will test-fire its long-range Shahab 3 missile tomorrow as part of continuing missile manoeuvres, a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps says.
"Tomorrow we will test the long-range Shahab missile," Hossein Salami said, referring to the Shahab 3.
He also said, without elaborating, that the Guards tested a "multiple missile launcher for the first time" today.
The country fired two short-range missiles as it began war games today, two days after the UN nuclear watchdog disclosed that Tehran was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Iran's state-owned Al-Alam and Press TV channels reported that the missiles fired were of the Tondar and Fateh 110 type.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/27/2009 9:29 Comments ||
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#2
President BHO said "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's nuclear chief said on Saturday that Tehran will put its newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant under the supervision of the United Nations atomic watchdog as Israel said Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons and demanded an "unequivocal" Western response.
"This site will be under the supervision of the IAEA and will have a maximum of five percent (uranium) enrichment capacity," Ali Akbar Salehi said on state television, adding the plant is "not an industrial scale" unit.
He said the plant is being set up as a "precautionary measure in case of an unwanted incident against our nuclear program."
Salehi said Iran's nuclear installations are facing "threats every day" and so Tehran "had to take measures to disperse its installations."
Earlier on Saturday Salehi said Tehran will fix a date for IAEA inspectors to visit the new plant, located south of the capital.
"As the president said, we have no problem for inspection within the framework of the agency regulations," Salehi said, in an earlier appearance on state television.
Salehi said the new plant is located on the road between Tehran and the holy city of Qom.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
If I remember right, the first few percent is the hardest part of the job, and the rest is easy.
That was too easy. They probably have more facilities elsewhere.
Earlier on Saturday Salehi said Tehran will fix a date for IAEA inspectors to visit the new plant, located south of the capital.
#2
Barring a daring, direct and highly risky action by Israel, eighteen months from now the discussion will have moved on to containment strategies for living with a nuclear-armed Iran.
The toothless arguments now being bandied about as to how best to proceed to stop a state with a dangerous ideology from achieving its nuclear ambitions will carry on, howver; they will apply to Venezuela, which will head down the exact same road with the help of technical assistance supplied by Russia and Iran!
[Al Arabiya Latest] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he would visit Iran in October and would bring up the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear program in talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Erdogan was speaking to reporters after Western leaders on Friday accused Iran of concealing a nuclear plant it is constructing southwest of Tehran. U.S. President Barack Obama warned Iran it would face "sanctions that bite" if it did not come clean.
But Erdogan urged caution. "Those sanctions won't bring about anything good for the people (of Iran)," he said. "So I think we have to be careful."
Asked if Turkey, which borders Iran, would support fresh U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, Erdogan said: "Without seeing what would be in the resolution, it's difficult to say. We would look at the text and we would make our contribution and then we would make a decision."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A suggestion by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that his American counterpart should see Iran as a potential 'friend' has prompted criticism from his fellow conservatives.
During an interview with Associated Press on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said should President Barack Obama decide to change US policy toward Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Mideast, he will find a friend in Iran.
A prominent member of Iran's Parliament, Ahmad Tavakoli, on Saturday branded the president's comments as "harmful."
"This particular sentence is exceptionally soft... and this softness is useless and harmful, as Obama is yet to show a change of heart towards Iran," Tavakoli told Mehr news agency.
The Majlis member said he wished to see concrete change from the American president, arguing that "sheer talk is not enough."
Conservative Iranian politician and former military commander Mohsen Rezai said that the president's remarks will only serve the interests of the Europeans.
"I don't know why and based on what analysis did he make those comments, but this kind of wording is not in our interests," Rezaei added.
US allies in the green continent, the former guard said, will try to exert more pressure on the Islamic Republic and to "take matters in their own hands."
Iran and officials from the six world powers -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- are expected to meet in Geneva on the first day of October.
While the Obama administration insists that the meeting will address Iran's nuclear program, Ahmadinejad has said that discussions on the nuclear issue were "finished."
Iran on September 21 informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant, allegedly near the central city of Qom.
The new plant, a letter form the Islamic Republic said, will produce enriched uranium up to 5 percent, consistent with its nuclear energy program.
During a press conference on September 25, the presidents of the United States and France said that all options were on the table with regards to Iran.
British Prime Minster Gordon Brown said that Iran's "serial deception" in its nuclear work demanded a tougher action by the international community.
This is while at another press conference on the afternoon of the same day, Ahmadinejad insisted that not only was the announcement an indication of Iran's transparency on the issue of nuclear program, but a sign of its willingness to comply with IAEA regulations.
"According to the IAEA rules, countries must inform the agency 6 months ahead of the gas injection in their uranium enrichment plants. We have done it 18 months ahead and this should be appreciated not condemned," Ahmadinejad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] After Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the United States owes Iran an apology over attributing a secretive, military nature to the country's nuclear program, the US defense secretary rules out the prospect of any such apology.
Speaking in the Pittsburgh Convention Center on Friday, President Barack Obama called a newly-disclosed Iranian nuclear facility "a direct challenge to the basic foundation of the nonproliferation regime."
He also said that Iran's second enrichment facility -- which will reportedly house up to 3,000 centrifuges -- "is inconsistent with a peaceful (nuclear) program" and demonstrates a "disturbing pattern" of evasion by Iran.
However, Iran's Ahmadinejad was quick to respond to the remarks, saying, "This does not mean we must inform Mr. Obama's administration of every facility that we have."
In an exclusive interview with the editors of TIME, President Ahmadinejad said the claim "simply adds to the list of issues to which the United States owes the Iranian nation an apology over. Rest assured that this will be the case. We do everything transparently."
When asked by an ABC News correspondent if Iran will get an apology after President Ahmadinejad's demand, Defense Secretary Robert Gates replied: "Not a chance."
Gates came out in support of the view that Iran's nuclear program is an expanding weapons program, arguing that "If this were a peaceful nuclear program, why didn't they announce this site when they began to construct it? Why didn't they allow IAEA inspectors in from the very beginning?"
"This is part of a pattern of deception and lies on the part of the Iranians from the very beginning with respect to their nuclear program," he added.
Iran announced the existence of the facility on September 21 in a letter to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The IAEA has called for immediate access to the site, believed to be near Iran's central city of Qom.
Iranian officials say the facility will be operational in about two years, adding that it is "legal and open for inspection."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hows about we send a bunker buster or 10 to inspect the site? I mean, since it will be open and all.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/27/2009 1:45 Comments ||
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Now is the time to act to halt the Iranian nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Senators and Congress members over the weekend.
The prime minister's message, which he made in telephone conversations, came a day after evidence of a clandestine Iranian nuclear facility was presented by U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh.
"If not now, then when?" Netanyahu reportedly asked in the conversations with American officials.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday that the newly exposed nuclear facility in Iran was built for military purposes and was proof that the Islamic Republic is seeking atomic weapons.
"I spoke this weekend with experts from the East and West," Lieberman told Israel Radio. "No one has any doubt, according to the technical data that was published, it's a military core. The disagreement has been done away with."
Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed alarm over Iran's nuclear ambitions and refused to rule out pre-emptive military action to stop Iran developing an atomic weapon.
Tehran insists its nuclear plans are peaceful and has resisted U.S.-led diplomatic pressure to curb its uranium enrichment, which can be used to generate electricity or make bombs.
On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama demanded that Iran come clean about its nuclear program or risk "sanctions that bite," after the disclosure that a new plant was under construction southwest of Tehran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the facility was legal and open for inspection by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday that the newly exposed nuclear facility in Iran was built for military purposes and was proof that the Islamic Republic is seeking atomic weapons.
"I spoke this weekend with experts from the East and West," Lieberman told Israel Radio. "No one has any doubt, according to the technical data that was published, it's a military core. The disagreement has been done away with."
Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed alarm over Iran's nuclear ambitions and refused to rule out pre-emptive military action to stop Iran developing an atomic weapon.
Tehran insists its nuclear plans are peaceful and has resisted U.S.-led diplomatic pressure to curb its uranium enrichment, which can be used to generate electricity or make bombs.
On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama demanded that Iran come clean about its nuclear program or risk "sanctions that bite," after the disclosure that a new plant was under construction southwest of Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. quote - Barack Obama
#4
Saw an interview with Netanyahu on ABC. He comes across as a hard headed, serious and determined individual who sees the world as it is and tells it like it is. Too bad our leaders are not of the same caliber.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/27/2009 15:10 Comments ||
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#5
Bibi's admirable - his margin of error does not allow naive dreaming and misplaced hope in "dialogue". I expected him to tell Obama to "shove it" when Teh One suggested a path of Joooo suicide
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/27/2009 15:26 Comments ||
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From Geostrategy Direct, subscription.
ANKARA After decades of enmity, Syria and Turkey have launched strategic cooperation.
In September, the two neighbors signed an agreement meant to launch strategic cooperation, including in the defense and military sectors. The accord also saw the removal of restrictions along the border between Syria and Turkey.
"The brotherhood that exists between our people has been lifted to the political level with joint Cabinet meetings to be held between our two governments," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
Officials said the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan regarded Syria as part of Ankara's "zero problems with neighbors" policy. They said Ankara and Damascus have decided to establish what was termed a high-level strategic cooperation panel.
"Turkey is your second country and the people of Turkey have opened their arms to welcome you without the need for a visa," Davutoglu said. Come on in and bring in whatever you want, no questions asked.
At a joint news conference on Sept. 17, Davutoglu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid Mualem, agreed to lift customs on trade between the two countries. They said trucks that shuttle between Syrian and Turkey would be exempt from taxes.
"This is the biggest demonstration of cooperation, solidarity and mutual trust," Mualem said.
Turkish analysts said Syria and Turkey could establish strategic cooperation to the same level as that with Iraq. They said this could marginalize Ankara's military and security cooperation with Israel. That would be putting it mildly.
"It is too early to say that what was often described as Turkey's strategic alliance with Israel is being replaced by Syria," Bulent Alireza, a senior researcher at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. "However, the increasingly close relationship with Damascus, combined with the recent strains in the relationship with Tel Aviv, seems certain to raise additional questions about a possible change of direction in Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East." Your list of real dependable friends grows thin.
In 2009, Syria and Turkey launched its first military exercise. The exercise took place along the border and was meant to demonstrate joint security cooperation.
The analysts said the Turkish military has not been enthusiastic over cooperation with Syria. Syria has long been seen by the Turkish military as a haven for insurgency groups, including the Kurdish Workers Party. We will have to see what if anything the Turkish military does about this.
"Syrian and Turkish weapons systems are different so I'm doubtful there is much scope for cooperation along these lines," Raymond Hinnebusch, a professor at the University of St. Andrews and author of books on Syria, was quoted in the Turkish media as saying. "Perhaps intelligence sharing, confidence-building measures etc. can develop at a fairly low level of salience."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Good. Muzzi allies are a knife poised at one's back.
#2
The Turkish generals like Israel. The prime minister, religious zealot that he is, made it clear that he most definitely agrees with the strongest of the Friday sermons at the mosques. By this we are seeing who won the argument in Turkey.
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.
Ignoring threats by Islamic militants, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main rival held their final political rallies Saturday before Germany's national election, focusing on the key domestic issues of jobs and economic recovery.
[Geo News] Continuing his animosity with the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, former President General Pervez Musharraf has described the former Prime Minister as a 'closet Taliban'.
IRAN will test-fire its long-range Shahab 3 missile tomorrow as part of continuing missile manoeuvres, a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps says.
