[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Israel's mission to the United Nations is pushing - in quiet discussions both in New York and in key capitals in Europe - for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to confront Hizbullah supporters in southern Lebanese villages following the illegal entry into Israel by demonstrators over the weekend.
Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev accused a contingent of UNIFIL peacekeepers of cooperating with the group that crossed the border, in a letter on Monday to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President Ruhakana Rugunda.
Diplomatic sources said Israel was continuing discussions with members of the Security Council on the matter.
In addition to increased accountability by the Lebanese military, Israel is pushing for a change to UNIFIL's rules of engagement to ensure that it can enter villages without needing to coordinate with the Lebanese Armed Forces.
According to UNIFIL's current rules of engagement, the peacekeepers are not allowed to enter villages to search for Hizbullah arms caches without first coordinating the operation with the Lebanese army.
A decision on the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate is scheduled for late this month in the Security Council. In the coming weeks, Israel plans a major diplomatic push to change the force's rules of engagement. If approved by the UN, the new rules would still need to be approved by the Lebanese government. "Everyone has an interest in keeping 1701 alive and kicking," one Israeli diplomat said, referring to the Security Council resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. "We want to see an adaptation to the new modus operandi of Hizbullah in the south. It has to be done first and foremost by the Lebanese state, then by UNIFIL."
Of late, member states are starting to accept the severity of the situation and recognize Jerusalem's claims, the diplomat said, adding that Israel was trying to work within the parameters of Resolution 1701, pushing for a more "robust" implementation that addresses Hizbullah's deployment. "The situation in southern Lebanon is not what's described in the reports," the diplomatic source said.
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] The UNIFIL troops who have been stationed in southern Lebanon and given a mandate to maintain peace in the region, have in fact done the exact opposite by assisting the small group of Hizbullah supporters in their illegal border crossing into Israel over the weekend, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev charged on Monday.
On Friday, 15 Lebanese civilians crossed illegally into Israel, shouting and waving Hizbullah flags. IDF troops spotted the group, but did not confront them as they were reportedly unarmed and returned to Lebanon minutes later, without incident.
In a letter submitted by the ambassador to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the president of the United Nations Security Council, Shalev accused a contingent of Indian UNIFIL peacekeepers of having done nothing to prevent the demonstrators from crossing the border and even cooperating with the group.
"[The demonstrators] stood opposite the UNIFIL force, [which did nothing,] and worse than that, according to statements made by the organizers of the demonstration, they even cooperated with them," the letter read.
In her complaint, the Israeli ambassador lashed out at Hizbullah for its "grievous violations of Resolution 1701," which included both the border breach, as well as an attack by Lebanese villagers against UNIFIL troops on Saturday who were investigating an explosion last week in a suspected Hizbullah arms depot in southern Lebanon.
Both incidents "demonstrate an escalation and a pattern of behavior in Lebanon, that must be confronted," Shalev wrote in her letter.
Israel submitted a separate complaint to the UN over the mission probing Operation Cast Lead, headed by Judge Richard Goldstone. Israel complained that in gathering testimonies, the mission had met with Hamas ministers.
Meanwhile, a top UN official issued a call for restraint on Monday, saying that both Lebanon and Israel must renew their commitment to UN Resolution 1701 in order for peace in the area to be maintained.
"Any resolution from time to time faces many tests and challenges. There have been some testing incidents in recent days," Michael Williams, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, said. "I take this opportunity to call on all parties to renew their commitment and to exercise the utmost restraint."
He said both the explosion of the suspected Hizbullah weapons depot and the clash between villagers and peacekeepers were "testing incidents" that should not be repeated.
He spoke Monday following a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Williams also called on Israel to end daily flights over Lebanon, which he said were "serious violations" of the cease-fire that ended the Second Lebanon War.
On Saturday, Lebanese villagers prevented UN peacekeepers from searching an abandoned building near the suspected weapons depot, a Lebanese security official said.
The official said dozens of men in Bir e-Salasel surrounded UNIFIL vehicles and ordered the peacekeepers to leave. 14 UNIFIL men were wounded in the incident. When the troops called for backup, the villagers fired at the reinforcements.
The village is close to Khirbat a-Silm, the site of last week's explosion, which is about 15 kilometers from Israel.
Also Monday, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah blasted what he called Israeli aspirations for a new war.
Speaking from an undisclosed location, Nasrallah promised that any Israeli attack against Lebanon would "fail."
"We're hearing things about Israel planning for war against Lebanon," he said, referring to recent Israeli troop maneuvers in the north. "It will fail."
The Hizbullah leader charged that Israel was motivated by a desire to drive the Lebanese from their country.
"This [next war] will be against Lebanon, and its purpose will be [similar to what was done] to the Palestinians in 1948," he said, but added that regardless of the motivation, Israel would never achieve its aim.
"I am saying that our enemy has done everything in its power to harm the resistance, and has failed," Nasrallah said, calling on all Lebanese citizens to "embrace the resistance, and the culture of resistance" as a way of fighting against Israel.
The Hizbullah leader also took aim at the alleged Israeli spy network in the country, lashing out against those Lebanese citizens who "conspired against the resistance."
"In the past few years, we have seen the height of conspiracies against the resistance," he said.
In recent months, Lebanese security forces have detained numerous people accused of being part of a vast Israeli spy ring. Israel has not commented on the arrests.
A number of US lawmakers are mounting pressure on the Obama administration to slap new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
Republican Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain, Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman, and Democratic Senator Evan Bayh called on President Barack Obama to target the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) with sanctions, should the proposed talks fail to bring about Washington's desired results.
The lawmakers introduced a bill calling for action against Tehran in case it does not accept Obama's offer of direct talks before a late September summit of the Group of 20 (G20), or refuses to halt uranium enrichment within 60 days after that.
"Whether one believes 'engaging' directly with the regime in Tehran will accomplish anything, there is no question that time is of the essence," said Kyl.
"Every day that passes is time that the Iranians use to perfect a nuclear weapon and stockpile nuclear weapons material," he added.
Western powers accuse Tehran of secretly enriching weapons-grade uranium -- an allegation Iran has repeatedly denied. Tehran has asserted that its uranium enrichment is a peaceful drive to produce electricity.
Incoming IAEA Chief, Yukiya Amano, has also said that there is no conclusive evidence to prove that Tehran is enriching weapons-grade uranium.
Lieberman, however, said that he supported Obama's offer of direct talks but added that "the Iranians need to understand that this is a limited time offer."
"The regime must decide to change course, soon, or face severe sanctions for its continued defiance of the international community," said McCain for his part.
"If Iranian officials are unwilling to sit down at the table and negotiate, then Congress is prepared to authorize crippling economic sanctions," said Bayh.
The four lawmakers have introduced the measure as an amendment to an annual defense spending budget bill.
The amendment says the US must adopt tougher economic sanctions on Iran, should Washington fail to push through more embargoes against the country at the UN Security Council.
During a recent summit in Italy, world powers agreed to assess Iran's nuclear cooperation at the upcoming G20 gathering, which is scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before the UN General Assembly.
Iran, however, says that the only UN body relevant to its nuclear dossier is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and it maintains that it has shown exceptional cooperation with international inspectors in clarifying its intentions.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Silly senators. You're still under the impression that Soros bought me this pretty round office to advance America's interests in the world. Silly, silly senators...just be thankful your seniority will make you among the last to be taken into custody for re-education.
Posted by: Barack Vladimir Fidel Hugo al-Hussein Obama ||
07/22/2009 1:20 Comments ||
Top||
#2
No Obama is just the pretty face figurehead. Most of the real decisions are made behind the scenes by Ralm, Soros, and his other advisers.
Why do you think he always has his teleprompter with him? To tell him what to say.
#3
Barry is much too busy slapping medical ponzi schemes sanctions on American voters and taxpayers. All of this overseas noise is mindless clutter to The One. The Chickens have come home to roost! The RICH will pay! Gummit cheese, mules, acreage and free mules for everyone!
#4
I miss government cheese, Besoeker. My grandmother got it from somewhere, and we ended up with these five-pound bricks of dry cheddar when I was a kid. Pretty tasty, actually. The store-bought stuff is always a bit too moist, not crumbly enough.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/22/2009 8:55 Comments ||
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#5
That's easy: get Iran to have a "stimulus package".
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
07/22/2009 10:49 Comments ||
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A senior Iranian parliamentarian says the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has advised the president to reverse his decision in appointing Esfandyar Rahim-Masha'i as his top deputy.
"Without any delay, the removal or acceptance of Masha'i's resignation must be announced by the president," Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard, the first Majlis vice speaker, told the Iranian Students News Agency on Tuesday.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was re-elected for a second four-year term in a disputed presidential vote in June, came under fire from some of his staunchest allies by appointing Masha'i as his vice president.
Aboutorabi-Fard said the viewpoint of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on the issue had been forwarded to the president in a letter.
"The removal of Rahim-Masha'i from key positions and presidential deputies is the collective decision of the political establishment."
Masha'i, whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son, is a controversial figure in Iran for remarks attributed to him that the Iranian people are friends with Israelis.
Although Iran has 12 vice presidents, only the first vice president can lead Cabinet meetings in the absence of the president.
Shortly before Aboutorabi's remarks, Ahmadinejad's senior adviser said there would be no re-examination of Masha'i's appointment.
"Opposition to his [Masha'i's] appointment does not have compelling reasons behind it to prompt a review of his appointment," Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi said.
While Ahmadinejad does not need Parliament approval for appointing vice presidents, many members of the Majlis have expressed opposition to Masha'i's appointment.
As Iran's opposition locks horns with the ruling elite over the disputed presidential election, the European Union presidency claims Tehran is faced with "legitimacy" problems. "They, the leaders of Iran, must be concerned with the legitimacy of their regime in the eyes of their own electorate," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said on Tuesday. "As to which conclusions that leads to, that remains to be seen," he told members of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels, AFP reported.
He, however, urged the EU to maintain "links and contacts" with Iran as the country resolves its internal crisis.
The June 12 election, which saw incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected with almost two-third of the votes, has been confirmed by the electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, despite accusations of fraud by the opposition led by defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The official announcement of the vote result unleashed unrest in Iran, which the Tehran government blames on foreign "interference."
On Monday, the Association of Combatant Clerics, led by former President Mohammad Khatami, called for a referendum to settle the vote dispute. The proposal was denounced in Principlist circles as a Western plot to create "havoc." Under the Iranian Constitution, only the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has the authority to call for a referendum.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
Which one? The EU that ignores its own ratification rules after their constitution was turned down by a couple of the sovereign nations in Europe in plebiscites or the one's that will not even be given the opportunity to have a vote? Pot meet Kettle.
[Khaleej Times] A top Iranian hardliner on Tuesday denounced a call by leading reformists for a referendum to resolve the nation's deepening political crisis, branding it a Western plot to trigger more "havoc" in the Islamic republic.
The Association of Combatant Clerics, a reformist clerical group led by former president Mohammad Khatami, on Monday urged a referendum to resolve the turmoil gripping Iran since the June 12 disputed presidential election. "They have suggested a yet another Western plot to raise havoc by proposing a referendum," said Hossein Shariatmadari, managing director of the hardline newspaper Kayhan who is appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "The main idea of this plan is to trigger tension. Their proposal is illegal amd impractical," Shariatmadari wrote.
He also said that if the referendum did take place, the result would be "more crushing" for the reformists than the presidential poll which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected by a landslide.
Khatami's group voiced concern that "public confidence in the system has been damaged" by the election and its aftermath, which exposed deep divisions among Iran's elite in the worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Khatami himself was a strong supporter Iran's main opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi who lost to Ahmadinejad in a vote he charged was marred by widespread fraud.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's police chief accused the opposition on Tuesday of "inciting sedition" after last month's disputed presidential election and said his force would act firmly to uphold the law.
"This group of individuals voices the slogan of law abidance but they themselves do not observe the law ... they are sheer liars," the official IRNA news agency quoted Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam as saying. He accused the opposition of seeking to sow discord in the Islamic Republic, adding that "security forces should ... act firmly in line with the defence of the law". Deputy police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said there were rumours of new "illegal gatherings" in Tehran later on Tuesday but that the security forces would firmly confront any such protests, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
Ahmadi-Moghaddam did not mention names but his comments were an apparent reference to senior pro-reform figures who say the June 12 vote was rigged in favour of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Defeated election candidates Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have continued to dispute the official election result, even though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has endorsed Ahmadinejad's election victory.
"Some people who failed to realize their election goal go on spreading doubt in different ways and then turn that ... into inciting sedition," Ahmadi-Moghaddam said in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The election stirred the most striking internal unrest in Iran since the 1979 revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite. At least 20 people died in post-election violence. Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. Riot police and religious Basij militia eventually suppressed June's street demonstrations, but Mousavi has remained defiant.
Clashes erupted between police and reformist protesters for the first time in weeks in Tehran on Friday after former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared the Islamic Republic in crisis and said there were doubts about the election result. That statement was a clear challenge to the authority of Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure. Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami on Monday weighed in, calling for a referendum on the legitimacy of the Ahmadinejad's government.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian riot police clashed with hundreds of pro-reform protesters in central Tehran's Haft-e Tir square on Tuesday, a witness said, adding dozens of people were detained. "There are hundreds of riot police and plainclothes, beating people who gathered to support (opposition leader Mirhossein) Mousavi," the witness said. "There are hundreds of protesters at Haft-e Tir square."
The witness said the protesters were chanting slogans against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the government, including: "Ahmadinejad -- resign, resign" and "Death to the dictator."
The witness added: "Riot police are taking dozens of protesters into their cars and they are taking them away."
The Mashaie controversies
" Certain Internet sites published a report about Mr. Mashaie's resignation as first vice president in a coordinated action aimed at tarnishing the government "
VP Mashaie's personal website
The clashes came a day after Ahmadinejad's controversial choice for vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, denied media reports he had quit as a group of reformist clerics called for a referendum over the country's election process. "Certain Internet sites published a report about Mr. Mashaie's resignation as first vice president in a coordinated action aimed at tarnishing the government," said a statement on his personal website. "This is a lie, and these rumors have been spread by the enemies... of the government," it said.
On Sunday, state-owned English-language channel Press TV reported that Mashaie, a close aide to Ahmadinejad, had resigned three days after his appointment, which was strongly opposed by hardliners among the newly-re-elected president's own support base.
Mashaie, whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son, is an outspoken figure who last year earned the wrath of hardliners, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for saying Iran is a "friend of the Israeli people."
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The Lebanese army said on Tuesday it had uncovered a militant Islamist network that had been plotting to carry out attacks against United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and the army itself.
The army, in a statement, said it had detained the cell's 10 members. A security source said the men belonged to the al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam group which fought a 15-week battle with the army in 2007.
" Our investigation has shown that this network was planning to smuggle wanted terrorists out of Ain al-Helweh "
Army statement
The network, made up of members of different Arab origins and most of whom came from outside Lebanon, also planned to help "wanted terrorists" get out of the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp where many of them are holed up. "Our investigation has shown that this network was planning to smuggle wanted terrorists out of Ain el-Helweh (refugee camp) ... smuggle Fatah al-Islam fighters into Ain al-Helweh, to carry out attacks from Lebanon on targets abroad and create terrorist cells to monitor UNIFIL and the army in order to carry out terrorist attacks on them," the army statement said.
The security source told Reuters the ringleader of the arrested group, a Syrian national, had been found with six forged passports. "He travelled to six Arab countries in 15 days. His group was planning several attacks against a wide range of targets," the source said. Many of the men had taken up residence in Christian areas east of Beirut, he said.
The army statement said the network was also plotting attacks outside Lebanon.
Ain el-Helweh, located near the southern coastal town of Sidon, is the largest and most violent of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps. At least 430 people were killed in the fighting between Fatah al-Islam and the army. More than half of those killed were fighters from the group and 170 were soldiers.
In December, the group said it feared its leader Shaker al-Absi had been killed in Syria and named another member to lead the group. Last year, Syrian state television showed 12 alleged members of the group confessing that they had helped plan a suicide car bombing in Damascus that killed 17 people in September 2008.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam
#1
Fatah al-Islam: i.e. the Syrian expeditionary corp. Looks like Bashir took Obama's kowtowing to heart.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2009 11:08 Comments ||
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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] Iranian riot police clashed with hundreds of pro-reform protesters in central Tehran's Haft-e Tir square on Tuesday, a witness said, adding dozens of people were detained. "There are hundreds of riot police and plainclothes, beating people who gathered to support (opposition leader Mirhossein) Mousavi," the witness said. "There are hundreds of protesters at Haft-e Tir square."
