04/23 to 04/30 ***The***Winds***of***WAR***

[Housecarl]

Blind Chinese Legal Activist Fled House Arrest reported to be under US Protection
Started by Housecarl‎, Today 12:44 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showt...-US-Protection
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Well let's see how the Admin. handles this.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/04...est=latestnews

Blind Chinese legal activist who fled house arrest now under US protection, rights group says

Published April 28, 2012

Associated Press
BEIJING – A human rights group says a blind legal activist who fled house arrest in rural China is under the protection of U.S. officials and that high-level talks are taking place between the countries about his fate.

The Texas-based ChinaAid group said in a statement Saturday that Chen Guangcheng was under U.S. protection in Beijing. Some activists say Chen is in the U.S. Embassy after escaping from 18 months of house arrest in Shandong province earlier this week.

U.S. and Chinese officials have refused to comment.

Blinded by fever in infancy, Chen served four years in prison for exposing forced abortions and sterilizations. Since his release in September 2010, local officials confined him to his home, despite the lack of legal grounds for doing so.

[The Flying Dutchman]

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North Korea leader observes
military drill amid threats

Saturday, 28 April 2012 08:47
http://www.brecorder.com/world/south...-threats-.html

SEOUL:North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has observed a military exercise involving tanks, planes and artillery, official media said Saturday amid continuing threats by Pyongyang against South Korea.

Kim, supreme commander of the 1.2 million-strong military, "guided" the drill staged to mark the 80th anniversary of the armed forces, the state news agency reported without giving a date for the exercise.

"He called for mercilessly wiping out the enemies with the arms of justice and revenge if they dare provoke," it said.

The North has threatened "sacred war" against the South's conservative government in retaliation for perceived insults during Pyongyang's commemoration this month of the centenary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

There is also widespread speculation that the North may carry out another nuclear test following international criticism of its failed rocket launch on April 13.

South Korean and US defence officials see a "very high" chance of another test, Seoul's deputy defence minister Lim Kwan-Bin was quoted as saying Friday in Washington.

"The assessment of South Korea and the US is that chances are very high that North Korea will carry out a nuclear experiment," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying after two days of meetings with senior Pentagon officials.

"(We) can't predict the specific timing of it, but it is believed to be possible any time."

Lim said he had no firm evidence but cited Pyongyang's record of conducting nuclear tests following criticism of long-range missile launches in 2006 and 2009.

"There are many opinions that there is a high possibility that it will go ahead with a nuclear test to make up for the failed missile launch," he was quoted as saying.

South Korean and US officials reaffirmed they would stage a tough response to any additional provocations by the North, Lim said. The US bases 28,500 troops in the South.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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South Korea, U.S. Will Work to
Meet North Korea Nuclear Threat

By Sangim Han - Apr 27, 2012 10:07 PM CT
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...ar-threat.html

South Korea and the U.S. pledged to work together to meet the threat of North Korea developing weapons of mass destruction amid indications the country may be planning a third nuclear test.

The countries reaffirmed their commitment to coping with additional North Korean provocative actions and threats, such as the firing of a long-distance missile and a nuclear weapon test, South Korea’s National Defense Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today after a meeting earlier this week in Washington of the so-called Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue.

It was the first round of talks between the defense authorities since North Korea launched a rocket April 13 that disintegrated shortly after takeoff. North Korea has escalated threats against South Korea and the U.S. in recent weeks as the new leader Kim Jong Un celebrates the centennial of the birth of the country’s founder, his late grandfather Kim Il Sung.

U.S. satellite pictures from April 18 may show further activity at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington said today on its website called “38 North.”

The imagery “supports the contention that preparations are continuing and that the North Koreans are preceding as if the test go-ahead decision has already been made,” the report said. The pictures don’t “give any indication of when that detonation may take place.”

Stoke Tensions

North Korean watchers, such as David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, expect the regime in Pyongyang will try to conduct an underground nuclear explosion, a move that would stoke tensions with South Korea, the U.S. and the United Nations Security Council.

North Korea is already under UN sanctions for its two past nuclear tests, and the Security Council censured Kim’s government after this month’s rocket launch. That firing prompted a rare public admission of failure to the outside world and raised questions about whether Kim can secure his grip on the military and government as he confronts global condemnation and an economy that struggles to feed its own people.

Kim, who inherited power on the death of his father Kim Jong Il in December, observed a combined arms exercise to mark the 80th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said today, without specifying the date of the exercise.

South Korea and the U.S. also said they will strengthen cooperation in space and cyber-technology, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in its report on the talks in Washington held on April 26-27.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Satellite images show North Korea
gearing up for third nuclear test

Preparations seem to be underway at Punggye-ri nuclear
site, reveals the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins

April 28, 2012, 5:54 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/satelli...-nuclear-test/

WASHINGTON (AP) — New satellite imagery appears to show a train of mining carts and other preparations under way at North Korea’s nuclear test site but no indication of when a detonation might take place.

Early this month, South Korean intelligence reported digging of a new tunnel at the Punggye-ri site, which it took as a sign that North Korea was covertly preparing for a third nuclear test.

The US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies provided The Associated Press on Friday with its analysis of a sequence of photos of the site obtained from a private satellite operator and taken between March 8 and April 18.

The analysis estimates that 8,000 cubic meters (282,500 cubic feet) of rubble have been excavated at the site, where the communist country conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

“While it’s very clear from looking at these photos that the North has stepped up preparations for a nuclear test over the past few months, it’s unclear exactly when the blast will occur,” said Joel Wit, editor of the institute’s website, “38 North.”

North Korea already has drawn UN Security Council condemnation for a failed, long-range rocket launch April 13 which tried to put a satellite into orbit but was viewed by the US and other nations as a cover for a test of its ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang could face tougher sanctions if it goes ahead with a nuclear test.

Punggye-ri site lies in the country’s northeast, and the analysis says the images show various activities at the site since March. The latest photo shows a train of mining carts, which are believed to be used to carry material excavated from within the test site.

The size of the spoil pile appears unchanged in the latest image, and it is unclear whether the test device has been placed in the chamber and the shaft sealed with other material for the final preparation stage before a detonation, the analysis says.

North Korea’s longtime ruler Kim Jong Il died in December and was succeeded by his youngest son, Kim Jong Un. The North has stepped up its tough rhetoric against rival South Korea and the United States since the failed rocket test that blemished its commemorations of the centennial of the birth of the nation’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

On Wednesday, a top military chief in Pyongyang said the North is armed with “powerful modern weapons” capable of defeating the US — a claim questioned by experts.

Washington worries about the possibility that North Korea might develop a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile and wed it with a nuclear bomb. Outside experts say the North has enough plutonium for about four to eight “simple” bombs, but does not yet appear to have the ability to make bombs small enough to mount on a missile.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Could North Korea test "uranium bomb" for first time?

11:45 a.m. EDT, April 27, 2012
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...0,219272.story

VIENNA (Reuters) - North Korea, believed to be preparing for a third nuclear test, would probably be able to make and explode a uranium device for the first time after earlier relying on plutonium, a former chief U.N. inspector said.

If it were to do so, that would show North Korea had developed the technology to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU), putting it in a position to build up larger stocks of weapons-grade material.

"This assumes that the North Koreans have succeeded in producing HEU, in sufficient quantities as well, and have a bomb design," Olli Heinonen said in a paper he sent to Reuters on Friday. (http://tinyurl.com/c8x8etv)

A uranium enrichment facility of the type seen by a U.S. expert in late 2010 could be easily modified to produce HEU, said Heinonen, who headed safeguards inspections worldwide for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) until 2010.

North Korea, which tested plutonium devices in 2006 and 2009, has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, according to a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing.

With only limited plutonium stocks, North Korea admitted two years ago that it was working on enriching uranium.

The smuggling network of Pakistani nuclear proliferator A.Q. Khan, which sold nuclear secrets to North Korea and others, had design drawings of a uranium device developed in the mid-1990s, Heinonen said.

And in any case, he said, "due to the fact that they were able to make a plutonium device, they should also be able to make a uranium one."

RAPIDLY EXPANDING ARSENAL

Siegfried Hecker, the U.S. expert who saw the North's enrichment facility, believes the country has 24-42 kg (53 to 95 pounds) of plutonium, enough for four to eight bombs.

But the North's plutonium-based programme at its Yongbyon complex was suspended under a now-defunct 2005 international disarmament deal.

"North Korea's plutonium stockpile is only sufficient to produce a handful of weapons and, given the dilapidated state of its plutonium production infrastructure, producing more would be slow-going and very noticeable," James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said.

In contrast, the enrichment programme appears capable of "significantly expanding North Korea's arsenal," he added.

It is easier to design a bomb with uranium than plutonium, but harder to make a warhead with HEU to mount on a missile.

With IAEA inspectors thrown out, nuclear experts find it hard to assess how far North Korea has progressed in its uranium enrichment programme.

If commissioning of the enrichment site had been successful, North Korea would now have at least 3.5 tonnes of low-enriched uranium, Heinonen said, with a fissile concentration still well below the 90 percent level required for bombs.

To produce weapons-grade material, it could install 1,000 more enrichment machines to convert an annual production of 1.8 tonnes of low-enriched uranium to 40 kg of HEU, he said.

"This is an amount sufficient to generate the necessary fissile material for one to two additional nuclear bombs per year," Heinonen, now a senior fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, said.

For North Korea, a test would showcase its technological skills, helping to impress a hard-line military at home and buyers of North Korean weapons, one of its few viable exports.

It would come as Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule North Korea, seeks to cement his grip on power.

North Korea has yet to show, however, that it can make a bomb small enough to fit on a missile. A test-launch on April 13 of a long-range missile also failed.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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25 April - 1 May 2012
Issue No. 1095

Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Messages of warning

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1095/eg1.htm

As the military celebrated the anniversary of Sinai's liberation, the head of the ruling Armed Forces addressed friends and foes alike, Amirah Ibrahim reports

A dispute over gas exports to Israel developed into threats by Israeli officials which were summarily dismissed by the Egyptian military.

As the backdrop, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sami Anan attended two major exercises held this week in Sinai carried out by the Second and Third Armies. The games were 150 minutes each and troops staged a number of mock battles across the open desert in the depths of the Sinai Peninsula, some 100 kilometres from Ismailia.

Battalions of armoured vehicles, tanks, air defence units, commandos and paratroopers took part in the manoeuvres, as did a number of the most advanced air force fighter jets.

The exercises marked the anniversary of Sinai's liberation on 25 April, celebrated as a national holiday every year.

On Saturday, the Third Army held its military exercise codenamed Badr 2 or Full Moon. According to Major General Sidki Sobhi, commander of the Third Army, the exercise was part of annual military manoeuvres staged by the army. "We held Badr 1 in January," stated Sobhi. He insisted that none of the military exercises scheduled for the Third Army had been cancelled or delayed. "This exercise sends a message to the Egyptian people who deserve all the love and respect, regardless of those who are disloyal and suspect every one and every thing. The message is that your Armed Forces are well prepared and are paying attention to their main tasks which are to defend and protect the country."

Sobhi explained that the troops entrusted with safeguarding the public were not part of the fighting units. "We are sure how far the people trust the army, but this exercise helps mobilise the soldiers who keep training and training and will only be satisfied with their preparations through comprehensive manoeuvres," Sobhi added.

On Monday, the Second Army held extensive live fire battles codenamed Nasr 7 or Victory. According to Mohamed Hegazi, commander of the Second Army, the games consisted of three phases -- between 15-18 April, on 22 April and the final phase on Tuesday.

On Israeli threats following the decision on Sunday by Egypt to scrap a gas deal with Israel, Hegazi said, "The Second Army, as part of the Armed Forces, will reply with extreme force to any threat across the Eastern border line, who ever makes them. This is a message to those who are threatening to reconsider their calculations before targeting our borders and troops by any hostile attack. We are capable of securing the eastern borders, well equipped, prepared, trained and first and foremost our soldiers have strong self-confidence defending their country and their honour," Hegazi told the media.

According to Hegazi, two committees from parliament visited the military points in Arish and were satisfied by the military preparations to secure the borders.

Hegazi indicated the exercises in Sinai were conducted under full control and supervision of the Egyptian Armed Forces. He dismissed claims that Israeli approvals were requested beforehand.

"This is an Egyptian exercise by Egyptian troops over Egyptian land. No one would dare interfere. MFO troops monitor both sides, not only the Egyptian side, and this part of the peace accord has nothing to do with normal military exercises," Hegazi added.

"You have given a terrific performance using your weapons and equipment," Tantawi then told the troops. "I want every one of you to pay more attention to his weapon and be more careful in maintaining it," Tantawi stated. "Egypt is passing through a difficult time with regards to economic conditions. We don't have the luxury of trashing old weapons and buying new onesâê¦ you know your weapons are equipped with the most advanced components that your enemy would have.

"I want you as well to watch out for what is being cooked underground against the army. We recognise why some would call to reduce the volume of the Egyptian army or to switch its mission from defending the country against hostile acts on the borders to fighting terrorism via claims that Egypt has no enemies after signing the peace treaty. This is the voice of defeat and loss. Look how things are going across the eastern borders and what can happen. You should cut the throat of anyone inside or outside who adopts such calls."

Tantawi added that the Egyptian army had always had a mission to defend the nation, not to assault or raid other nations. "Yet, we are ready to break the bones and cripple those who dare to come closer to our border than they should."

To make sure the messages were received and understood, a number of parliament members, representing Sinai's two governorates, Northern Sinai and Southern Sinai, as well as the Suez Canal's three governorates, Ismailia, Port Said and Suez, were invited to the military exercises on Saturday and Monday, along with members of the parliament's Defence and National Security Committee. Dozens of university students were invited as well.

At Agroud near Suez, Tantawi asserted to troops that "those who tend to insult the army and underestimate the great job it had been doing were a few" but said he was confident the army cares about the people and country and thus would not reply. "We are capable of hitting with an iron fist, but will not. We will hand over power to a civil authority elected by the people, and Egypt will have a new constitution written by all Egyptians."

Tantawi asserted the army will never give up its commitment towards helping rebuild the economy which he said had been damaged badly over the past year and earlier. "By law and the constitution, the Armed Forces are committed in times of peace to use its facilities and equipment to contribute to development plans. We will expand our projects as far as we can, not only in the southern Eastern Owinat area, but also in the Delta and Sinai."

Tantawi said that the achievement of the Armed Forces following the 25 January Revolution will be marked not just by history "but that the present will have a word of truth to say.

"Egyptians are free people, who will never be forced to do anything against their will," Tantawi added.

Replying to those who insisted Egypt should have cut ties with the US following recent rows, Tantawi asked: "Why should I make enemies while I can benefit from them? We will continue with cooperation as long as they do not interfere in our internal affairs. But he who wants to be an enemy will certainly regret it as our forces are ready to reply strongly," he added.

At Om Qamara, the theatre of the second army exercise on Monday, Tantawi's comments appeared more aggressive. He warned political forces against pushing the army into politics which he said aimed at damaging the military. "We have never been involved in politics, neither in the near future or farther. Attempts by political forces to push the army with or against them will certainly ruin our honourable military. But I want them to hear this: it will be 'over our dead bodies'. Our slogan is 'victory or martyrdom'".

Tantawi told the troops to follow their commanders, ignore critics and "only believe how they are blessed by God and supported by all the Egyptian people to go on with the historic responsibility to save the future of the nation."

He morally mobilised the troops, recalling conflicts in recent history "when the army wrote its honourable record.

"In 1956, when the Tripartite Aggression led by Britain, France and Israel, plotted against Egypt, the people did not give up and fought the battle to the end.

Following the 1967 defeat, the late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser stepped down after he recognised he was the real target of Western governments which helped Israel. But the people again had their say, and refused. Later on the people fought and achieved the 1973 victory."

To a request by a Sinai parliamentary member to allow Bedouins to own their land, Tantawi asked the MP to alert his people not to sell land to non-Egyptians. "Sinai is a very special area. We cannot allow selling the land we sacrificed our sons and brothers for long years, and then regret it."

He added that Sinai inhabitants should help rebuild new police forces and stop hostile acts against policemen. "You should revive the positive role your sheikhs used to play and help smooth out communication with the government."

Tantawi blamed parliamentary members for insulting the army. "Those who insult the military in parliament aim to break the army. You are representing the whole people, including army officers and soldiers and thus you are obliged to defend them and stop such insults," Tantawi told parliamentary members attending the exercise. When the MPs said the insults were made by only "a few", Tantawi retorted: "Well, cut the throat of such few. The troops do not relax and keep training to ensure the safety of the people and the country, and they deserve to be highly appreciated."

Tantawi asserted the SCAF would never use military force against the people or allow the killing of any Egyptian by the army. "The troops are responsible for protecting society but are incapable of using force because it means killing their people. History will never write it that way. We will stand by our people till they are safe and stable. I am not a politician, not a president. Ruling the country is like a fireball but we accepted the responsibility as it is our national duty."






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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25 April - 1 May 2012
Issue No. 1095

Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1095/fr2.htm

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Egypt blocks the pipe

Cutting off gas exports to Israel might have felt like a bombshell but it
didn't come out of the blue, write Niveen Wahish and Sherine Abdel-Razek

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The export deal under which Egypt pumps natural gas to Israel has been the focus of popular discontent since it was signed in 2005. Following the toppling of Hosni Mubarak that discontent bubbled increasingly to the fore. The pipeline carrying gas to Arish in North Sinai, from where it continues underwater to Ashkelon in Israel, has been attacked 14 times since January 2011.

The pipeline is owned and operated by East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), a consortium of Egyptian, Israeli and other investors formed in 2005. Egypt's General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has a 10 per cent stake in EMG.

The cancellation of the export contract is a purely commercial dispute, Mohamed Shoeib, the CEO of Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), has been quoted as saying. Minister of Petroleum Abdallah Ghorab has also stressed that the decision is apolitical, the result of a dispute between companies that are party to a contract. Under the terms of the contract, should the buyer fail to make payments for four consecutive months, the seller has the right to terminate the deal.

During a press briefing earlier this week Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abul-Naga said five notifications of non-payment had been issued.

Cancellation of the export contract has met with public applause. Parliament commended the move, and judging by comments posted on the Internet, the public is elated. Ending gas exports to Israel had been a popular demand long before the revolution. It was partly fuelled by economics -- the gas was being sold at below international prices -- but mainly by anti-Israeli sentiment.

MP Emad Gad says the decision relieves Egypt of a burden it could ill afford. Gas was being exported at a quarter of its real price and the Israelis, unlike the Jordanians, to whom Egypt also exports natural gas, had refused to renegotiate the contract.

Egypt was exporting gas to Israel at $0.75-1.25 per million metric British thermal units (MMBTU) at a time when it is selling for $13 per MMBTU on the international market. Cancelling the deal means Egypt keeps 1.7 billion cubic metres of gas that can now be used to replace petroleum products imported to meet domestic energy demands.

"Egypt should save $2 billion annually," says Ramadan Abul-Ela, professor of petroleum engineering at Alexandria University.

The government might be spinning the cancellation of the contract as the result of a commercial dispute, says Gamal Abdel-Gawad, of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, but in essence it is a political decision that "reflects a political system no longer able to resist popular opposition to the exports of gas to Israel".

The decision, believes Abdel-Gawad, is timely, since the ramifications could have been serious if the authorities were seen to have cancelled the contract in the face of popular pressure.

The move also pulls the rug from beneath presidential candidates, all of whom had made cancelling the exports part of their programme. Abdel-Gawad expects Israel to leave no stone unturned in its attempts to reinstate the contract, either through legal channels or by pressing Washington to pressure Cairo.

Ramadan Abul-Ela is less sanguine about the timing.

"It looks like a stunt by existing policy-makers who want accrue some credit with the public," he says. Egypt should have taken the step a year ago "when the world's sympathy was with us".

Now, he points out, the contract is being cancelled when both sides have committed infringements. "Israel might not have paid," says Abul-Ela, "but Egypt failed to deliver".

Though Abul-Naga insists Egypt remains ready to sign a new contract as long as the terms are acceptable, Abdel-Gawad finds the suggestion implausible.

"It was one thing when there was an unpopular contract in place with which they were complying, another thing altogether for the government to enter into a new contract. The political price is simply too high."

Abul-Naga's statement, says Gad, was for diplomatic consumption, the suggestion that the Egyptian government is not against another deal intended to head off any pressure from Washington.

The halt in gas supplies is a headache for Israel. Before the interruption caused by attacks against the pipeline Egypt supplied 40 per cent of Israel's natural gas, representing a third of Israel's total fuel. Gas reserves have been found off Israel's Mediterranean shore but they will not be online for at least five years.

The immediate reaction of Israeli officials was that ending the contract cast a shadow over the Camp David peace accord.

The New York Times quoted Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz: cancelling the contract, he said, sets "a dangerous precedent that overshadows the peace agreements between Israel and Egypt". The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz railing against "a blatant infringement of the peace treaty" and demanding Washington, as guarantor of the Camp David Accords, intervene.

Israeli officials later toned down their statements, repeating Cairo's line that the cancellation was a commercial dispute.

In the wake of the cancellation of the gas export contract calls have already been voiced for the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) protocol to be terminated. Such demands, says Gad, are unjustified. QIZ, signed in 2004, allows Egyptian manufacturers to export goods to the US without incurring customs provided they have an 11.7 per cent Israeli input.

"Before annulling the agreement the opinion of factory owners must be taken into account," says Gad. It would be necessary to ensure products remain competitive when exported outside the framework of QIZ and that markets exist that can absorb the production.

(When business talks politics -- full coverage p.7)



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Arab press wonders:
Is Israel going to attack or not?

Commentators try to make sense of the
Barak-Gantz contradictory statements on Iran

By Jed Halfon
April 28, 2012, 3:36 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-pr...attack-or-not/

Contradictory statements by the IDF’s top brass have left newscasters and pundits in the Arab press with more questions than answers.

In an article Saturday entitled “Israel’s Increasing Ambiguity on Iran,” Elaph, a leading Arabic online newspaper, cites IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz saying that economic sanctions have been effective against Iran, and further, that “I do not believe Iran will decide to develop nuclear weapons.”

Elaph juxtaposes his stance with Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s statement on Friday that sanctions had almost no chance of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The newspaper features a follow up article which includes the Iranian response to Barak and Gantz. Iranian Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ramin Mehmanparsat said that sanctions had actually “strengthened” the Iranian economy by making it more “self sufficient.” He also said that the Iranian military was in a position of unprecedented strength, and the chance of an attack on Iran was “very small.”

An editorial in Al Arabiya entitled “War on Iran” also addresses the effects of economic sanctions. Saad bin Ajami compares Iran to North Korea and argues that, indeed, economic sanctions are working. The crippling effect on the North Korean economy and continuing food shortage have dissuaded Iran from pursuing a similar course. Ajami further argues that the irrational and often erratic behavior of North Korea’s leaders could not be expected from Iran.

Al Ahram also cites Barak’s comments in discussing the potential for a regional arms race between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey, should Iran acquire nuclear weapons. Headlined with a front page photo of Barak addressing a unit of IDF soldiers, the article does not mention Gantz’s statement, but highlights Barak’s view that Israel remains a regional power “from Tripoli to Tehran.”

Upcoming anniversary of bin Laden’s death

Ahead of the May 2 anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, numerous Arabic papers feature articles on his legacy and family. Both Al Quds and Elaph cite White House Press Secretary Jay Carney saying that much of the Al Qaeda “nucleus” had been destroyed. According to the report, the threat of further attacks still remains, and is intensified by the geographic depth of Al Qaeda and the enduring support for “global Jihad.”

A Sharq Al Awsat focuses on potential security risks in the United Sates ahead of the coming anniversary. The newspaper cites the Obama administration’s announcement that it was not aware of any credible threats, but still urged “caution” and prudence. A Sharq al Awsat also mentions Joe Biden’s comments this week at a speech at New York University. Taking jabs at likely presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the newspaper views the outright criticism of Romney’s foreign policy as marking the beginning of the presidential race.

Al Quds runs another article that discusses members of bin Laden’s family and their detainment in Pakistan for almost a year. Bin Laden’s three wives and two daughters are being deported to Saudi Arabia after serving out a sentence for illegal residency. Al Quds also notes that the legacy of the attack on bin Laden remains tainted, as requests to release footage and detailed information about the incursion into Pakistan had recently been denied by the court on the grounds of “legitimate security considerations.”

Salafists losing steam in Tahrir

Al Ahram reports that rallies in Egypt’s Tahrir Square for barred candidate Hazem Abu Ismail have lost steam and had a small turnout yesterday. The protest planned by supporters of Abu Ismail, and also endorsed by Ikhwan Online, the official news site of the Muslim Brotherhood, was largely overshadowed by protests elsewhere. Dar Al Hayat similarly emphasizes that the showing in Tahrir was noticeably smaller than the preceding weeks which included tens of thousands of supporters.

Al Masry al Youm described the Friday protest as being significantly more robust, highlighting the “thousands of supporters” who marched to the Ministry of Defense and who are staging an ongoing protest there. Leading with photos of the demonstration in front of cadres of military personnel, Al Masry Al Youm states that the Salafist movement denies organizing this protest and has call for sit-ins elsewhere.

Local Egyptian paper Youm7 also overshadows Friday’s protest with the ongoing demonstration at the Ministry of Defense, and describes the gathering as a more diverse group, with April 6 Movement followers and Ultras taking part as well.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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April 27, 2012, 3:19 p.m. EDT

Wired:
US Air Force Quietly Assembling
Near Iran

By Benzinga.com
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wir...ran-2012-04-27

Wired's David Axe reported Friday that "[t]he US Air Force is quietly assembling the world's most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran." The "aerial armada" includes a formidable team of F-22 Raptors and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles. According to Axe, "[t]he Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war. The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry."

According to Axe, the Air Force has not "maintained a significant dogfighting presence in the Middle East" for years. In the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US Air Force deployed ground-attack fighters "such as A-10s, F-16s, and twin-seat F-15E Strike Eagles". In light of structural problems with the "1980s-vintage F-15Cs", Axe reported that "[t]he Air Force fixed the F-15s and partially patched up the F-22s just in time for the escalating stand-off over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program." Axe: "In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an 'undisclosed' air base in Southwest Asia"; Axe suggested that this air base is either in the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. Col. Robert Brooks has said that the Massachusetts Guardsmen would be ready "should Iran test the 104th".

Axe discussed that the "US dogfighting armada" assembling near Iran would likely use tactical methods such as the silent exchange of data through radio data-links and flying in stealth mode in small numbers in order to "wipe out the antiquated but determined Iranian air force" in the event that war breaks out in the Middle East. Even so, Axe concluded in that even though the air-to-air fighters and pilots are ready, "[h]opefully they won't be needed." In light of increasing military tension in the Middle East, the Associated Press reported Thursday that Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has said that "other countries have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran's nuclear sites to keep Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons." Whereas Gantz did not elaborate as to which nations are willing to support an attack or take direct action against Iran, Gantz's "comments were one of the strongest hints yet that Israel may have the backing of other countries" in possibly striking Iran.

Gantz: "The military force is ready. Not only our forces, but other forces as well." Gantz told the Associated Press, "We all hope that there will be no necessity to use this force, but we are absolutely sure of its existence." Interestingly, MarketWatch's Claudia Assis reported Friday that the price of oil has risen near its 4-week high. Assis: "Oil futures on Friday extended a winning streak to a fourth day, shaking off initial weakness to end modestly higher." West Texas Intermediate crude oil is currently trading at $104.72 per barrel.I recently discussed how we may see oil futures rise considerably in the days and weeks before a military strike if the market anticipates that Iran will be attacked. Traders who believe that the price of oil will rise in the near future in light of military tension in the Middle East may want to take a look at ProShares Ultra DJ-AIG Crude Oil ETF /quotes/zigman/4194802/quotes/nls/uco UCO +0.46% , iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return /quotes/zigman/1494100/quotes/nls/oil OIL +0.31% , PowerShares DB Oil Fund /quotes/zigman/1502435/quotes/nls/dbo DBO +0.27% , and PowerShares DB Crude Oil Long ETN /quotes/zigman/1516154/quotes/nls/olo OLO +1.18% .

[The Flying Dutchman]

=

Hezbollah said to be bolstering its
drone unit in case Israel attacks Iran

US officials also probe Beirut’s banks out of concern that
Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran are using them for money laundering

By Michal Shmulovich
April 28, 2012, 4:08 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezboll...-attacks-iran/

Hezbollah has been allocating “increased resources toward bolstering its drone unit,” an unnamed security source said, according to a report published by Yedioth Ahronoth Friday. The terror group possesses Ababil (“Swallow”) drones, manufactured and provided by Iran, and is reportedly gearing up to use the unmanned aerial vehicles in case Israel strikes Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran is widely believed to fund, train, and arm Lebanese-based Hezbollah, which the United States and European Union consider a foreign terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is scrutinizing Lebanon’s financial banking system out of concern that Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah are using Beirut’s banks to evade “international sanctions and fund their activities,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Treasury Department and Drug Enforcement Administration are probing Hezbollah’s money-laundering operations, which involve “millions of dollars in drug sales revenues from a Lebanese narco-trafficker that they say have gone to the Lebanese militia and political group [Hezbollah],” US officials said, according to the Journal.

US officials are also worried that Syrian President Bashar Assad may be using Lebanese channels to move money around, particularly after international sanctions were leveled against him because of his regime’s ongoing clampdown on Syrian civilians and political opponents.

In a related incident, a cargo ship suspected of shuttling a large cache of weapons to Syrian rebels was seized by the Lebanese Navy Friday. Crew members were arrested, as was the owner of the ship, who is believed to be a Syrian national.

The vessel allegedly departed from Libya and stopped in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria before making its way to Tripoli, a northern port city in Lebanon.





=

[The Flying Dutchman]

=








..

Iranian naval admiral:
‘If needed, we can move to
within three miles of New York’

By Reza Kahlili
The Daily Caller – 11 hrs ago...
http://news.yahoo.com/iranian-naval-...021602873.html

The Islamic Republic of Iran said Tuesday that it has the ability to position a naval vessel within three miles of the East Coast of the United States.

“The power of our naval forces is such that we have a presence in all the waters of the world and, if needed, we can move to within three miles of New York,” Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Tuesday during a speech to the students of the University of Yazd in Iran. His remarks were quoted by an Iranian student news agency.

This naval saber rattling represents a stark escalation in Iran’s war rhetoric, as the West weighs the question of whether to impose new economic sanctions or directly attack the Islamic regime’s illicit nuclear facilities.

“The Americans’ only tool to rule the world is their naval dominance of the Persian Gulf,” Fadavi added, “and they will face any other power that threatens their status.”

The admiral was speaking on the anniversary of a failed April 24, 1980 U.S. military operation — dubbed “Operation Eagle Claw” — that sought to rescue American hostages held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

A Pentagon official responded to Fadavi’s claim on Friday. “You should ask the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps what their plans are,” the official told The Daily Caller. “We support freedom of the seas and encourage all countries to follow international laws.”

But on Friday, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Iran’s top air force commander, told the Fars New Agency that the Islamic republic’s military is also capable of crippling or disabling U.S. aircraft carriers.

“First, sinking an aircraft carrier is not a complicated task,” Hajizadeh said. ”Second, an aircraft carrier is equipped with so many advanced, delicate, and sensitive devices … that it could be incapacitated by even the smallest explosion.”

Although the U.S. military would likely intercept Iranian naval vessels before they could enter U.S. territorial waters, Iranian commercial vessels sailing under another country’s flag — if en route to Venezuela, for instance — could come close enough to the American shoreline to strike the U.S. Iran already possesses the capability to launch ballistic missiles from a ship.

Concerns about Iran’s nuclear-weapons ambitions make the threat of a naval incursion into U.S. waters a more pressing issue. Texas Republican Rep. Michael Conaway is promoting the Credible Military Option to Counter Iran Act, H.R. 4485, as one measure to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

The bill formalizes an understood U.S. policy “to take all necessary measures, including military action if required, to prevent Iran from threatening the United States, its allies, or Iran’s neighbors with a nuclear weapon.” It also allocates more than $594 million to enhance American firepower in the Persian Gulf region in fiscal 2012 and 2013.

“Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is among the most urgent national security challenges facing the United States,” Conaway wrote Wednesday in a “dear colleague” letter to other members of Congress. His legislation is needed, he said, “to prevent the increasingly dangerous situation in Iran from spiraling out of control.”

“My bill demonstrates to a defiant Iranian regime that the United States is prepared to take military action should they not halt their nuclear program,” Conaway told TheDC on Friday. “We must have a credible military option on the table to advance any real negotiations.”

Iranian Revolutionary Guards naval commanders said in July 2011 that they would expand their mission into the Atlantic Ocean, and that the country had equipped a number of its vessels with long-range ballistic missiles.

In September, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Iran planned to deploy naval vessels in the Atlantic Ocean. “The Navy has a strong presence in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean and international waters and soon it will be present in the Atlantic Ocean,” Vahidi said.

On that same day, Rear Adm. Fadavi dismissed the idea of setting up a military hotline between U.S. and Iran. Media reports had quoted an unidentified U.S. defense official floating the idea after a series of close encounters between the countries’ forces in the Persian Gulf.

“When we go to the Gulf of Mexico,” Fadavi said, “we will establish direct communication with them.”

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the author of the award winning book ”A Time to Betray.” He teaches at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA) and is a member of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security.




=

[The Flying Dutchman]

=

US changes tune on Iranian nukes

The Obama administration might let Tehran enrich
uranium to 5% if it guarantees international oversight

By Ilan Ben ZionApril 28, 2012, 12:04 pm2
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-chan...clear-program/

Obama administration officials said they might let Iran keep part of its disputed nuclear program if Tehran were to restrict its ability to develop a nuclear weapon, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.

US government officials said that if the Iranian government agrees to unrestricted inspections and strict oversight, Iran could continue enriching uranium to 5% purity, the upper limit for non-military nuclear uses.

A senior Obama administration official told the Los Angeles Times that if Iran fulfills monitoring and safeguard requirements set by the UN and world powers, “there can be a discussion” of allowing non-military enrichment, “and maybe we can get there, potentially.”

He emphasized the fact that Iran’s past refusal to meet international requirements makes the likelihood of such an arrangement unlikely.

Both the US and Iran have hinted at a reevaluation of their positions on the Iranian nuclear issue ahead of a second round of negotiations scheduled for May 13. Earlier this week, Al Arabiya reported that members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps urged Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to consider halting uranium enrichment at 20%.

The Obama administration’s discussion of a softening of stance will likely prompt vociferous objections from Israeli leaders and Republican politicians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak reject the possibility of any Iranian nuclear program and have stated that Israel will not tolerate a nuclear-capable Iran.

Iran has produced approximately 100 kilograms of 20%-enriched uranium for what it claims are peaceful purposes, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has purified almost 6 tons at 5% or below. Weaponized uranium is 90% enriched or more.





=

[Be Well]

Reading this thread and having just watched Rumors of War Part 3, I am very nervous.

[OldArcher]

=

April 27, 2012, 3:19 p.m. EDT

Wired:
US Air Force Quietly Assembling
Near Iran

By Benzinga.com
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wir...ran-2012-04-27

Wired's David Axe reported Friday that "[t]he US Air Force is quietly assembling the world's most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran." The "aerial armada" includes a formidable team of F-22 Raptors and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles. According to Axe, "[t]he Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war. The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry."

According to Axe, the Air Force has not "maintained a significant dogfighting presence in the Middle East" for years. In the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US Air Force deployed ground-attack fighters "such as A-10s, F-16s, and twin-seat F-15E Strike Eagles". In light of structural problems with the "1980s-vintage F-15Cs", Axe reported that "[t]he Air Force fixed the F-15s and partially patched up the F-22s just in time for the escalating stand-off over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program." Axe: "In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an 'undisclosed' air base in Southwest Asia"; Axe suggested that this air base is either in the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. Col. Robert Brooks has said that the Massachusetts Guardsmen would be ready "should Iran test the 104th".

Axe discussed that the "US dogfighting armada" assembling near Iran would likely use tactical methods such as the silent exchange of data through radio data-links and flying in stealth mode in small numbers in order to "wipe out the antiquated but determined Iranian air force" in the event that war breaks out in the Middle East. Even so, Axe concluded in that even though the air-to-air fighters and pilots are ready, "[h]opefully they won't be needed." In light of increasing military tension in the Middle East, the Associated Press reported Thursday that Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has said that "other countries have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran's nuclear sites to keep Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons." Whereas Gantz did not elaborate as to which nations are willing to support an attack or take direct action against Iran, Gantz's "comments were one of the strongest hints yet that Israel may have the backing of other countries" in possibly striking Iran.

Gantz: "The military force is ready. Not only our forces, but other forces as well." Gantz told the Associated Press, "We all hope that there will be no necessity to use this force, but we are absolutely sure of its existence." Interestingly, MarketWatch's Claudia Assis reported Friday that the price of oil has risen near its 4-week high. Assis: "Oil futures on Friday extended a winning streak to a fourth day, shaking off initial weakness to end modestly higher." West Texas Intermediate crude oil is currently trading at $104.72 per barrel.I recently discussed how we may see oil futures rise considerably in the days and weeks before a military strike if the market anticipates that Iran will be attacked. Traders who believe that the price of oil will rise in the near future in light of military tension in the Middle East may want to take a look at ProShares Ultra DJ-AIG Crude Oil ETF /quotes/zigman/4194802/quotes/nls/uco UCO +0.46% , iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return /quotes/zigman/1494100/quotes/nls/oil OIL +0.31% , PowerShares DB Oil Fund /quotes/zigman/1502435/quotes/nls/dbo DBO +0.27% , and PowerShares DB Crude Oil Long ETN /quotes/zigman/1516154/quotes/nls/olo OLO +1.18% .

Taking out the Iranian fast movers is easy- attacking and destroying Iran's formidable anti-aircraft defenses will NOT be easy... Russia and China have invested their best weapons' systems in this endeavor- for China, it's the supply of Iranian crude, while for Russia, it's their support of the Islamofascisti... Neither can afford to lose face.

My guess? F22s take out airborne assets, followed by B2s to take out ground based radar and anti-aircraft systems. These would be followed by B1Bs and the BUFFs, going after the nuclear sites. That is, IF, the US seeks to slow the Iranians efforts down with conventional weapons. No plan survives first contact, which means that Murphy is hiding somewhere near... He just LOVES to screw things up... No matter how it goes, lives will be lost, and it will be expensive...

OA, out...

[The Flying Dutchman]

=

Russia, China agree on Syria,
North Korea: Chinese minister

Reuters
2:22 p.m. EDT, April 28, 2012
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,6565008.story

MOSCOW (Reuters) - China and Russia agree entirely with each other's positions on the crisis in Syria and on North Korea's nuclear program, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said on Saturday in Moscow.

"The sides hold 100 percent coinciding positions on the issues of North Korea and Syria," Cheng, who was accompanying Vice Premier Li Keqiang on a visit to Russia, told reporters through an interpreter.

Dmitry Medvedev Russia and China have protected Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by blocking two U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning a government crackdown in which the United Nations says 9,000 people have been killed since March 2011.

While publicly opposing foreign interference and particularly military intervention in Syria, they have both backed U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan in Security Council votes and urged the government and rebels to adhere to a ceasefire.

China and Russia criticized North Korea's defiant launch of long-range rocket this month, but both called for restraint.

The two veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members use their clout to blunt U.S. power, advocating what they call a "multipolar" world rather than one dominated by any single country.

At the same time, they compete for influence in former Soviet Central Asia and struggle to hash out differences over energy supplies despite an apparent natural fit between Russia and the world's fastest growing energy consumer.

Li, who is on track to succeed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao later this year, met on Friday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who will be inaugurated to a six-year presidential term on May 7.





=

[The Flying Dutchman]

=

03-27-2009 16:59

North Korea: Here We Go Again!

By Ralph A. Cossa
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...137_42086.html

HONOLULU ¯ North Korean ``Dear Leader'' Kim Jong-il is a hard person to like; he is an even harder person to ignore. At a time when the rest of the world would prefer to focus its attention elsewhere, the North Korean leader is trying his best to shine the spotlight on the one area of the world where the global financial crisis matters little, his own already-failed state.

I'm talking here about Kim's announced intention, in the face of several 2006 (but still valid) United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding otherwise, to soon conduct a ``satellite launch'' using Pyongyang's newest long-range ballistic missile ¯ an action that all others are calling a barely disguised missile test.

The missile launch drama has played out over several months now, since intelligence sources originally reported seeing launch preparations under way at the North's ballistic missile test facility shortly after President Barack Obama was inaugurated.

This impending missile activity (now scheduled to take place between from April 4 to 8) has prompted calls from pundits (not to mention legislators and even some government officials) in Washington, Tokyo and elsewhere, to shoot down the missile, or better yet (their caveat, not mine), to destroy it on the launch pad before it can be fired, given its potential threat to Japan and to locations as far away as the Hawaiian Islands or Alaska.

Let me hasten to add that, as a Hawaii resident, I lose little sleep over the prospects of a North Korean missile attack.

Given that the assessed accuracy of North Korea's long-range missiles is estimated at plus or minus 100 kilometers (62 miles), even if the North was foolish and suicidal enough to try to shoot a missile at Hawaii, it would pose a much greater danger to our migrating whales than to my downtown condominium ¯ Greenpeace, are you listening?

The Japanese have more reason to be concerned; not just because they are closer (and thus have almost no time to assess the true nature and direction of any launch) and have been more directly targeted by vehement North Korean tirades, but because many fear that even a legitimate satellite launch could very well result in missile components falling on Japanese territory.

Pyongyang has announced that the first stage booster rockets will splash down in a ``danger area'' within 75 miles of Japan (second phase boosters are expected to land in the middle of the Pacific halfway between Japan and Hawaii).

As a result, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force plans to deploy an Aegis missile-equipped destroyer armed with interceptor missiles to the Sea of Japan in anticipation of a North Korean missile launch.

While Japan has no capability (and thus no intention) to preemptively strike the missile on its launching pad, a senior Japanese defense official has stated, ``We would have no other choice but to intercept'' if the missile appeared to present a direct threat to Japan.

Whether they would be successful or not is, of course, another story, but it could provide target practice for Japan's Aegis-equipped ships. (Please note here that I am not advocating an attempt to shoot down a rocket in the process of launching a satellite, only responding to falling debris or an errant missile if it threatens Japan.)

The United States, which has the capability to preempt, apparently (and wisely) also has no intent to do so at this stage of the game. Instead, Washington keeps reminding Pyongyang that such actions are ``unhelpful" and could have serious consequences.

Pyongyang's reaction to such threats (real, imagined or merely hypothesized) has been considerably less nuanced: ``If the enemies recklessly opt for intercepting our satellite, our revolutionary armed forces will launch without hesitation a just retaliatory strike operation, not only against all the interceptor means involved but against [U.S., Japanese, and South Korean] strongholds,'' the North Korean general staff said in a statement, further asserting that ``shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war.''

For good measure, they have also threatened to walk away from the six-party talks if the Security Council responds negatively to their satellite launch.

That Pyongyang seems intent on launching its missile seems clear; what's less clear are Kim Jong-il's motives. The probability that this could very well force a hardening of the current more flexible U.S. position toward direct negotiations with Pyongyang seems to have escaped him completely.

Or, perhaps he believes that such confrontational behavior will (as all too often in the past) increase rather than decrease the prospects for dialogue on his terms. At a minimum, he is once again successfully diverting attention away from the real problem at hand, which is dealing with Pyongyang's nuclear weapons capability.

The North's bellicose behavior is disappointing and potentially counterproductive ¯ why would any country think it in their interest to be the first to test the resolve of a new administration, especially one in the process of reviewing its policy toward your nation.

But it is hardly surprising, given the tepid response to past provocative actions. In truth, the mere announcement of a planned missile launch, even with a satellite attached, represents a bigger challenge and test of resolve to the Security Council and its permanent members than to the United States alone.

It should be noted here that, absent of the two Security Council resolutions, North Korea would have as much right to launch satellites (or even test missiles) as South Korea, India, the United States, or anyone else. But this is not the case today.

Pyongyang's 2006 missile launches and nuclear test prompted two stern Security Council resolutions (1695 and 1718, respectively).

These ``demanded'' a halt in all ballistic missile activity; the second even authorized Chapter VII enforcement mechanisms in the case of noncompliance, but with the caveat that only ``measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions'' and even then only after additional Security Council consultation.

This is hardly a deterrent. Nor have the ``mandatory'' actions ¯ which prohibited the export to North Korea of military hardware and ``luxury goods'' ¯ been aggressively implemented by neighboring countries like China, Russia, and even South Korea, despite the more conservative nature of its current government. They continue to provide Pyongyang a lifeline with few if any strings attached.

While the nature and extent of Kim's reported stroke may never be known, it is a pretty safe bet it was not caused by cognac withdrawal.

Incredibly, there is not even consensus among the major actors as to whether or not this announced satellite launch violates the U.N. sanctions: Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul say it does; Beijing and Moscow seem less sure _ what part of the phrase ``shall suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program" don't they understand.

Even a cursory reading of the two resolutions reveals that ``all'' means ``all,'' including ``launch[ing] an object propelled by a missile.''

If the Security Council really wants to influence Kim Jong-il's behavior (and restore some of its own shaky credibility), it should remove this ambiguity by stating in advance that even a satellite launch violates the resolutions, and, thus, will subject Pyongyang to ``additional measures.''

It would be even more helpful if they could unanimously decide (and then privately but convincingly relay to Pyongyang) what punitive measures will be put in place should the North proceed with its illegal launch.

It may be too late at this point to deter Pyongyang from proceeding with its missile launch, but agreement by the Security Council in advance as to the illegal nature of this action and some initial consultation regarding consequences to be employed when this latest slap in the face of the United Nations takes place, will help to change the North's assumption that its confrontational policies serve its best interests and divide rather than unite those who need to speak with one voice in countering such behavior.

If we can't persuade Pyongyang that we are serious when it comes to enforcing Security Council resolutions, how will we ever compel the North to honor its own, and our collectively agreed upon, denuclearization commitments.






=

[The Flying Dutchman]

=

U.S. Amasses Stealth-Jet Armada Near Iran

By David Axe
April 27, 2012 |
9:42 am |
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012...ses-near-iran/

The U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the world’s most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Stealthy F-22 Raptors on their first front-line deployment have joined a potent mix of active-duty and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles, including some fitted with the latest advanced radars. The Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war.

The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats and minesweepers enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry.

It’s been years since the Air Force has maintained a significant dogfighting presence in the Middle East. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq Boeing-made F-15Cs flew air patrols from Saudi Arabia, but the Iraqi air force put up no resistance and the Eagle squadrons soon departed. For the next nine years Air Force deployments to the Middle East were handled by ground-attack planes such as A-10s, F-16s and twin-seat F-15E Strike Eagles.

The 1980s-vintage F-15Cs, plagued by structural problems, stayed home in the U.S. and Japan. The brand-new F-22s, built by Lockheed Martin, suffered their own mechanical and safety problems. When they ventured from their home bases in Virginia, Alaska and New Mexico, it was only for short training exercises over the Pacific. The F-15Cs and F-22s sat out last year’s Libya war.



The Air Force fixed the F-15s and partially patched up the F-22s just in time for the escalating stand-off over Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an “undisclosed” air base in Southwest Asia — probably either Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates or Al Udeid in Qatar. The highly-experienced Massachusetts Guardsmen, who typically have several years more experience than their active-duty counterparts, would be ready “should Iran test the 104th,” said wing commander Col. Robert Brooks.

Upgraded F-15Cs from the 18th Wing in Japan joined the Guard Eagles. The Japan-based fighters have the latest APG-63(V)2 and (V)3 radars, manufactured by Raytheon. They’re electronically-scanned radars that radiate many individual beams from fixed antenna clusters and track more targets, faster, than old-model mechanical radars that must physically swivel back and forth. The 18th Wing is working up a fleet of 54 updated Eagles spread across two squadrons. The video above, shot by an F-15 pilot, depicts some of the wing’s training.

F-22s followed this month. “Multiple” Raptors deployed to Al Dhafra, according to Amy Butler at Aviation Week. Air Force spokesman Capt. Phil Ventura confirmed the deployment. It’s not clear where the Raptors came from. If they’re from the Alaska-based 3rd Wing, they’re the latest Increment 3.1 model with boosted bombing capabilities in addition to the standard air-to-air weaponry. In any event, the Middle East mission represents the first time F-22s are anywhere near a possible combat zone.

The mix of old and upgraded F-15s and ultra-modern F-22s is no accident. When the Pentagon stopped producing the nearly $400-million-a-copy Raptor after 187 units — half as many as the Air Force said it needed — the flying branch committed to keeping 250 F-15Cs in service until 2025 at the earliest. Pilots began developing team tactics for the two fighter types.

“We have a woefully tiny F-22 fleet,” said Gen. Mike Hostage, the Air Force’s main fighter commander. So the flying branch worked out a system whereby large numbers of F-15s cover for small numbers of Raptors that sneak in around an enemy’s flank in full stealth mode. “Our objective is to fly in front with the F-22s, and have the persistence to stay there while the [F-22s] are conducting their [low-observable] attack,” Maj. Todd Giggy, an Eagle pilot, told Aviation Week.

One thing to look for is the presence in the Middle East of one of the Air Force’s handful of bizjets and Global Hawk drones fitted with the Northrop Grumman Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or Bacon. The F-22, once envisioned as a solitary hunter, was designed without the radio data-links that are standard on F-15s and many other jets. Instead, the Raptor has its own unique link that is incompatible with the Eagle. Bacon helps translate the radio signals so the two jet types can swap information. With a Bacon plane nearby, F-22s and F-15s can silently exchange data — for example, stealthy Raptors spotting targets for the Eagles.

It’s the methods above that the U.S. dogfighting armada would likely use to wipe out the antiquated but determined Iranian air force if the unthinkable occurred and fighting broke out. The warplanes are in place. The pilots are ready. Hopefully they won’t be needed.





=

[The Flying Dutchman]

=

Iraq on brink of disintegration
as rift with Turkey deepens

29 April 2012 / GÖZDE NUR DONAT / SINEM CENGIZ, ANKARA
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-2788...y-deepens.html

In the midst of a massive wave of political transformation across the entire Middle East, Iraq’s Tehran-backed Shiite leadership has turned a blind eye to the country’s fragile truce among various ethnic and sectarian groups, throwing Iraq’s key power-sharing agreement into disarray in an attempt to consolidate power and further stoking concerns that the unprecedented political crisis in the war-torn country may risk its division.

“The current political situation in Iraq is like a time bomb that could explode at any moment,” Sadrist lawmaker Bahaa al-Araji, whose group backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in 2010, recently told the media.

The lawmaker accused the prime minister of creating the current political impasse in Iraq and said the Kurds could be the first domino to fall in a broken Iraq. “Baghdad has the same problems with other provinces,” he said, adding that “this will lead to the dividing of Iraq, and there will be no Iraq on the world map.”

Araji’s remarks have illustrated a prevailing sense of fear that reigns in Ankara among Turkish officials, who have added fuel to the escalating war of words between Ankara and Baghdad. Turkey’s intervention into Iraq’s domestic politics prompted an undiplomatic reaction from Maliki, who bluntly said Turkey is becoming a hostile state in the region.

The political crisis engulfed Iraq shortly after US troops left last year, when Maliki’s government moved against two Sunni politicians, seeking the removal of Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq and the arrest of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on charges he had run death squads.

Hashemi, who is now in Turkey, had initially fled to the Kurdish region, angering Baghdad. Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani had refused to hand him over to the central government for trial, saying the criminal case had political implications.

Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has told Sunday’s Zaman that Maliki is trying to export the problem he has created by saying that Turkey is interfering in its domestic affairs. He added that Turkey has been warning both Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad and Maliki. “There is a real danger unless Maliki tries to establish a national unity government,” Gerges said.

Turkish officials have claimed that Turkey’s interference in Iraq’s internal affairs is closely linked to Turkey’s national and security interests. The largest security threat to Turkey in the past several decades, after all, has been from northern Iraq, which harbored Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) camps. Turkish warplanes frequently bomb PKK facilities in Iraq.

Iraq saw a devastating civil war in 2007-2008 in which more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed. But Iraq’s distinct ethnic and sectarian factions may simply opt to secede instead of vying for Baghdad, which risks repeating the worst-case scenario -- a resumption of full-fledged civil strife. The first signal of division came from the president of Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region, who demanded in an interview with The Associated Press that Shiite leaders agree on sharing power with their political opponents by September, or the Kurds would consider seceding.

“What threatens the unity of Iraq is dictatorship and authoritarian rule,” Barzani said, adding that if Iraq heads towards democracy, there will be no trouble. “But if Iraq heads toward a dictatorial state, we will not be able to live with that.”

Many have played down Barzani’s remarks as a bluff, intended to press Maliki to consider the seriousness of the crisis. The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius told Sunday’s Zaman that he agrees Iraqi Kurds and Sunnis are uneasy about Maliki’s rule, but a breakup of Iraq is unlikely.

“One of the important positive developments in the region are the increasing ties between Turkey and the Kurdish regional government, and that’s a good protection for Kurdish interests. But I don’t think the Turks, or any other regional powers, want to see Iraq divided,” Ignatius said.

Turkey, along with Iran, is weary of the danger of an independent Kurdish state, which may destabilize Turkey’s sizeable Kurdish population.

One of Turkey’s leading experts on international politics, Tayyar Arý from Uludað University, said possible secession in Iraq could risk igniting a new conflict which may have regional repercussions.

He warned that Kurds in both Syria and Iran may have similar desires for emancipation and division in Iraq may spark new rebellions in the region.

Mehmet Seyfettin Erol from Gazi University said the Kurdish region in northern Iraq is Turkey’s sphere of influence and that heralded a more cooperative era of Turkish-Kurdish relations.

Arý said the authoritarian rule of Maliki also irritates Shiites, whose political leadership helped him secure power in 2010. He speculated about new initiatives that could bring a Sadr-led government into power. Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr visited Barzani on Thursday, seeking to ease tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds, but it was not immediately clear if both politicians spoke about a new coalition.

Along with Iraq’s fugitive vice president, Turkey was also hosting Maliki’s political rival Barzani, whose talks with Turkish officials yielded a burgeoning partnership with Ankara. Barzani also weathered concerns in Turkey that his political ambitions may spark a wider call for emancipation in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish populated areas.

Sunni lawmakers and cabinet ministers also feel the heat of Baghdad, whose Iraqiya political coalition won the most seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections but were outmaneuvered by Maliki for the right to form the government. They complain that Maliki is not complying with the power-sharing agreement and sidelining the Sunni politicians.

Erol said it will be difficult to maintain the unity of Iraq under the leadership of Maliki and warned against wider rivalry between Turkey and Iran over grabbing power and influence in Syria and Iraq.

He said Turkey’s success in Syria depends on to what degree Turkey succeeds in securing its influence within Iraq, and warned against confrontation between Turkey and Iran if Ankara and Tehran do not cooperate on several regional matters.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also been working on a comprehensive plan to reinvigorate the 2006 Mecca agreement -- a 10-point compromise deal reached by major Iraqi factions in which Muslim Shiite and Sunni groups called for an end to the bloodshed and sectarian violence -- in order to resolve the disputes in Iraq, Ekmeleddin Ýhsanoðlu, secretary-general of the OIC, has told Sunday’s Zaman.

The OIC reconciliation conference at which the Mecca agreement was signed had helped to stabilize Iraq.

Ýhsanoðlu has said the request to renew the Mecca agreement actually came from Maliki himself.

Touching upon Maliki’s request for the OIC to renew the Mecca agreement, Ali Semin, a Middle East expert from the Turkish think tank Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies (BÝLGESAM), has stated that Maliki’s attempt was to show that the Hashemi case had nothing to do with the Sunni issue.

“Maliki distinguishes the Sunni issue from Hashemi, which is a very wrong approach. But, he is also aware that the Hashemi event will turn into Sunni-Shiite tension. So, this concern prompted Maliki to make the request,” Semin has said.

When asked what could be the reason behind Maliki’s request to renew the Mecca agreement, Professor Birol Akgün, a specialist from the Ankara-based Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE), told Today’s Zaman that Maliki might be worried about the messages that have recently come from the US and Turkey.

“Maliki does not want to show that he is surrendering to Turkey. So, he is trying to decrease the tension via the OIC. He also wants to show his good intentions to the international community. But he is insincere about his request,” Akgün said.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Keep guessing:
US deploying fighter jets to the Gulf?

Published: 28 April, 2012, 23:45
http://rt.com/news/us-deploying-jet-fighters-gulf-242/

The US says it has deployed a number of its most modern jet fighters to an air base in Southwest Asia. The announcement alarmed many, who suspect the base is actually in the United Arab Emirates just 200 hundred miles from Iran.

*The Air Force did not specify the exact number or location of the recently-deployed F-22 Raptors, but confirmed that they had been sent to a base in Southwest Asia, a region that includes the UAE.

“Such deployments strengthen military-to-military relationships, promote sovereign and regional security, improve combined tactical air operations and enhance interoperability of forces, equipment and procedures,” said Air Force spokesman Capt. Phil Ventura.

Numerous reports assert that the planes have been deployed in the United Arab Emirates, just 200 miles from Iran's mainland.

The move is viewed by many as a precautionary measure ahead of crucial nuclear talks with Iran.

Washington, however, says it is a scheduled deployment and not a threat to Tehran.

Iran agreed earlier this month to discuss its nuclear program without preconditions, but refused to have private bilateral talks with a US delegation. The next round of talks is scheduled for May 23 in Baghdad.


The F-22 Raptor is considered to be the world's most sophisticated fighter. Though the F-22 has been deployed before, it has never been combat-tested since being declared operational in 2005.

Jason Ditz, a news editor at antiwar.com, believes the deployment will not bring about a higher level of security.


“If anything, it’s going to increase tensions in the region, convince the Iranian government that next month’s talks in Baghdad are not serious, and that the US is simply negotiating in bad faith once again,” Ditz told RT.


He noted that while the US and Israel were unlikely to launch an attack on Iran in the coming months, the move was nonetheless meant to be a provocation.

“The fact that they’re rumored to be organizing a simulated attack on Iran, with the cooperation of Israel, would certainly be a strong symbolic move – particularly since it’s supposed to come just two months ahead of the Baghdad talks,” Ditz added.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Russia prepares for a US-Israeli military strike against Iran

By Clara Weiss
28 April 2012
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/ap...russ-a28.shtml

Russia has undertaken intensive preparations during the past few months for a possible military strike by Israel and the United States on Iran. According to recent reports, the Russian General Staff expects a war against Iran this summer, with enormous repercussions for not only the Middle East but also the Caucasus.

Russian troops in the Caucasus have been technically upgraded, and a missile division situated on the Caspian Sea has been placed in readiness. The missile cruisers of the Caspian flotilla are now anchored off the coast of Dagestan. The only Russian military base in the South Caucasus, located in Armenia, is also on alert for military intervention. Last autumn, Russia sent its aircraft carrier Kuznetsov to the Syrian port Tartous following the escalation of the conflict in Syria. Experts believe that Russia would support Tehran in the event of war, at least on a military-technical level.

In a commentary in April, General Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Science, wrote that “a war against Iran would be a war against Russia” and he called for a “political-diplomatic alliance” with China and India. Operations were being undertaken throughout the Middle East in order to destabilise the region and proceed against China, Russia and Europe. The war against Iran, Ivashov wrote, would “end up at our borders, destabilise the situation in the North Caucasus and weaken our position in the Caspian region.”

Of central concern for Moscow are the consequences for the South Caucasus in the event of a war against Iran. Armenia is the only ally of the Kremlin in the region and has close economic links with Iran, while neighbouring Georgia and Azerbaijan maintain military and economic ties with the United States and Israel.

The Kremlin fears above all that Azerbaijan could participate in a military alliance alongside Israel and the United States against Iran. Azerbaijan borders Iran, Russia, Armenia and the Caspian Sea, and since the mid-1990s has been an important military and economic ally of the US in the South Caucasus, housing several American military bases.

Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are already very tense. Tehran has repeatedly accused Baku of participating in terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage, most probably in collaboration with the Israeli and American intelligence agencies. In recent years, Azerbaijan has doubled its military spending and in February completed a weapons deal with Israel worth US$1.6 billion involving the supply of drones and missile defence systems.

Citing senior sources in the Obama administration, Mark Perry told the American journal Foreign Policy in late March that Baku had allowed Israel access to several air bases on the border to northern Iran that could be used for an air strike on Tehran. The magazine quotes a senior government official saying, “The Israelis have bought an airport and this airport is Azerbaijan.” Perry warned, “Military strategists must now take into account a war scenario, which includes not only the Persian Gulf, but also the Caucasus.”

The Baku government immediately denied the report, but the editor of the Azerbaijani newspaper Neue Zeit, Shakir Gablikogly, warned that Azerbaijan could be drawn into a war against Iran.

Even if Azerbaijan should not prove to be the starting point for an Israeli attack on Iran, there is the danger that war will lead to a military escalation of other territorial conflicts such as the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The region has been independent since the end of the civil war in 1994, but the government in Baku, the US and the European Council insist it be regarded as part of Azerbaijan. There have been repeated border conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the past two years, and commentators have warned that the dispute could escalate into a war involving Russia, the United States and Iran.

In a recent interview with Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda, military expert Mikhail Barabanov said that conflicts in the post-Soviet region could lead to military intervention in Russia. Any intervention in the region by the US or other NATO power would bring with it “the inevitable risk of the use of nuclear weapons.” Russia has the second largest nuclear arsenal in the world after the US.

Due to its geostrategic importance, Eurasia has become the epicentre for economic and political rivalries and military conflicts between the US and Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia form a bridge between resource-rich Central Asia and the Caspian Sea on one side, and Europe and the Black Sea on the other.

The US has sought to win influence in the region via economic alliances since the 1990s. In 1998, the future US vice president Richard Cheney, then CEO of the oil services giant Halliburton, declared, “I can not remember a time when a region so suddenly gained such huge strategic importance as the Caspian.”

In his book The Grand Chessboard (1998), Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser to US president Jimmy Carter, wrote: “A power that dominates Eurasia would control two thirds of the most advanced and economically productive regions of the world. In Eurasia, there are about three-quarters of the known energy resources in the world.”

The central importance of the region is its role as a transit area for energy supplies to Europe from Asia, which bypasses Russia. By supporting alternative pipeline projects, Washington has sought to weaken Russian links to Europe, which depends heavily on Russian oil and gas.

So far, Georgia is the key country for the transit of gas and oil supplies and has been at the heart of conflicts in the region. Georgia’s “Rose Revolution” in 2003 was instigated by Washington to push Mikhail Saakashvili into power as president in order to safeguard US economic and strategic interests in the region. It led to an intensification of tensions with Moscow for geostrategic supremacy. The war between Georgia and Russia in the summer of 2008 represented a further ratcheting up of the rivalry between the two countries with the potential to expand into a Russian-American war. Relations between Russia and Georgia remain very tense.

US influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia has declined significantly in recent years. In addition to Russia, China has emerged as a major force in the area, establishing significant economic and military ties with Central Asian states such as Kazakhstan. Although Russia and China remain rivals, they have struck a strategic alliance in their competition with the United States. For the US, war against Iran represents a further stage in its growing confrontation with China and Russia for control of the energy resources of Central Asia and the Middle East.





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[Housecarl]

Sorry for going "Red October" everyone, I've been dealing with the meat world and the paying meat world......as for the reports of F-22 deployments to the Middle East, they could just as easily be their to back a play into Syria, which likely as not would end up involving Iran....As for the David Axe article from Wired.com, the best way to deal with an enemy air force it to ground it/kill it on the ground. If you have more pressing targets for Day 1, like the Iranian offensive missile forces, you "just" stitch their airfield runways with SDBs/JDAMs/TLAMs so they can't be used for "the duration".....

For links see article source....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...at-s-next.html

‘Failing’ Syria Peace Plan Raises Question of What’s Next
By Nicole Gaouette and Peter Green - Apr 28, 2012 6:00 PM PT

The UN-backed Syria peace plan is failing, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, casting doubt on the prospects for stopping the bloodshed soon.

Citing the Syrian government’s attacks on civilians and its failure to withdraw heavy weapons from population centers, Nuland yesterday blamed President Bashar al-Assad for the fact that “the plan as a whole is failing.” She said it’s still essential to deploy as many as 300 unarmed UN cease-fire observers in the effort to limit the violence.

The peace plan “is failing thus far because Assad has not met the obligations that he has made to Kofi Annan,” the UN and Arab League special envoy who brokered the cease-fire agreement, Nuland said in Washington. If that continues, the U.S. and allies anticipate putting further pressure on the regime by seeking a travel ban, additional financial sanctions and an arms embargo at the UN Security Council, she said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New Delhi yesterday that despite Syria’s repeated commitments to end the violence, “killings continue without relent; shelling and explosions in residential areas go on.” An advance contingent of 15 UN observers has reported heavy weapons in populated areas in violation of the agreement, he said.

“The continued repression of the civilian population is totally unacceptable,” Ban said.

Since the UN Security Council agreed April 21 to deploy cease-fire observers, more than 260 people have died in the violence, according to the website of the opposition Local Coordination Committees. At least 28 people were killed in Syria April 26, said the group, which says that at least 534 people have been killed since the April 12 announcement of the cease- fire brokered by Annan.

Syrian Government Blamed

“It remains our assessment that the bulk of the violations of the cease-fire pledge are coming from the regime side,” Nuland said. “There is ample evidence of continued artillery fire, continued attacks, opposition activists being rounded up the minute that the UN monitors leave the site, et cetera.”

Responsibility is “laid at Assad’s doorstep that he has not silenced his guns, and therefore we don’t have peace in Syria,” she said.

The Obama administration will ramp up pressure on the Syrian leaders “and encourage them in the strongest possible terms to live up to the obligations and commitments that they made in the context of the Kofi Annan plan,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday.

Pentagon Drafts Options

Pentagon officials are drawing up plans in the event that President Barack Obama decides to pursue military options in Syria, Kathleen Hicks, an administration nominee to the Defense Department’s policy staff, told the Senate Committee on Armed Services April 26.

Both she and Derek Chollet, the president’s nominee to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said in their testimony April 26 that the Annan plan is “failing.”

“We are doing a significant amount of planning for a wide range of scenarios, including our ability to assist allies and partners along the borders,” said Hicks, the nominee to be principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.

The U.S., Turkey and other allies have discussed creating a civilian aid corridor along the Turkish border with Syria as one option if the fighting continues.

In the meantime, the Obama administration will continue to use economic sanctions and diplomacy to pressure the Assad regime, Chollet said.

‘Shameful Situation’

“What is obvious and indisputable is that the Kofi Annan plan has failed,” Senator John McCain said at the hearing. The Arizona Republican, who recently visited refugee camps on Turkey’s border with Syria, said it is a “shameful situation” that civilians “are being slaughtered” by the Syrian regime.

“We are talking about economic sanctions and diplomatic sanctions when we should be helping these people as we helped the people of Bosnia, as we helped in Libya, and we’ve helped in other times in our history,” said McCain, who advocates arming the opposition.

Opposition groups reported anti-regime demonstrations in Homs, Idlib and elsewhere around the country following Friday prayers. Four people were killed by security forces, the Local Coordination Committees said on its website. The state-run SANA news agency said a suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt as worshipers were leaving the Zein al-Abidin Mosque in Damascus, killing nine people including government security personnel.

Seeking Observers

The UN, which has no standing military force of its own, must ask member states for observers to staff the mission. The monitors currently deployed are from Morocco, Brazil, Argentina, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, China and Ghana, Andre-Michel Essoungou, a spokesman for the UN’s Peacekeeping Operations office, said April 26.

Nuland said yesterday that the UN is having success in recruiting monitors and is “vetting a large number of volunteers now.” She estimated that it may take another three to four weeks to deploy 100 of the anticipated 300.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe have raised the possibility of asking the UN to impose demands and further sanctions on Syria that could be enforced militarily under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which was invoked in the case of Libya.

Chapter 7 Sanctions

Further actions under a Chapter 7 resolution may include travel sanctions, further financial sanctions and an arms embargo, Nuland said yesterday. She didn’t say whether the U.S. expects Russia would be willing to withhold its veto of such action.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said yesterday he “strongly condemns” the actions of the Syrian regime and NATO is monitoring the situation closely. He said at a Rome press conference that NATO has no intention of intervening in Syria, adding that “other solutions are more appropriate.”

The head of the Arab League, Nabil el-Arabi, said Arab foreign ministers have asked him to convene a meeting of all the Syrian opposition factions on May 16, according to the Al Jazeera television channel.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicole Gaouette in Washington at ngaouette@bloomberg.net; Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net

[Housecarl]

This isn't a good sign.....

For links see article source......
Posted for fair use........
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/w...assy-in-egypt/

Saudi closes embassy in Egypt
AAP April 29, 2012, 11:56 am

Saudi Arabia's official news agency says the kingdom has closed its embassy and consulates in Egypt and recalled its ambassador following protests over a detained Egyptian human rights lawyer.

Hundreds of Egyptians have rallied outside the Saudi Embassy this week to demand the release of Ahmed el-Gezawi, who was detained in Saudi Arabia for allegedly insulting the kingdom's monarch. Saudi authorities say the lawyer was arrested trying to smuggle anti-anxiety drugs into the kingdom.
Saturday's announcement is a sharp escalation in the case.

[Housecarl]

For links see article source....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15916470,00.html

Middle East
Egypt and Saudi Arabia in diplomatic rift over protests
Saudi Arabia has closed its embassy and consulates in Egypt after protests over the arrest of an Egyptian human rights lawyer in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia shut its embassy and consulates in Egypt on Saturday following protests over an Egyptian human rights lawyer detained in Saudi Arabia.

"This is the result of unjustified protests outside the kingdom's missions in Egypt," the Saudi state news agency quoted a government official as saying.

Egyptians held protests outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo and consulates in other cities, demanding the release of Ahmed Mohammed al-Gizawi, who was arrested on arrival at Jeddah airport on April 17.

Gizawi was reportedly sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and 20 lashes for criticism of the Saudi government. His supporters said he travelled to the Gulf state on pilgrimage and was being targeted for his work on behalf of Egyptian detainees in Saudi prisons. Gizawi had accused King Abdullah and Saudi authorities of arbitrary arrests and torture of Egyptians.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's ruling military council, contacted the Saudi government on Saturday to try to resolve the issue and "heal the rift." The Egyptian government denounced the demonstrators' actions on Saturday, saying they damaged diplomatic relations between Cairo and Riyadh.

Saudi authorities say Mr Gizawi was found by airport officials to be carrying some 20,000 anti-anxiety pills in his luggage.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Egypt when Cairo signed a peace deal with Israel in 1979. Diplomatic relations were restored in 1987. This is among the most serious disputes since then.

jm/msh (Reuters, dpa)

Pages 1 | complete Article
Date 28.04.2012
Author Jane Mcintosh

[Housecarl]

For links see article source....
Posted for fair use......
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-ne...or-compound-3/

4 Killed in Attack on Afghan Governor Compound
Posted Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at 10:40 pm

Two attackers hiding handguns in their shoes infiltrated a compound of the governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province Saturday, sparking a fierce gunbattle that left two guards and both assailants dead.

Governor Tooryalai Wesa, the apparent target of the attack, was not hurt. He said afterwards that the militants passed through two security checks without their weapons being detected before guards at the last checkpoint stopped them.

The gunmen pulled the guns out of their shoes, shot dead two of the guards and wounded another, and then took their weapons. Police also found a vehicle parked outside the compound that was rigged with explosives.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came after a roadside bomb killed 10 member of the Afghan security forces in central Wardak province.

Also Saturday, NATO said two of its service members died in two separate bomb blasts.

Tags: Afghanistan, Rd, Upd, V
Posted in South Asia

[The Flying Dutchman]

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Iranian lawmaker says stealth
fighter deployment is a US-Israeli plot

Arrival of advanced Raptor strike aircraft in United Arab Emirates
is a ploy to create regional instability claims top judicial official

April 29, 2012, 12:49 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian...s-israel-plot/

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A prominent Iranian lawmaker says the reported basing of America’s most sophisticated stealth jet fighters in the United Arab Emirates is a U.S.-Israel plot to create regional instability.

Kazem Jalali was reacting to media reports of the recent deployment of F-22 Raptors at the UAE’s Al Dafra Air Base, which has long hosted U.S. warplanes.

The deployment was first reported in the journal Aviation Week, but U.S. and UAE officials have not publicly commented.

Jalali was quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency Sunday.

Tehran and Washington are at odds over Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. and Israel say Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. The two countries have not ruled out military action against Iranian facilities.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Iran slams F-22 Raptors' deployment in UAE

29 April 2012, 10:52 (GMT+05:00)
http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2020089.html

The Rapporteur of Iranian Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Kazem Jalali called the deployment of F-22 Raptor fighter jets inside the region a "US-Zionist move", ISNA reported.

Jalali referred to the deployment of F-22 Raptors in an air base in the UAE, saying stockpiling weapons would insecure the region.

He told ISNA that what he called "Iranophobia policy" has already been planned by the U.S., as stressing some Arab countries' position on the issue is neither for the benefit of Arab countries nor regional nations, security and peace.

The parliament rapporteur noted regional peace and security would be established if all regional countries are united, as adding the presence of major powers as well as stockpiling weapons inside the region would insecure the area.

Jalali called the move a "US-Zionist" one and stressed Arab countries should be held accountable for the consequences.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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*Fox News is reporting that the Red Cross doctor was "Beheaded" by islamic terrorists - for not having their ransome demands met.

Red Cross says British worker killed in Pakistan

April 29, 2012 03:20 PM
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#axzz1tR3wLewJ

QUETTA, Pakistan: The Red Cross says a British national working for the organization has been killed by his captors in southwestern Pakistan.

Khalil Rasjed Dale's body was found Sunday on the outskirts of the city of Quetta.

Dale was managing a Red Cross health program in the city when he was seized in January by gunmen.

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement confirming Dale's death.


Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#ixzz1tR3zk22b
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Lebanon Impounds Ship Carrying Libya Weapons

2012-04-29 03:01:33 (7 hours ago)
Posted By: Intellpuke
http://freeinternetpress.com/story/L...ons-34622.html

Lebanese authorities seized a large consignment of Libyan weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and heavy caliber ammunition, from a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean, the Lebanese Army said Saturday.

It did not say where the vessel was heading but the ship’s owner told Reuters it was due to unload in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.

The mainly Sunni Muslim city has seen regular protests in support of the 13-month uprising against President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria, and any arms shipped there could have been smuggled across the border to anti-Assad rebels.

The army said in a statement the weapons were found in three containers carried by the Sierra Leone-flagged Letfallah II, which was impounded along with its 11-man crew and taken to a navy port in Beirut.

Pictures released by the army showed dozens of crates inside the containers, some of them filled with belts of heavy ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades.

Labeling on one box said it contained fragmentation explosives, and several identified them as coming from Libya.

One was marked “Tripoli/Benghazi SPLAJ,” referring to LIbya’s formal name during the 42-year rule of Muammar Qaddafi - the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Another was stamped Misrata, the Libyan town which formed a base for rebels who overthrew Qaddafi last year in one of several uprising which swept the Arab world.

Russia accused Libya in March of arming and training Syrian rebels. Libya’s prime minister said he was unaware of training camps in his country but repeated Libya’s strong support for Syrians “who are raising their voice asking for freedom.”

Syrian authorities have repeatedly said weapons are being smuggled from neighboring countries, including Lebanon, to arm rebels fighting Assad.

Ship owner Mohammad Khafaji said he was told the craft was carrying engine oil, and was unaware of any weapons. “The law doesn’t allow me to open and inspect the containers,” he said by telephone from Egypt.

Khafaji said a broker from Lebanon had made contact, asking originally for a shipment of 12 containers of “general cargo” to be shipped from Libya to Lebanon. In the end, after two days’ delay, the ship left with just the three containers, he said.

It sailed to Turkey and then the Egyptian port of Alexandria before heading for Tripoli in Lebanon, but as it was completing formalities for docking there the crew was told to take the ship to another port, Selaata, to unload the cargo.

“After that we lost contact with the crew,” he said.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Spaniards take to streets to protest budget cuts

April 29, 2012 04:15 PM
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#axzz1tR3wLewJ

MADRID: Thousands of people protested across Spain on Sunday against government cuts aimed at tackling a debt crisis that has pushed the country back into recession and sent unemployment close to 25 percent.

Protesters closed central parts of the capital Madrid on a wet Sunday to protest against cuts to education and health services the government says must be made to help slash the public deficit.

The protests, which were peaceful, were mirrored in over 50 cities across the country as Spaniards grow weary of austerity measures and years of hardship triggered by a real estate crash in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008.

The central government aims to make savings in its budget this year of around 27 billion euros ($36 billion), with a further 10 billion euros to be made in healthcare and education spending, which is controlled by the country's 17 autonomous regions.

"It's getting worse for us all. People are starting to protest more because it's affecting every sector. It's affecting everyone," said Charo, a middle-aged woman with her children in Madrid.

Labour unions called for large-scale protests to continue in coming months to persuade leaders they should not rely solely on cuts to deal with the deficit and should aim to stimulate growth.

Speaking at an event in Madrid Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the cuts were essential.

"We are working to turn around the situation, and we will do it, but it will be hard for people. In order to do it we are implementing a series of reforms that are more positive, necessary and required than ever," he said at a People's Party meeting in the capital.

Some protesters were disappointed by the numbers turning out in support, which they said was down to the rain, and fatigue at the length of a crisis.

"People are not protesting in huge numbers; I don't know what it's going to take for the people to really stand up. The disenchantment is so brutal that people will not stand up and protest," said Julian, a pensioner.

Many people waved labour union flags and held banners against the cuts to the country's prized healthcare system that will add to medicine costs, and to its education budget, which will increase the hours worked by teachers and the number of pupils per classroom.

More protests are expected this week in the country's second largest city Barcelona before the European Central bank holds its rate-setting meeting there on Thursday.

Spain has stepped up security to try and clamp down on any potential trouble after violent clashes were seen in the Catalan city in the general strike at the end of March. ($1 = 0.7542 euros)


Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#ixzz1tR6iwCft
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)




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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Apartment blocks may host missiles for Olympics

April 29, 2012 03:45 PM
By David Stringer
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#axzz1tR3wLewJ

LONDON: Surface-to-air missiles could be stationed on the rooftops of an apartment block in east London as part of Britain's air defenses for the Olympics, the country's military confirmed Sunday.

Around 700 people living at the building in Bow - about 2 miles (3.2km) from London's Olympic Stadium - have been contacted and warned that the weapons and about 10 troops are likely to be based at the site for around two months.

In a leaflet sent to residents, the ministry said the venue offered an uncluttered "view of the surrounding areas and the entire sky above the Olympic park."

Troops plan to conduct tests next week at the building, an upmarket gated apartment complex, to determine if the high velocity surface-to-air missiles will be stationed on a water tower attached to the site's roof.

Britain has previously confirmed that up to 13,500 troops are being deployed on land, at sea and in the air to help protect the Olympics alongside police and security guards. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond has said Typhoon fighter jets, helicopters, two warships and bomb disposal experts will also be on duty as part of the security operation.

"As announced before Christmas, ground-based air defense systems could be deployed as part of a multilayered air security plan for the Olympics, including fast jets and helicopters, which will protect the skies over London during the games," the defense ministry said in a statement.

"Based on military advice we have identified a number of sites and, alongside colleagues from the Metropolitan Police, are talking to local authorities and relevant landowners to help minimize the impact of any temporary deployments."

However, the ministry insisted that "no final decision on whether or not to deploy ground-based air defense systems for the games has been taken."

Resident Brian Whelan said those who live at the site were wary over the plan.

"From the few people I've spoken to, and the security we have here, they're not happy about it," he said. "I don't think it needs to be here at all."

The leaflet sent to residents insisted there would be no hazard to those living in the building.

It said the missile system would be "only authorized for active use following specific orders from the highest levels of government in response to a confirmed and extreme security threat."


Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#ixzz1tR7NnV00
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)



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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Lebanon reportedly seizes ammo to Syrian rebels

April 29, 2012 - 17:25 AMT
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/105272/

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lebanese intelligence officers were questioning the crew of a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel on Sunday, April 29 over allegations it was carrying arms to Syrian rebels as fighting raged between the insurgents and regular troops, AFP reported.

Ten rebel fighters were among 32 people killed on Saturday as bloodshed persisted more than two weeks into a promised UN-backed truce, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The interception of the ship by Lebanon - currently governed by a largely pro-Syrian coalition - gave grist to Russian opposition to the tough Western and Arab line taken against its longtime Middle East ally.

Lebanon said it had intercepted three containers of heavy machineguns, artillery shells, rockets, rocket launchers and other explosives destined for rebel forces on a ship originating in Libya.

Syrian authorities have repeatedly charged that weapons are being smuggled from Lebanon to rebels.

On Saturday, government newspaper Tishrin wrote that UN chief Ban Ki-moon "avoids talking about abuses by armed groups and focuses his blame solely on Syria, as usual. He encourages these groups to continue to commit more crimes and terrorist acts."

The Russian foreign ministry said "we are convinced that the terrorists operating in Syria need a decisive rebuff, and that all domestic and outside players need to prevent any support" from reaching the rebel forces.





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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Turkey intends to provoke tension in
Syria by raising Article 5, Syria says

29 April 2012 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-2789...yria-says.html

Damascus has reproached Turkish government officials for raising the idea of military protection along Turkish borders against the threat from Syria under Article 5 of the NATO Charter, claiming that Turkey intends to “aggravate tension in Syria and harm bilateral ties.”

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jihad Makdisi said in a written statement on Saturday that “Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu are continuing to make their provocative statements with the aim of aggravating the situation in Syria and harming bilateral ties. It is disturbing that Erdoðan has threatened to bring in NATO troops to protect its borders with Syria.”

Makdisi further claimed that for Turkey to raise such a prospect of a military intervention, it has demonstrated the country's lack of commitment to international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, which sets out a complete cease-fire between the Syrian government and the opposition starting from April 12.

However, the truce in the country has already proved to be shaky, as conflicts in the restive towns are ongoing. In the latest fighting on Saturday, Syrian activists said regime forces fought with army defectors near President Bashar al-Assad's summer palace in a coastal village and shelled a Damascus suburb in pursuit of gunmen.

During televised remarks from Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV on Thursday, Erdoðan reiterated that Turkey will take necessary measures “as a NATO member country” under Article 5, in the event that border violations from Syria continue.

“We have a strong army. … Syria must be aware of the fact that in the event of a repetition of these border violations, Turkey's stance will not be the same,” Erdoðan maintained.

Erdoðan first raised the issue of NATO protection of Turkish borders under Article 5 on April 10, following an incident along Turkey's border with Syria.

Two Turkish nationals and two Syrians were injured during the aforementioned incident earlier in April at a refugee camp in Kilis province when Syrian forces fired across the border during clashes with opposition fighters, who had reportedly attempted to seize control of the border gate and then fled to Turkey.

Article 5, known as the collective defense clause, commits NATO states to defend a member state when it comes under attack. Whether or not NATO launches an intervention will be the sole decision of the treaty partners, who will assess the severity of the perceived threat.





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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Russia Calls on Syria to Firmly Confront the Terrorists

Apr 29, 2012
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2012/04/29/415439.htm

MOSCOW, (SANA)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia and China have adopted 'unified stance' towards the crisis in Syria based on the need for consolidating the bases of the international relations in line wiht the principles of the UN charter and international law.

In an interview with the "Russia 24" TV channel aired on Friday, Lavrov added "It is impossible to find a compromise for the crisis in Syria without taking into account the stances of Russia and China in this regard."

Russian Foreign Ministry Condemns Terrorist Acts in Syria, Calls for Confronting Terrorists

Russian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the series of terrorist acts in Syria and held the extremist Syrian opposition responsible for escalating violence in the country to thwart the implementation of the peace plan of UN special envoy, Kofi Annan.

"The attempts of the extremist Syrian opposition to inflame the situation in the country and fuel violence even at the expense of the lives of innocent people raise serious concerns," said the statement .

It added that "the provocative goal behind these attempts is clear, which is to foil Annan's plan-based peaceful settlement in Syria that is being implemented and was unanimously approved by the Security Council and supported by the entire international community."

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the necessity of firmly confronting the terrorists operating in Syria, calling on all internal and external sides to stop providing any kind of support to the terrorists as provided by the Security Council's anti-terrorism resolutions.

"Moscow firmly condemns these brutal acts that have claimed many victims as a result of the bombings which took place in Damascus, Aleppo, Lattakia, Banias and Jableh and in three neighborhoods in Hama," said the statement.

It expressed Russia's deepest condolences to the victims' families and relatives and wishes for speedy recovery to the injured, stressing the necessity of finding the plotters and perpetrators of these crimes and holding them to account.

Russia and Iran renews rejection of any foreign intervention in Syria

Russia and Iran today renewed rejection of any foreign intervention in Syria's domestic affairs, stressing the need for settling the crisis in Syria through a comprehensive national dialogue.

Russian foreign Ministry announced that the Russian President's special representative to the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, stressed during a meeting with the Iranian Ambassador in Moscow Mahmoud Riza Sajidi the need for supporting the efforts of the UN envoy Annan and the work of international monitors in the country.





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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Syria derides UN chief as peace plan in crisis

29 April 2012 / AP, BEIRUT
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-2789...in-crisis.html

Syria has derided UN chief Ban Ki-moon as biased and called his comments "outrageous" after he blamed the regime for widespread cease-fire violations - the latest sign of trouble for an international peace plan many expect to fail.

In new fighting Saturday, activists said regime forces battled army defectors near President Bashar Assad's summer palace in a coastal village and shelled a Damascus suburb in pursuit of gunmen. State media said government troops foiled an attempt by armed men in rubber boats to land on Syria's coast, the first reported attempt by rebels to infiltrate from the sea.

The regime's verbal attack on the U.N. secretary general raised new concerns that Assad is playing for time to avoid compliance with a plan that could eventually force him out of office.

Under special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point road map, a cease-fire is to be followed by the deployment of as many as 300 U.N. truce monitors and talks between Assad and the opposition on Syria's political future. The head of the observer team, Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, is to arrive in Damascus on Sunday to assume command, said spokesman Neeraj Singh.

Annan's April 12 cease-fire deadline has been widely ignored. The regime continues to attack opposition strongholds, while rebel fighters keep targeting security forces with roadside bombs and shooting ambushes. Defying a major truce provision, the Syrian military failed to withdraw tanks and soldiers from the streets.

Ban and Annan have cited violations by both sides, but generally portrayed the regime as the main aggressor. On Friday, Ban said Syria's repression of civilians reached an "intolerable stage" and demanded that the regime "live up to its promises to the world." His comments came just hours after a suicide bombing the regime blamed on anti-government "terrorists" killed 10 people in Damascus.

An editorial Saturday in the state-run Tishrin newspaper said Ban has avoided discussing rebel violence in favor of "outrageous" statements against the Syrian government. The editorial said the international community has applied a double standard, ignoring "crimes and terrorist acts" against Syria and thus encouraging more violence, according to excerpts carried by the state-run news agency SANA.

Mass protests against Assad erupted in March 2011, but gradually turned into an insurgency in response to a violent regime crackdown. Assad's regime denies it faces a popular uprising, claiming it is being targeted by a foreign-led terrorist conspiracy.

Saturday's comments were the regime's harshest against the UN since Syria announced last month it would abide by the Annan plan. The Syrian opposition and its Western backers argue Assad is not sincere and just buying time to consolidate his hold on Syria.

The regime "wants to make the UN a party to the conflict, rather than a mediator, and to stretch out the process to prevent any kind of serious change," Rami Khoury, an analyst at the American University of Beirut, said of Saturday's editorial.

However, the regime and its supporters argue that the world intentionally ignores rebel cease-fire violations, such as targeted killings of security officials, said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group think tank who has traveled in Syria.

"In the regime's narrative, its use of force is only a reaction to such assaults," he said. "Officials and sympathizers cling to the idea that they are fighting a legitimate struggle against a fifth column of extremists."

Russia, Syria's main ally, repeatedly has demanded that more attention be paid to rebel violations of the Annan plan.

In fighting Saturday, government troops exchanged fire with about 30 soldiers after they defected at a military base near Assad's summer palace in the coastal village of Burj Islam, according to Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.

The shooting, described as intense, lasted for 15 to 30 minutes, the activists said.

Syrian troops also intercepted armed men trying to land on the Syrian coast in rubber boats, the Syrian news agency said. The agency said the navy forced the boats to flee, but some Syrian service members were killed or wounded. The battle took place 30 to 35 kilometers (about 20 miles) from the Turkish border, SANA said.

Syrian authorities have said in the past that they clashed with rebels trying to cross from neighboring Lebanon or Turkey.

In Lebanon, authorities confiscated weapons found aboard a ship intercepted off the Lebanese coast and detained 11 crew members.

The ship reportedly sailed from Libya and stopped in Egypt and the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, en route to Syria. Lebanese media reported that the weapons were intended for Syrian rebels.

The Lebanese army said the "Lutfallah II" carried a Sierra Leone flag and had three containers filled with "large amounts of weapons and ammunition" on board. The vessel was taken to the port of Selaata, north of Beirut, where the three containers were placed on Lebanese army flatbed trucks and taken away Saturday morning.

Later Saturday, Syrian troops bombarded the Damascus suburb of Bakhaa with tank shells after a group of army defectors fled to the area from a nearby region, according to local activist Omar Hamza and the Local Coordination Committees, a grassroots activist group. The shelling killed at least 10 people, the activists said.

Activists also reported shelling in the central rebel-held town of Rastan and in Hama province. The Observatory reported intense clashes between troops and defectors in the northwestern province of Idlib and said five people were killed.

Fifteen UN truce monitors have been deployed in Syria, with the team to grow to 100 by mid-May. However, the regime continues to restrict access to most outsiders, including journalists, and reports by the regime and the opposition cannot be verified independently.





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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Sun Apr 29, 2012 09:06 am (KSA) 06:06 am (GMT)

Hundreds of Syrian troops defect near
Damascus, Latakia, as clashes flare

Saturday, 28 April 2012
By Al Arabiya And Agencies
http://english.alarabiya.net/article...28/210874.html

Hundreds of soldiers defected from the Syrian armed forces on Sunday in the outskirts of Damascus and in the port city of Latakia, where large explosions were heard near the presidential palace, the Syrian Media Center reported.

Sima Malaki, spokesperson of the center, which represents the Syrian opposition, said dozens of soldiers defected from an army unit that was positioned near the presidential palace in Latakia.

The official news agency SANA reported that “one of the military units stationed off the coast of Latakia thwarted an attempt by an “armed terrorist group” trying to infiltrate from the sea,” quoting an unnamed military source.

The Syrian Observatory for Human rights and activists confirmed that clashes broke out between Syrian troops and armed opposition forces in the village of Borj Islam near a presidential palace early Saturday morning.

Activist Sema Nassar said the fighting began as “officers and soldiers of a military base near the presidential palace ... deserted with their weapons.”

“Loud explosions were heard as far as the city of Latakia,” Nassar added.

Separately, the observatory reported that Syrian troops killed at least 10 rebels in fighting in the Damascus region.

The official news agency SANA, meanwhile, said three soldiers and two “terrorists” were killed in Aleppo, as clashes erupted there between Syrian and “armed terrorist groups.”

The fresh violence comes on the heels of Friday clashes, which left 19 dead, including 10 civilians, according to the Observatory.

A suicide car bomb exploded Friday in Damascus, leaving two dead, according to the watchdog and 11 killed according to Syrian state media.





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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Gunmen hit Syrian army from
sea, Moscow slams rebels

28 Apr 2012 15:57

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Attack occurs near the northern port of Latakia - SANA

* Several gunmen, soldiers killed in firefight

* Security forces kill 10 near Damascus - activist

* Suspected rebel arms shipment seized in Lebanon

* Moscow steps up criticism of anti-Assad militias
(Updates with burials, Russia criticism)

By Ed Cropley
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/g...w-slams-rebels

BEIRUT, April 28 (Reuters) - Gunmen in inflatable dinghies killed several security officials in an attack on a military unit on Syria's Mediterranean coast, state media said on Saturday, the first seaborne assault reported during the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

The night raid, along with the killings of at least 15 people in violence in two areas near the capital, underlined the threadbare state of a U.N.-brokered ceasefire deal that has Western leaders talking of tougher steps to stop the bloodshed.

Russia, Damascus' most powerful ally, stepped up its criticism of anti-Assad militias, condemning what it called "barbarous" attacks designed to scuttle the two-week-old truce engineered by U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan.

Syria's official SANA news agency said several gunmen and soldiers died in fighting that followed the coastal attack near the northern port of Latakia, 35 km (22 miles) south of the Turkish border.

"The fighting ... resulted in the death and wounding of a number of military personnel while the number of those killed from the terrorist group was not known because they attacked the military unit at night," SANA said.

It did not state the nationality of the attackers.

Damascus has accused Turkey of allowing weapons and funds to flow to insurgents throughout the 13-month-old uprising, the latest in a wave of revolts against rulers across the Arab world. Turkey also plays host to the leadership of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Lebanese authorities found weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and rifles on board a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean which may have been trying to supply Syrian insurgents, security sources said.

In a village north of Damascus where army defectors had taken refuge, activists said Syrian forces killed at least 10 people. And overnight, five members of the security forces were killed in an explosion targeting two vehicles near Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed 9,000 people since the start of the revolt in March 2011. Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed militants for the violence and say 2,600 soldiers and police have been killed.

Annan's April 12 ceasefire has led to only modest reductions in the level of daily carnage, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches of the truce.

On Friday, a suicide bomber killed nine people when he detonated an explosives belt outside a Damascus mosque.

SANA said six officials killed in that blast were buried on Saturday, along with a further 16 army and security personnel killed in separate incidents elsewhere in the country of 23 million.

Most independent media have been barred from Syria, making it hard to verify accounts of events on the ground. SANA named all the people it said were buried on Saturday.

The Damascus suicide attack was just one of five explosions to hit the capital on Friday, creating the impression insurgents may be changing tactics and embarking on a sustained bombing campaign aimed at the seat of Assad's power.

"The action is picking up and it seems the (rebels) and Assad's forces are starting to battle it out in Damascus as well," said one activist based in the capital who uses the name Mar Ram.

DIPLOMATIC RIFTS

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused Damascus of breaking its pledge to withdraw heavy weapons and troops from towns, and said he is "gravely alarmed by reports of continued violence and killing in Syria".

Syrian media hit back, say Ban was inflaming the conflict by ignoring "crimes and terrorist actions" committed by anti-Assad militiamen.

"His focus on shamefully pointing at Syria, as usual, encourages these groups to continue to commit more crimes and terrorist acts," the state newspaper Tishreen said.

Russia also piled in, saying the disparate rebel groups trying to topple Assad appeared determined to trash what is left of the U.N.-backed peace initiative.

"Attempts by the irreconcilable opposition to increase tension even more and incite violence cause particular alarm," Moscow said in a statement. "The aim is clear: to ruin a solution in Syria based on Annan's plan."

U.N. monitors are trickling in and officials say 30 of a planned 300-strong mission should be in place by Monday to reinforce observers already stationed in anti-Assad hotbeds such as Idlib, Hama, Homs and Deraa.

The slow build-up, more than two weeks after the truce came into effect, has been derided by Assad's foes and intensified frustration in Western capitals, where leaders want firmer measures imposed on Damascus sooner rather than later.

The presence of the monitors has emboldened many thousands of protesters to resume demonstrations after weeks of military crackdown, but activists say Assad's forces responded swiftly.

Security forces carried out house to house raids in the Damascus suburb of Irbin on Saturday, arresting demonstration leaders who welcomed the observers a week ago, two resident activists said.

France says that if Assad's forces do not return to barracks, it will push next month for a "Chapter 7" U.N. Security Council resolution - which could allow action ranging from economic sanctions to military intervention.

Russia and China have made clear that they would veto Libya-style military action and have resisted the idea of sanctions.





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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Tens of thousands protest,
bombs rock Syrian capital

11 dead, skepticism grows over UN backed peace plan

By AFP
Published Sunday, April 29, 2012
http://www.emirates247.com/news/regi...04-29-1.456095

Tens of thousands protested across Syria on Friday as a deadly suicide bombing rocked the capital, killing 11 people and fuelling growing scepticism over the prospects of a UN-backed peace plan.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three people, including a child, were killed as regime forces opened fire to disperse protests.

"Tens of thousands of people protested today in various areas of the country," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based group, told AFP.

He said one protester was killed in the village Daf al-Shok in Damascus province. Another died in the Sakhur district of northern Aleppo, Syria's second city, and the child was killed in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.

Three members of the security forces and a deserter were also killed in other clashes across the country, the Syrian Observatory said.

At least 11 people died and 28 were wounded in the Damascus bomb blast which hit as worshippers were leaving weekly Muslim prayers at nearby Zein al-Abidin mosque in the central Midan district, state television said.

The report blamed "terrorists," the term used by President Bashar al-Assad's regime to refer to the armed opposition, and said civilians and security force members were among the casualties.

TV footage showed gruesome images, including a severed hand and leg.

The official SANA news agency reported the interior ministry as saying "it will not tolerate the armed terrorist groups and vowed to strike with an iron fist those who are terrorising citizens."

A separate blast hit an industrial zone of Damascus where there were no reports of casualties, but three security agents were wounded in an explosion in the coastal city of Banias, the Observatory said.

Assad's regime has repeatedly blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the violence, and for failing to abide by a putative ceasefire since April 12.

Neighbouring Lebanon on Friday intercepted a ship suspected of carrying weapons destined for Syria's rebels, a Lebanese security official said.

But the US State Department said Washington still believed the regime was responsible for "the bulk of the violations" of the ceasefire, warning it was ready to return to the UN Security Council for action on Syria.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon also said Damascus was in contravention of a six-point peace deal by keeping troops and heavy weapons in urban areas, and expressed alarm at reports of population centres being shelled.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "extremely concerned about the continued violence in Syria in violation of the ceasefire".

Ashton said it was "clear that the Syrian government is not fulfilling its obligations and is failing to meet its commitments to withdraw its troops and heavy weapons from population centres".

Rights group Amnesty International said on Friday it had received the names of 362 people reportedly killed in Syria since UN observers deployed last week to monitor the peace deal.

More than 9,000 people have died since a popular uprising erupted against Assad's regime in March 2011, the UN says, while non-governmental groups put the figure at more than 11,100.

Opposition figure Walid al-Bunni said the peace deal drawn up by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan was likely to fail because it obliges Syria to allow free demonstrations.

"If the Annan plan, which provides for peaceful demonstrations, is applied, millions of Syrians will take to the streets and the regime will fall," he told AFP in Cairo.

Syria's exiled Muslim Brotherhood urged Ban to acknowledge that Damascus had failed to honour the peace plan and to suspend its UN membership until a transitional government representing the Syrian people is formed.

"We ask Ban Ki-moon to announce that Assad's government has failed to honour the peace plan and to declare the plan finished... at a time when dozens of innocent people are dying," the group said in a statement.

Ban himself on Friday, during a visit to New Delhi, reiterated his alarm at the continuing violence in Syria.

"The continued repression of the civilian population is totally unacceptable. It must stop immediately. The government of Syria must live up to its promises to the world," he said.

The shaky truce is to be monitored by 300 UN observers due in the coming weeks. A small advance team is already in Syria, and the numbers will be doubled to 30 by Monday, according to a UN official.

The UN on Friday appointed Norway's Major General Robert Mood to head the monitoring force. Mood, 54, negotiated conditions for the advance team with Damascus.

Western nations have expressed strong doubts that the observers will be able to work, however, and the United States has already warned it may not renew the mission's initial three-month mandate.

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Syria was not respecting the Annan peace plan, but added: "We have no intention to intervene in Syria. We believe the right way forward is to ensure a political, peaceful solution."

Meanwhile the UN refugee agency's Syria Regional Refugee Response web page says there are more than 65,000 Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Former Israeli spymaster Diskin
warns against ‘messianic' war on Iran

29 April 2012 / REUTERS, JERUSALEM
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-2789...r-on-iran.html

A former Israeli spymaster has branded the country's leaders as “messianic” and unfit to tackle the Iranian nuclear program, in the strongest criticism from a security veteran of threats to launch a pre-emptive war.


Other retired officials have also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, but the censure from Yuval Diskin, who stepped down as head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service last year, was especially harsh.

He was also unusual in using the language of religious fervor that Israelis associate with their foes.

“I have no faith in the prime minister, nor in the defense minister,” Diskin said in the remarks broadcast by Israeli media on Saturday. “I really don't have faith in a leadership that makes decisions out of messianic feelings.”

Government officials rebuked Diskin and questioned his motives, implying that he had his eye on a political career or was settling scores after Netanyahu denied him a promotion.

The catastrophic terms with which Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak describe the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran have stirred concern in Israel and abroad of a possible strike against its uranium enrichment program.

Iran says the project is entirely peaceful and has promised wide-ranging reprisals for any attack.

World powers, sharing Israeli suspicions that Iran has a covert bomb-making plan, are trying to curb it through sanctions and negotiations. Those talks resume in Baghdad on May 23, but Barak on Thursday rated their chance of succeeding as low.

Although Israel has long threatened a pre-emptive strike if diplomacy fails, some experts believe that could be a bluff to keep up pressure on the Iranians, making it harder to interpret the swirl of comments from the security establishment.

Commenting on Diskin's remarks, Amos Harel of the liberal Haaretz newspaper said the temperature was rising in anticipation of the nuclear talks.

“Nothing has been determined in the Iranian story, and the spring is about to boil over into another summer of tension,” said Harel.

Diskin spoke days after Israel's top military commander, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, told Haaretz he viewed Iran as “very rational” and unlikely to build a bomb, comments that apparently undermined the case for a strike.

The former Shin Bet chief was specifically damning of Netanyahu and Barak, who have often crafted strategy alone and whose rapport dates back four decades to when they served together in a top-secret commando unit.

“They're creating a false impression about the Iranian issue,” Diskin told a private gathering on Friday, where the comments were recorded. “They're appealing to the stupid public, if you'll pardon me for the phrasing, and telling them that if Israel acts, there won't be an [Iranian] nuclear bomb.”

Diskin said he was not necessarily opposed to an attack on Iran, though he cited experts who argue this risked backfiring by accelerating its nuclear program.

Netanyahu's former Mossad foreign intelligence director, Meir Dagan, last year also ridiculed the Israeli war option.

Diskin went a step further by saying that Netanyahu and Barak were not up to the job of opening an unprecedented front with Iran and, potentially, with its allies on Israel's borders.

Netanyahu is a second-term premier with solid public approval ratings and a broad conservative coalition. Barak, a former prime minister, is Israel's most decorated soldier. But they are both technically subject to security vetting by the Shin Bet, which added punch to their panning at Diskin's hands.

“I have seen them up close,” he said. “They are not messiahs, the two of them, and they are not people who I personally, at least, trust to be able to lead Israel into an event on such a scale, and to extricate it.”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed Diskin's alarm as irresponsible “speculation,” telling Israel's Channel Two TV that such big decisions would be made at cabinet level rather than by the prime minister and defence minister exclusively.

Lieberman said Diskin, who was considered as a potential Dagan successor but was passed over, might be angry. One Barak confidant sarcastically wished Diskin “welcome to political life,” implying he was angling for a slot in an opposition party ahead of an Israeli national election scheduled for next year.






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[The Flying Dutchman]

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Netanyahu May Call Elections Amid Dispute

By Jonathan Ferziger on April 29, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ervice-dispute

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he may call early elections because of disagreements with parties within his coalition over military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arabs.

Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud Party that the escalating disputes over military service may lead to national elections within a few months instead of in 2013 as scheduled, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat told Israel Radio.

“The prime minister said in a very clear manner that he will not give in to extortion and if various factions make various demands then we’ll have elections this year,” Livnat said today.

Israel’s Supreme Court in February invalidated the so- called Tal Law that has enabled more than 50,000 students a year in ultra-Orthodox seminaries to avoid being drafted for military service, which is obligatory for Israeli Jewish men and women. Shas and United Torah Judaism, two religious parties in the coalition, are demanding a restoration of deferrals. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, has led opposition to the deferrals and is demanding that Arab citizens perform alternative non-military service.

Netanyahu has pledged to introduce a revamped measure to insure universal national service -- either in the military or civilian alternatives.

Arab Enlistment

Netanyahu said his proposal will require that Israel’s Arab citizens, who make up almost 20 percent of the population, will have to perform national service. Although some members of the Druze and Bedouin communities serve in the army, most Arab citizens are exempt from the draft.

“The Tal Law will be replaced by a more egalitarian and just law, and I will submit it,” Netanyahu told veterans today, according to a statement e-mailed from his office.

Many Arab citizens object to Israel as a Jewish state and complain that they face discrimination by the government.






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[Be Well]

Former Israeli spymaster Diskin
warns against ‘messianic' war on Iran

29 April 2012 / REUTERS, JERUSALEM
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-2789...r-on-iran.html

A former Israeli spymaster has branded the country's leaders as “messianic” and unfit to tackle the Iranian nuclear program, in the strongest criticism from a security veteran of threats to launch a pre-emptive war.

I wonder what he thinks about Iran's stated objective to destroy Israel. Is that okay with him? Is he nuts or just a traitor or bought off?