WAR 09-26-2015-to-10-02-2015_____THEWINDSofWAR

Housecarl · Sep 26, 2015

(182) 09-05-2015-to-09-11-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...11-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(183) 09-12-2015-to-09-18-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...18-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(184) 09-19-2015-to-09-25-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...25-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150926/eu-spain-catalonia-independence-glance-85c7d8f38a.html

Spain: A look at Catalonia's secession drive, Sunday's vote

Sep 26, 2:53 AM (ET)
By ALAN CLENDENNING and JOSEPH WILSON

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Catalan secessionists pushed for years for an independence referendum that Spain's central government refused to allow. Now secessionists hope that Sunday's regional parliament elections will put Catalonia on the road toward breaking away.

Polls show pro-secession parties in a slim lead to win the 68 seats they need for a majority in the 135-member Parliament, but independence for Catalonia is far from assured with a win.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has repeatedly said that Spain's constitution prevents autonomous regions that function like U.S. states from declaring independence. Analysts believe a win for secessionists could trigger negotiations to grant Catalonia more fiscal powers next year, reducing independence sentiment.

Here's a look at how the independence drive developed and what's at stake in Sunday's election:

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THE PUSH FOR SECESSION:

Catalans take pride in their language spoken along with Spanish in the region of 7.5 million people bordering France. The language was harshly suppressed during the 1939-1975 dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

The surge in independence sentiment stems from June 2010, when Spain's Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a groundbreaking charter that would have granted Catalonia more autonomy and recognized it as a nation within Spain.

Spain's financial crisis and resulting harsh austerity measures generated more support for independence. Artur Mas, Catalonia's regional leader, began openly pushing for an independence referendum after he failed to clinch a better financial pact from for Catalonia from Madrid in 2012.

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REFERENDUM REFUSED:

With polls showing Catalans overwhelmingly supporting the right to hold an independence referendum, Mas in 2014 announced a non-binding referendum to gauge secession sentiment — but was forced to call it off and instead stage an unofficial poll.

The country's Constitutional Court agreed with the central government that the referendum would have violated Spain's constitution which says only the national government can call referendums on sovereignty and that all Spaniards must be allowed to vote. Spain's constitution also does not contemplate the possibility of a region breaking away.

About 2.3 million Catalans — out of 5.4 million eligible — ended up voting in the non-binding poll on Nov. 10, with 80 percent in favor of breaking away from Spain.

Rajoy called the vote a failure and ruled out talks for a legal independence ballot.

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A COMPLICATED VOTE

Mas then decided in coordination with pro-independence groups that the election for regional lawmakers would serve as a substitute independence vote.

Polls show the race is tight and that the large "Together for Yes" block formed by pro-independence parties will need support from the small, radical Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) to have a majority of parliamentary seats. Without the majority, secessionists concede, their cause will be set back for years.

Polls suggest secessionists are on track to get less than half of the overall votes, which would hurt the legitimacy of a possible "Yes" outcome.

CUP leaders have said they will not join an independence alliance if a majority of secessionist lawmakers are elected with less than half of the overall vote. And the CUP wants an immediate independence declaration in the event of a majority popular vote for secession, plus the ouster of Mas over his administration's imposition of austerity measures.

Another complication: Spanish voting rules give more weight to votes cast in under-populated regions. Separatist sentiment runs higher in rural Catalan regions than it does in urban areas including the regional capital of Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city.

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INDEPENDENCE ROADMAP

The "Yes" camp hopes within days after the vote to announce an 18-month secession roadmap to make Catalonia a new nation by 2017. But their independence path hasn't been outlined with specifics and it's unclear how detailed it would be.

So far, secessionist leaders have said that a majority of pro-independence lawmakers would give Mas or whoever leads Catalonia the power to call the parliament a "transition government."

It would start drafting laws for Catalonia and a constitution while attempting to negotiate independence with the central government and trying to drum up international support.

Secessionists have left open the possibility that the regional lawmakers could issue a unilateral declaration of independence.

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MADRID'S RESPONSE

Rajoy and others in his administration have made it clear that they will use all legal methods to prevent the independence of Catalonia, which accounts for nearly a fifth of Spain's economic output.

But many analysts believe the independence drive will be halted after Spain holds general elections in December and decides whether Rajoy and his Popular Party stay in power or not.

Whoever wins, analysts say, the next government is likely to start negotiating more autonomy and fiscal powers for Catalonia.

"Even if secessionist parties are able to remain united — a big if — and continue pushing for independence, any concessions from Madrid would probably help to stymie the movement's momentum," said Antonio Barroso, a London-based analyst with the Teneo Intelligence political risk consultancy.

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Clendenning reported from Madrid.

Housecarl · Sep 26, 2015

Hummm........

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150926/as--india-nkorea-377f759347.html

Odd partnership: Ties warm between India and North Korea

Sep 26, 2:05 AM (ET)
By TIM SULLIVAN

NEW DELHI (AP) — It's not the most obvious international friendship. On one side is the world's largest democracy, with its riotous collection of battling political parties and a freewheeling media with thousands of newspapers, TV stations and websites. On the other is a deeply isolated nation, a country with no political opposition and a media that does not question the long-ruling family. Access to the Internet, except for a handful of government-approved websites, is restricted to a tiny elite.

But ties are warming between New Delhi and Pyongyang, with mineral-hungry India looking to boost trade while North Korea, facing sometimes-rocky relations with China, searches for new friends.

"We feel that there should not be the usual old hurdles and suspicion," Kiren Rijiju, a top official in India's home ministry told The Hindu newspaper after a recent meeting with North Korea's ambassador. "We have been discussing inside the government ways and means of upgrading bilateral ties."

The goodwill began earlier this year, when North Korea dispatched Foreign Minster Ri Su Yong on a three-day trip to India, just a few weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Seoul for meetings with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

While Pyongyang and New Delhi have long had diplomatic relations, things cooled a couple decades ago as India blamed North Korea for selling nuclear technology to its archrival, Pakistan, and North Korea grew upset that India was growing close to South Korea.

But times change.

North Korea, for its part, has had to accept South Korea's economic dominance, and how even a longtime ally like China is anxious to increase trade with Seoul.

India, meanwhile, has a growing economy with an increasingly voracious hunger for raw materials.

"There is always a resource crunch that pushes countries to look for new friends and new allies," said Vyjayanti Raghavan, a professor at the Centre for Korean Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

While the diplomatic moves would not be newsworthy for most countries, and have yet to result in a concrete agreement, they are significant for North Korea, whose foreign relations are largely limited to a handful of other countries.

North Korea, Raghavan said, had long been anxious to repair ties with India.

"But North Korea had nothing much to offer to India," she said. "Now, India can benefit from the relationship."

North Korea's export economy is highly dependent on raw materials, mostly coal and iron ore, though it is also increasingly seen as a potential major source of the rare earth minerals used in high-tech products.

Pyongyang is also anxious to forge new alliances.

China remains North Korea's closest ally, and is by far its largest trade partner, but ties are not as warm as they once were.

Beijing reacted angrily to North Korea's last nuclear test, in 2013. Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, has kept his distance from China after taking power in 2011, following his father's death. Apparently concerned about the growth of Beijing's influence. Kim has not traveled China, where his father was a regular visitor, and has held few talks with top Chinese officials. North Korea has also ratcheted up ties with Russia as relations with Beijing have cooled.

New Delhi may also see the renewed North Korean ties as a way to make quiet advances into a country long seen as part of China's sphere of influence. Chinese-Indian relations are delicate and often-contradictory, with mutual distrust — and occasional squabbling over their long shared border — mixing with a desire to increase trade and avoid open confrontation.

India has watched warily as China has made inroads across the Indian Ocean, where New Delhi's traditional dominance has declined as a result of billions of dollars in Chinese aid and construction projects.

Simply the choice of Rijiju to meet with North Korean diplomats could have been intended to make a point, since he is from Arunachal Pradesh, a state that Beijing has long insisted is actually Chinese territory.

And what will India's other allies say about improved ties with North Korea?

That probably doesn't matter. While North Korea remains economically isolated from much of the world, treated as a pariah by Washington and much of the West, India has long charted its own foreign policy course. For instance, even as India became increasingly close in recent years to the U.S., New Delhi remained friendly with such countries as Iran and Syria.

"Why shouldn't India have relations with North Korea?" demanded Hamdullah Saeed, an opposition politician who visited North Korea as part of a parliamentary delegation in 2013. "India can have ties with who it wants."

Housecarl · Sep 26, 2015

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150926/ml-saudi-arabia-32db7a91f8.html

Saudi Arabia: IS loyalist who killed cousin dies in shootout

Sep 26, 11:55 AM (ET)

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabian security forces killed an 18-year-old Islamic State loyalist and arrested his brother after they allegedly killed their cousin, who is a soldier, and three other people, the state-run news agency said Saturday.

Saudi forces launched a manhunt after a video emerged showing an IS loyalist shooting and killing a man with his hands bound in the desert, the Saudi Press Agency said, citing the interior ministry's security spokesman.

The individual who was shot dead was a member of the armed forces, lured to the desert by his cousins on Thursday, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, SPA said. The two brothers killed two other citizens and a corporal, it said.

Security forces aided by aircraft tracked the brothers to a mountainous area. When asked to surrender, the two men opened fire. Eighteen-year-old Abdul-Aziz Radi Ayash al-Anzi was killed in the ensuing gunfight, and his brother, 21-year-old Saad Radi Ayash al-Anzi was wounded and arrested.

A soldier was killed in the operation, according to SPA.

IS loyalists have carried out a string of attacks in Saudi Arabia in recent months targeting security forces and the Shiite minority. The extremist group views the Saudi royal family as illegitimate and has called for its overthrow.

On Aug. 6, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque inside a police compound in the southwestern city of Abha, killing 15 people in the deadliest attack on the kingdom's security forces in years. Eleven of the dead belonged to an elite counterterrorism unit whose tasks include protecting the hajj pilgrimage.

The attack was claimed by a previously unheard-of IS affiliate.

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

Hummm..........

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http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2015/09/23/oman_switzerland_of_the_middle_east.html

September 23, 2015
Switzerland of the Middle East
By Kevin Sullivan

The daily headlines readily remind us that the Middle East is falling apart, and that every actor -- be it Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey -- is selfishly working to splinter and stifle its rivals in the region. And since bombs and body counts typically garner the most attention, sincere and selfless acts sometimes go overlooked.

Such was the case this week, when it was reported that the Gulf sultanate of Oman helped negotiate the release of two American hostages -- in addition to three Saudis and one British citizen -- held for months by Shiite rebels in Yemen. Moreover, declining to join the Saudi-led coalition currently waging war against Yemen's Houthi rebels has allowed Muscat to lobby for the release of other hostages, and play an objective role in a war-torn country full of self-interested actors.

Muscat's work in Yemen, coupled with its vital role as host and backchannel during the Iran nuclear negotiations, has earned Oman a rather venerable reputation of neutrality and seriousness in a region often lacking in both. But don't confuse Muscat for a wholly disinterested Samaritan.

"Oman considers itself a vulnerable country because it's a small country which is in the middle of many issues, like Yemen to the south, Pakistan to the north, Iran to the north and Saudi Arabia," said Marc Valeri of Exeter University in an interview with the Associated Press. "This vulnerability means they want to be friendly with all the other parties around."

Oman also shares custody with Iran of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Muscat has lured billions of dollars in foreign investment to upgrade its SOHAR Port and Freezone, a joint venture between the Omani government and the Port of Rotterdam. The sultanate has invested in air and rail at the facility in the hopes of turning the port into a multimodal transit and shipping hub in the region, and has worked to link the facility to other land, air, and sea routes in the country.

But much of that depends on there being tranquil waters in and around the Persian Gulf, making detente between Washington and Tehran more than mere yeoman's work, but a strategic and economic imperative.

Muscat's motivations cannot be entirely chalked up to commercial demands, however. In addition to its location and limited resources, others have also attributed Oman's conciliatory tone and tactics to its religious roots.

"Oman is the world's only Ibadi-majority country and while the sect has its followers in Zanzibar and the Maghreb, three-quarters of the world's Ibadi Muslims are Omani," writes Giorgio Cafiero, founder of Gulf State Analytics. "Ibadism is frequently described as a conservative yet tolerant sect that emphasizes the ‘rule of the just' and rejects violence as a means to political ends. As Ibadism constitutes a key pillar of Oman's national identity, the sultanate's foreign policy appears to reflect the sect's moderating influence on Omani society."

Whatever the reason, it's refreshing to see someone in the Middle East strive to play the role of Switzerland.

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/w...ia-swap-prisoners-accused-of-spying.html?_r=0

Europe

Russia and Estonia Swap Prisoners Accused of Spying

By RICHARD MARTYN-HEMPHILL and SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY
SEPT. 26, 2015

TALLINN, Estonia — Russia and Estonia on Saturday exchanged two prisoners who had been convicted of espionage, carrying out the swap on a bridge at a border post between the countries.

According to a statement by the Russian Federal Security Service, Eston Kohver, who last month was sentenced to 15 years in a Russian prison for spying, was handed over to Estonia authorities in exchange for Alexei Dressen, a former Estonian security officer who was serving a 16-year sentence in Estonia for giving state secrets to Russia.

Mr. Dressen’s wife, also convicted in the case, was transferred to Russia before the two men crossed the bridge over the Piusa River.

Russia’s Channel One television described the exchange as “resembling a scene from a film: a bridge, a river, an exchange exactly in the middle.”

As they passed on the bridge, the two men appeared to exchange words, but then Mr. Dressen waved off Mr. Kohver.

Continue reading the main story

Related Coverage

Eston Kohver, an Estonian security officer, talking with a lawyer in a Russian court in June. He was convicted of espionage on Wednesday.

Russia Sentences Estonian to 15 Years in Disputed Spy Case
AUG. 19, 2015

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia said recent Russian tactics resembled those used on the border “before World War II.”

Tensions Surge in Estonia Amid a Russian Replay of Cold War Tactics
OCT. 5, 2014

Mr. Kohver was arrested last year just days after President Obama’s visit to Estonia, on the day of a NATO meeting at which members reasserted the need to defend the Baltic region.

Estonia has maintained that Mr. Kohver was kidnapped from inside Estonia, while Russia claimed that he was found with arms and cash on the Russian side of the border while spying.

Estonia and Western governments had condemned his detention and sentencing.

“I think the Russians had no further use of him and wanted to get rid of him,” said Kadri Liik of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a research group.

Martin Hurt, deputy director of the International Center for Defense and Security, a research group in Tallinn, said the release of Mr. Kohver might have been timed to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly meeting, where President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is to speak and meet with President Obama.

“Moscow wanted to get the Kohver incident off the table,” he said.

The Russian news media described Mr. Dressen in heroic terms.

RIA Novosti, an official state news agency, on Saturday quoted an unnamed Russian official as saying that Mr. Dressen had worked for Russian counterintelligence agencies since the 1990s, turning over information about American and British spy operations in the Baltic countries.

Richard Martyn-Hemphill reported from Tallinn, and Sophia Kishkovsky from Moscow.

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/27/us-mexico-violence-idUSKCN0RQ0SD20150927

World | Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:48pm EDT
Related: World

Mexico pressured for answers on missing students, one year on

MEXICO CITY | By Lizbeth Diaz

Tens of thousands marched in Mexico City on Saturday to demand answers on last year's disappearances of 43 students, piling new pressure on President Enrique Pena Nieto to clear up a case that has battered his image.

A year to the day since 43 trainee teachers went missing in the southwestern city of Iguala after clashes with local police, protesters held up banners ridiculing Pena Nieto's response to the crisis and accusing him of trying to draw a line under it.

Simmering anger over the disappearances, which exposed deep flaws in Mexico's justice system, has dashed any hopes the president harbored of turning the spotlight away from violence and lawlessness that have plagued the country for years.

His government said the 43 young men were abducted by corrupt municipal police, then handed over to be massacred by a local drug gang that believed the students had links to a rival outfit in the crime-racked, impoverished state of Guerrero.

But an international team of experts reviewing the case this month questioned the government account of how the gang members incinerated, ground up, then dumped the students' remains in a river, arguing its investigation was sloppy and full of holes.

"The people have gone back to tell the president we don't believe him, we're not idiots," said Moises Acosta, 30, one of the thousands of peaceful demonstrators. "Mexico needs to get to work on this case. It's a lie we're not going to swallow."

Parents of the students this week called for a new investigation, but as yet the government has only offered to create a new office to look into disappearances in Mexico.

Many questions remain open.

To date, Mexico has only definitively identified the remains of one of the victims. Government officials have said the task of identifying them was complicated by the fact there was so little evidence left after their bodies were destroyed.

On Friday, the government said it would send more remains for examination by forensic experts in Innsbruck, Austria.

Prosecutors accused the mayor of Iguala and his wife of being in league with the drug gang, though they were just two among dozens of suspects arrested over the crime, which sparked international concern over the lack of law and order in Mexico.

The apparent massacre became a symbol of state incompetence and corruption, and a few weeks after the events Pena Nieto got embroiled in an conflict-of-interest dispute over homes his wife and his finance minister bought from a government contractor.

Conflated by Pena Nieto's critics, the two cases eroded the president's credibility and some demonstrators on the gray afternoon used the march to attack Pena Nieto on both counts.

"Bad global example, conflicts of interest, government crimes ... Pena Out!," ran one placard.

Pena Nieto marked the anniversary of the events in Iguala on Twitter by pledging to bring those responsible to justice.

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Lilbitsnana · Sep 27, 2015

Israel News ‏@IsraelNewsNow 18m18 minutes ago

#IsraeltheRegion #IAEAInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency IAEA chief says another Parchin visit not necessary http://dlvr.it/CH1dZb

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http://www.timesofisrael.com/iaea-c...essary/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

IAEA chief says another Parchin visit not necessary

Yukiya Amano says UN atomic agency ‘can move forward’ with probe using samples drawn by Iran

By Times of Israel staff and AP September 27, 2015, 10:54 am

In this May 12, 2015 file photo, UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano from Japan speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Vienna, Austria. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)

The head of the UN nuclear agency said a second visit to Iran’s Parchin military facility was not necessary, after Tehran handed over environmental samples last week from the site suspected of being used for furtive nuclear activity.

Yukiya Amano, recently returned from Iran, told the Russian RIA Novosti news agency another visit to the contested site was unlikely.

“I don’t think so. We have already some samples,” he said, responding to a question about a second visit. The IAEA “can move forward” with the evidence provided by the Islamic Republic, he said.

Amano visited Parchin last week after years of the IAEA trying to gain access to the site to clear up suspicions of nuclear work there.

Iranian officials described the visit as ceremonial, and said Iranian nuclear officials had taken samples which they then handed over to the UN’s nuclear watchdog for analysis.

The samples were taken under the framework of a roadmap deal between Tehran and the IAEA reached alongside thew landmark nuclear deal with six world powers.

According to Iranian media reports, Amano met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York on Saturday to discuss the implementation of the nuclear deal.

Amano pushed back on Thursday against critics questioning the wisdom of letting Iranian experts take samples meant to help determine whether their own country clandestinely worked in the past on atomic arms, saying he is convinced the process was faultless.

Amano spoke to The Associated Press less than a week after confirming that Iranians did the environmental sampling at a site where such alleged experiments took place. Personnel from his International Atomic Energy Agency normally do the work of swiping equipment and sampling the soil and air at sites they suspect was used for hidden nuclear activities.

Noting that the Iranians were under stringent IAEA monitoring, Amano said he was confident “so far” that the samples were genuine. He appeared to go further on Thursday, however. While declining to say how far his agency’s laboratory analysis has gone, he said he is “very sure that … the samples are authentic.”

The alleged test of explosive triggers for a nuclear bomb at the Parchin military site is one of about a dozen suspected experiments linked to such a weapon that the IAEA has been trying to probe for more than a decade. Iran denies ever working on such arms and says its present nuclear program is meant only to generate power and for science and medicine.
Satellite image of the Parchin facility in April (photo credit: Institute for Science and International Security/AP)

Satellite image of the Parchin facility, April 2012 (AP/Institute for Science and International Security)

But it is in Tehran’s interest to help work toward a final IAEA assessment of the allegations scheduled for December 15. That report will feed into the larger July 14 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers and so help determine whether all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program will be lifted.

Amano, who met President Hassan Rouhani and other senior Iranian officials last week in Tehran, said they are keen to wrap up the probe and “would like to further accelerate the process.”

Critical Republicans continue to focus on Parchin, even after a failed attempt this month to have Congress reject the overarching July 14 nuclear deal swapping sanctions relief for cuts in Iran’s current atomic activities.

They assert that giving Iranian officials the right to collect samples there not only amounts to “self-inspection” of the site but also is emblematic of what they say were unnecessary concessions are to Tehran in the July 14 agreement.

Amano rejected such interpretations, saying that through state of the art video, photo and global positioning system monitoring, “we are very sure that the integrity of the (sampling) process is assured.” He declined to say whether IAEA personnel were at the site southeast of Tehran during the sampling.

However, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA said the samples were taken without any outside monitors.

Amano, in comments made while flying to this week’s UN General Assembly, also said it was too early to draw conclusions from what Iranian media describe as a weekend courtesy visit by him to the building where the alleged experiments took place.

Citing satellite imagery, the IAEA has expressed concern that what it describes as extensive renovations at the site over the years have diminished agency attempts to sleuth the building for evidence of the alleged weapons work.

Their visit was separate from the environmental sampling. Amano said he and as deputy had “not seen any equipment” that could be linked to the alleged tests during their visit, but added: “Renovation activities were ongoing.”
Read more on: IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran nuclear deal, Yukiya Amano, Iran, Parchin

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

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http://www.voanews.com/content/viol...l-african-republic-after-clashes/2981291.html

Violent Protests Erupt in CAR Capital After Clashes

September 27, 2015 2:15 PM

BANGUI— Armed Christian militia members roamed the streets and protesters erected barricades on Sunday in the capital of Central African Republic, where deadly inter-religious clashes erupted a day earlier, witnesses said.

At least 21 people were killed and another 100 were wounded on Saturday when Muslims attacked a mainly Christian neighborhood in Bangui in reprisal for the murder of a Muslim man.

The clashes were the worst this year in the city, where U.N. peacekeepers and French troops are meant to ensure security. The government blamed them on individuals seeking to derail elections planned for next month.

Peacekeeping mission

Angry young men used tree trunks to block Bangui's main arteries early on Sunday. Soldiers from the U.N. peacekeeping mission, MINUSCA, fired tear gas at crowds on Avenue Boganda in an unsuccessful attempt to clear the road.

Witnesses reported hearing sporadic gunfire in parts of the city and saw homes and shops being looted. But there were no immediate confirmed reports of further deaths on Sunday.

"Enough is enough. We want (President Catherine) Samba-Panza to go. Since she's been there the Muslims kill with impunity. She's doing nothing to disarm them," said one protester who declined to give his name.

Thousands of Central Africans have died and hundreds of thousands remain displaced after two years of violence that erupted after mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the majority Christian country in 2013.

Seleka abuses sparked reprisals by Christian "anti-balaka" militias that drove most Muslims from the south in a de facto partition of the country.

Allegations

Protesters alleged U.N. and French forces did little to intervene in Saturday's violence and called for the sidelined Central African army, the FACA, to assume responsibility for security.

"We are calling for a civil disobedience movement starting now and we demand the immediate redeployment, without conditions, of the FACA," civil society leader Gervais Lakossa told Reuters.

Anti-balaka fighters armed with assault rifles and machetes were seen on Bangui's streets on Sunday as many city residents fled their homes for protected displacement camps.

"The government asks the population not to cede to the manipulation of extremists who are seeking to set the country on fire to satisfy their selfish political ambitions," Security Minister Dominique Said Paguindji said on state radio.

Voters are due to elect a new president and parliament on Oct. 18 to replace an interim government led by Samba-Panza. Despite lagging preparations and the renewed violence in the capital, Paguindji said the polls would go ahead as scheduled.

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/27/us-hongkong-occupy-amnesty-idUSKCN0RR0QA20150927

World | Sun Sep 27, 2015 12:09pm EDT
Related: World

Rights group demands Chinese supporters of Hong Kong democracy be freed

HONG KONG | By Clare Baldwin

Amnesty International called on Monday for the release of eight mainland Chinese activists who face long prison sentences for posting messages and pictures supporting Hong Kong's 2014 pro-democracy protests.

Six of the activists, arrested after holding up banners with messages such as "Support Hong Kong's fight for freedom", face up to 15 years in prison.

They have been charged with "inciting subversion of state power", "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" and "gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place".

Human Rights Watch also issued a statement last week demanding the Hong Kong government drop charges against Hong Kong activists, investigate its handling of the city's pro-democracy protests and restart the electoral reform process.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Liaison Office in Hong Kong did not respond to requests for comment. The Hong Kong police and Justice Department also did not respond to requests for comment.

The Independent Police Complaints Council has said previously it was reviewing complaints from the protests.

Monday marks the one-year anniversary of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests, during which activists blocked major roads in the city for 79 days to demand open nominations for the city's next chief executive election in 2017.

While largely peaceful, the size and duration of the protests - and the fact that they took place in full view of international media, who filmed the activists using umbrellas to defend themselves against police tear gas, pepper spray and batons - raised a serious challenge to China's Communist Party, which has been tightening control over civil society.

Citing the need to buttress national security and stability, President Xi Jinping's administration has tightened government control over almost every aspect of civil society since 2012.

It has adopted a sweeping new national security law, launched a months-long campaign in state media to discredit human rights activists for undermining national stability by using social media, and recently detained dozens of lawyers and activists.

According to the Amnesty report, Chinese activist Sun Feng, who tried to travel to Beijing with his own proposal for Hong Kong electoral reform, and five others - Su Changlan, Chen Qitang, Wang Mo, Xie Wenfei and Zhang Shengyu - face up to 15 years in prison.

Activist Ji Sizun faces up to 10 years in prison and Ye Xiaozheng faces up to five.

Su said she was denied adequate medical treatment and Zhang said he was beaten and chained to a bed for 15 days, according to the report which cited the activists' lawyers.

President Xi is returning to China from a state visit to the United States.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Stella Tsang; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/27/us-turkey-kurds-youth-idUSKCN0RR0DS20150927

World | Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:24pm EDT
Related: World, Turkey

A new generation of Kurdish militants takes fight to Turkey's cities

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey | By Humeyra Pamuk

Young, urban-based fighters, many of them still teenagers, have taken center in the conflict between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces that has flared anew in southeast Turkey since a two-year ceasefire fell apart in July.

The intensity of the violence recalls for some the 1990s, when the insurgency waged by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was at its peak and thousands were being killed annually, though the death toll remains for now well below those levels.

The fighters from the PKK's youth wing, known as the 'Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement' (YDG-H), attack security forces in cities and towns with heavy weapons, dig trenches and erect barricades down side streets.

The police retaliate by imposing curfews and launching dragnet security operations, most controversially this month in the town of Cizre near Turkey's borders with Iraq and Syria where at least 20 people were killed.

More than 150 Turkish police officers and soldiers have died in the violence since July, many of them in cities and towns, government officials say, marking a departure from the PKK's traditional focus on more rural areas.

"We are facing an effort to bring the war of armed groups in rural areas into the cities," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told A Haber television in an interview this month.

The escalating bloodshed in the mainly Kurdish southeast has exacerbated already sky-high political tensions in Turkey ahead of a snap Nov. 1 parliamentary election, with President Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party accusing pro-Kurdish lawmakers of being in cahoots with the PKK.

It also complicates international efforts to combat Islamic State fighters across the border in Syria: Turkey says there are links between the PKK and Kurdish groups in Syria who work with a U.S.-led alliance bombing Islamic State.

Turkey, the United States and European Union all classify the PKK as a terrorist organization.

The Turkish military has resumed its attacks on PKK camps in northern Iraq while also joining the U.S.-led campaign of air strikes against Islamic State, the hardline Islamists who have seized territory across the Turkish border in Syria and Iraq.

Inside Turkey, the YDG-H militants, largely untrained but determined to fight what they see as an oppressive Turkish state, say they have strong support from local people in a region long blighted by violence and poverty.

"There is a large mass of people who have huge sympathy and support for us. They are not armed but they do help us," said 19-year-old Nuda, who said she had abandoned her education after high school to become a full-time insurgent.

Turkish government officials say the renewed violence in the southeast, where residents had cherished two years of calm as Erdogan's government conducted peace talks with the PKK, has actually dented local support for the militants.

TRENCHES AND BARRICADES

The PKK launched its armed campaign for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984, triggering a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives. Its leader Abdullah Ocalan was jailed in 1999 but still has considerable influence in the PKK, whose senior commanders are based in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq.

The YDG-H, many of whose members were born in the traumatic 1990s, was only founded in 2006. The precise nature of its relationship with the PKK leadership is unclear, though there can be no doubting its dedication to the separatist cause.

"Police and soldiers come to your neighborhood to detain you or intimidate you. We aim to prevent them from doing that by digging trenches and barricades," said YDG-H fighter Mawa, speaking hurriedly while his comrades nervously stood guard, looking out for security patrols.

"We have units in every street, every neighborhood across Kurdistan," he said, his face concealed by a scarf.

Mawa, who said he had left university after a year to join the YDG-H, joked that, at 26, he was one of the oldest members of the group.

He was standing behind a community building in the Sur district of Diyarbakir, the biggest city of southeast Turkey, where authorities imposed a brief curfew this month after YDG-H militants killed two police officers. [ID:nL5N11K30B]

YDG-H members say their group has grown rapidly but refuse to give a number. Mawa and other members described it as "semi-independent" of the PKK leadership, though Ankara refutes this.

"We act in line with the rules of the (PKK) leadership and its perspective against the destructive policies of the state," said 23-year-old Sorxin, another young militant in Diyarbakir.

A Turkish foreign ministry official, however, insisted the YDG-H took its orders directly from senior PKK commanders.

"They are not flash mobs, they do not tweet each other and meet up," said the official. "It is a structure and that structure is being directed from Qandil."

One PKK fighter deployed to a base near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk told Reuters the reality was more ambivalent.

"They (the YDG-H) don't have a direct relationship with the leadership because then they would be found out," said the militant, who gave his name as "Kani Kobani", sitting in a room with machine guns propped against the wall.

"The leadership gives general directions via TV. All the comrades watch TV. We know how to interpret the message."

CURFEWS

Turkey's Anadolu Agency, citing security officials, said this month the PKK had kidnapped more than 2,000 people below the age of 18 in the past two years to be used in its attacks.

Officials say as many as 70 YDG-H militants were involved in this month's clashes in Cizre, where police imposed a round-the-clock curfew for more than a week.

Lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) say 21 civilians were killed in Cizre and that people went hungry for days and could not bury their dead.

Turkey's interior minister said only one civilian and 32 militants had been killed in the Cizre clashes. [ID:nL5N11G2S3]

The HDP, whose success in Turkey's inconclusive June election deprived the AKP of its single-party majority in parliament, accuses the authorities of imposing curfews in areas that support the pro-Kurdish party in order to "punish" voters and intimidate them into not participating in the Nov. 1 poll.

The government denies such suggestions, saying the curfews are aimed at facilitating its operations against the YDG-H militants holed up in urban areas.

Officials are also very aware that a heavy security crackdown could prove counterproductive by further radicalizing Kurds in the countdown to the Nov. 1 election and they acknowledge that having to fight teenagers complicates the aim of defeating the PKK.

"What do you do when a 15-year-old shoots at you? You shoot back," the foreign ministry official said. "The police have to justify their actions and it's very controversial."

Suleyman Ozeren, a security analyst for the Ankara-based think-tank Global Policy and Strategy, said he expected no swift resolution of the conflict.

"There's a very thin line between the terrorists and the (local) population ... Turkey can degrade the PKK but it will take time, especially in the cities," he said.

(Additional reporting by Dasha Afanasieva in ISTANBUL, Isabel Coles in KIRKUK and Jonny Hogg in ANKARA; Editing by David Dolan and Gareth Jones)

Lilbitsnana · Sep 27, 2015

Conflict News ‏@Conflicts 3h3 hours ago

REPORT: #Guyana’s President Says #Venezuela Is Massing Troops Along Disputed Border https://news.vice.com/article/guyan...s-along-disputed-border?utm_source=vicenewsfb …

posted for fair use
https://news.vice.com/article/guyan...s-along-disputed-border?utm_source=vicenewsfb

Guyana’s President Says Venezuela Is Massing Troops Along Disputed Border

By Samuel Oakford
September 27, 2015 | 12:10 pm

The first trip to the UN's annual gathering of world leaders has particularly high stakes for David Granger, the recently elected president of Guyana. His country's neighbor, Venezuela, has renewed its claim that it is the rightful owner of two-fifths of the small South American nation's territory, and is massing troops along the border.

"For the first time, Venezuela has deployed rockets, armored vehicles, armed patrol boats in the river that forms the border with Guyana, and increased its troops," Granger told VICE News in an interview. "We have to render assurance that Guyana will be a safe and secure destination."

Venezuela has intermittently asserted sovereignty over Guyana's Essequibo region for more than a century, it's once again at the top of the agenda for Venezuelan politicians, including President Nicolas Maduro.

Related: Venezuela Is Suddenly Intent on Annexing Two-Thirds of Neighboring Guyana

In 1899, a court of arbitration in Paris awarded the region to then British Guiana, much to the chagrin of Venezuela and the United States, which wanted to squeeze the United Kingdom out of the Western hemisphere. In 1962, four years before Guyana's independence, Venezuela pronounced the 1899 Paris decision null and void. The discovery of oil in the waters off Essequibo this year prompted Venezuela to renew its long dormant claims of jurisdiction.

Granger described the offshore oil find, which could bear fruit in five to seven years, as a "game-changer" that could fundamentally alter the economy of South America's third poorest country, which relies on production and extraction of rice, bauxite, gold, and other minerals — many of them in Essequibo — to eek out its annual budget. A thriving trade in heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil also supplies a large part of Guyana's economy.

"Our plan is to continue to invite foreign direct investment into our country, particularly to exploit our mineral resources, and also to make a sovereign wealth fund, to ensure the money is not squandered," said Granger. But those plans are up in the air as long as Venezuela keeps up its rhetorical and legal fight to take the oil-rich waters of Essequibo. Granger says he's concerned that investors may be scared away by Caracas' saber-rattling. "What we are seeing now is really a continuation of a pattern of provocation which has persisted for over half a century."

This week, after alleging Venezuela had deployed troops on the border, Guyana's military made a show of force in the capital, Georgetown, and elsewhere in the country. "It was not an attempt to engineer a military clash, it was simply a protective means of ensuring that Venezuela does not trespass on our territory," Granger said.

"We have to have the capability to determine if any incursion takes place," he added. "I cannot say when Venezuela is planning to have a military incursion."

Related: Meet the Pork-Knockers of Guyana's Gold Rush

On Friday, Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had invited Granger for bilateral discussions in New York.

"We love and respect the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana," said Maduro, adding that "Venezuela has been the country that has most helped Guyana in its history, since it was the site of British Guiana."

Granger told VICE News that he had no plans to meet Venezuela's president one on one during his trip to New York, but was open to a scheduled meeting to be mediated by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. A spokesperson for Ban's office told VICE News that the two leaders will be brought together with the Secretary General on Sunday evening.

Asked if he wanted Ban to tell Venezuela to leave his country alone, Granger said, "I'd use stronger language than that."

"The Secretary General knows his role, and we have asked him," he added. "He's already sent a delegation team to Guyana to assess the situation, and we expect that the team will report that the area is claimed by Venezuela is in effect occupied by Guyana and has been so for the last 300 years."

Venezuela insists that the dispute — which Guyana considers long resolved — should be tackled by a UN mediator. Granger says the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands should take up the matter.

Guyana has its own, smaller, claim to territory controlled by Venezuela. In 1966, the year of Guyana's independence, Venezuela captured Ankoko Island, along the border between the two countries. It has not return the land.

Related: Venezuela Faces Looming Beer Shortage in Dispute with Nation's Biggest Brewer

"Venezuela is actually in illegal occupation of Guyana's territory," said Granger. "Whether they want to extend that illegality and expand the territory under occupation is another matter. Right now that is the worst case."

The dispute with Venezuela is in many ways a distraction for Granger, who on Friday gave a speech to the General Assembly endorsing the UN's new set of development goals for the next 15 years. His governing coalition, consisting of six parties, holds tenuous control after a narrow victory over the People's Progressive Party, which is supported largely by Indo-Guyanese citizens, descendants of indentured workers brought to the colony by British authorities. After running on a platform of inclusiveness, Granger, a historian and former general, says another goal is to beckon back Guyana's massive diaspora, which for decades left for the US, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

"I've always said that Guyana is a nation divided in two, half lives in North America, half lives in South America," he said.

Follow Samuel Oakford on Twitter: @samueloakford

Housecarl · Sep 27, 2015

Lilbitsnana said:
Conflict News ‏@Conflicts 3h3 hours ago

REPORT: #Guyana’s President Says #Venezuela Is Massing Troops Along Disputed Border https://news.vice.com/article/guyan...s-along-disputed-border?utm_source=vicenewsfb …

posted for fair use
https://news.vice.com/article/guyan...s-along-disputed-border?utm_source=vicenewsfb

Guyana’s President Says Venezuela Is Massing Troops Along Disputed Border

By Samuel Oakford
September 27, 2015 | 12:10 pm

The first trip to the UN's annual gathering of world leaders has particularly high stakes for David Granger, the recently elected president of Guyana. His country's neighbor, Venezuela, has renewed its claim that it is the rightful owner of two-fifths of the small South American nation's territory, and is massing troops along the border.

"For the first time, Venezuela has deployed rockets, armored vehicles, armed patrol boats in the river that forms the border with Guyana, and increased its troops," Granger told VICE News in an interview. "We have to render assurance that Guyana will be a safe and secure destination."

Venezuela has intermittently asserted sovereignty over Guyana's Essequibo region for more than a century, it's once again at the top of the agenda for Venezuelan politicians, including President Nicolas Maduro.

Related: Venezuela Is Suddenly Intent on Annexing Two-Thirds of Neighboring Guyana

In 1899, a court of arbitration in Paris awarded the region to then British Guiana, much to the chagrin of Venezuela and the United States, which wanted to squeeze the United Kingdom out of the Western hemisphere. In 1962, four years before Guyana's independence, Venezuela pronounced the 1899 Paris decision null and void. The discovery of oil in the waters off Essequibo this year prompted Venezuela to renew its long dormant claims of jurisdiction.

Granger described the offshore oil find, which could bear fruit in five to seven years, as a "game-changer" that could fundamentally alter the economy of South America's third poorest country, which relies on production and extraction of rice, bauxite, gold, and other minerals — many of them in Essequibo — to eek out its annual budget. A thriving trade in heavily subsidized Venezuelan oil also supplies a large part of Guyana's economy.

"Our plan is to continue to invite foreign direct investment into our country, particularly to exploit our mineral resources, and also to make a sovereign wealth fund, to ensure the money is not squandered," said Granger. But those plans are up in the air as long as Venezuela keeps up its rhetorical and legal fight to take the oil-rich waters of Essequibo. Granger says he's concerned that investors may be scared away by Caracas' saber-rattling. "What we are seeing now is really a continuation of a pattern of provocation which has persisted for over half a century."

This week, after alleging Venezuela had deployed troops on the border, Guyana's military made a show of force in the capital, Georgetown, and elsewhere in the country. "It was not an attempt to engineer a military clash, it was simply a protective means of ensuring that Venezuela does not trespass on our territory," Granger said.

"We have to have the capability to determine if any incursion takes place," he added. "I cannot say when Venezuela is planning to have a military incursion."

Related: Meet the Pork-Knockers of Guyana's Gold Rush

On Friday, Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had invited Granger for bilateral discussions in New York.

"We love and respect the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana," said Maduro, adding that "Venezuela has been the country that has most helped Guyana in its history, since it was the site of British Guiana."

Granger told VICE News that he had no plans to meet Venezuela's president one on one during his trip to New York, but was open to a scheduled meeting to be mediated by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. A spokesperson for Ban's office told VICE News that the two leaders will be brought together with the Secretary General on Sunday evening.

Asked if he wanted Ban to tell Venezuela to leave his country alone, Granger said, "I'd use stronger language than that."

"The Secretary General knows his role, and we have asked him," he added. "He's already sent a delegation team to Guyana to assess the situation, and we expect that the team will report that the area is claimed by Venezuela is in effect occupied by Guyana and has been so for the last 300 years."

Venezuela insists that the dispute — which Guyana considers long resolved — should be tackled by a UN mediator. Granger says the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands should take up the matter.

Guyana has its own, smaller, claim to territory controlled by Venezuela. In 1966, the year of Guyana's independence, Venezuela captured Ankoko Island, along the border between the two countries. It has not return the land.

Related: Venezuela Faces Looming Beer Shortage in Dispute with Nation's Biggest Brewer

"Venezuela is actually in illegal occupation of Guyana's territory," said Granger. "Whether they want to extend that illegality and expand the territory under occupation is another matter. Right now that is the worst case."

The dispute with Venezuela is in many ways a distraction for Granger, who on Friday gave a speech to the General Assembly endorsing the UN's new set of development goals for the next 15 years. His governing coalition, consisting of six parties, holds tenuous control after a narrow victory over the People's Progressive Party, which is supported largely by Indo-Guyanese citizens, descendants of indentured workers brought to the colony by British authorities. After running on a platform of inclusiveness, Granger, a historian and former general, says another goal is to beckon back Guyana's massive diaspora, which for decades left for the US, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

"I've always said that Guyana is a nation divided in two, half lives in North America, half lives in South America," he said.

Follow Samuel Oakford on Twitter: @samueloakford

Good catch Lilbitsnana. I guess they figured out that Colombia was too big of a mark, whereas Guyana isn't. Definitely not a good trend.

Lilbitsnana · Sep 28, 2015

Well, they got everything they wanted and probably have a nuke (or a few) ready, (not to mention, they are on Israel's doorstep with Putin acting as a barrier to Israel strikes) so why not?

Elijah J. Magnier ‏@EjmAlrai 13m13 minutes ago

Iran ready for prisoner swap with U.S.: President Rouhani http://ara.tv/c2xb5 via @AlArabiya_Eng #Iran #USA

posted for fair use
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/med...-ready-for-prisoner-swap-with-US-Rowhani.html

Iran ready for prisoner swap with U.S.: Rowhani

Jason Rezaian, a correspondent for The Washington Post, was arrested in July 2014 and accused of spying. (File photo: AP)
Text size A A A
By AFP | New York
Monday, 28 September 2015

Hope for imprisoned Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian’s release in Tehran has increased after Tehran said it will work to free three Americans from its prisons if the United States releases jailed Iranians, President Hassan Rowhani said on Sunday.

“If the Americans take the appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the swiftest freedom for the Americans held in Iran as well,” Rowhani, who is visiting New York for the UN General Assembly, told CNN.

At least three Americans, all of them of Iranian heritage, are in jail in Iran including Jason Rezaian, a correspondent for The Washington Post who was arrested in July 2014 and accused of spying.

The two other Americans are Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine who was charged with spying, and Saeed Abedini, a convert to Christianity who gathered a Bible study group.

Much of Iran’s judiciary is known for its closeness to hardliners, who are eager to scuttle the moderate Rowhani’s efforts to reconcile with Western powers.

“Nothing would make me happier” than movements to release prisoners, Rowhani said.

The United States has regularly demanded the unconditional release of the three prisoners.

Secretary of State John Kerry, asked by reporters about Rowhani’s remarks, said he has “yet to hear directly” from Iran on the idea.

For its part, Iran has sought the freedom of 19 of its citizens who are jailed in the United States in connection with Washington’s sanctions against the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

Under Rowhani, Iran has reached an agreement with the United States and five other powers to end suspicious nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief.

While tensions have eased, Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, a year after the Islamic revolution toppled the Western-backed shah.

Another American, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, disappeared in Iran in 2007 but his whereabouts are unclear.
Last Update: Monday, 28 September 2015 KSA 10:03 - GMT 07:03
TOPICS
PRESS FREEDOMS IRAN UNITED STATES JASON REZAIAN
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Iranian official says there are ways to free Jason Rezaian
Efforts underway in case of detained U.S. journalist: Iran lawmaker
Iran: Verdict date yet to be set in U.S. reporter spy trial
Iran says U.S. must honour nuclear deal once underway

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150928/ml--bahrain-us-navy_death-73479015e5.html

US sailor dies after 'non-hostile' shooting in Bahrain

Sep 28, 4:04 AM (ET)

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — The U.S. Navy says a sailor assigned to an anti-mine ship operating in the Persian Gulf has died after a shooting in Bahrain.

The Navy said in a statement Monday that the sailor was pronounced dead at around 5:20 a.m. Sunday. The Navy did not disclose how the shooting occurred but described it as "non-hostile fire."

The sailor was assigned to the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship USS Gladiator, which was in port in Bahrain when the shooting happened. The tiny Gulf island nation hosts the Navy's 5th Fleet.

An investigation has been launched. U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Kevin Stephens says there are no indications of foul play.

Bahraini officials had no information about the shooting.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150928/ml--iraq-d093c1ef59.html

Iraq defends intelligence sharing with Russia, Syria, Iran

Sep 28, 6:55 AM (ET)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister says Baghdad needs to share intelligence with other countries, including Russia, Syria and Iran, in order to defeat the Islamic State group.

In a televised speech aired Monday before his departure to attend the U.N. General Assembly, Haider al-Abadi says Iraq welcomed Russia's "recent interest" in battling the IS group, and responded by establishing an intelligence cell that also includes Iran and Syria.

Iraq's decision to strengthen ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad and his two main allies complicates U.S. efforts to combat the IS group without strengthening regional foes who are also battling the extremists.

Al-Abadi says he will continue to work closely with the U.S.-led coalition that has been bombing the IS group in Syria and Iraq, saying Iraq needs "all the world's intelligence efforts."

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150928/as--afghanistan-bdafd4dc75.html

Afghan officials say Taliban fighters storm northern city

Sep 28, 4:53 AM (ET)

(AP) Smoke rises from a police station during clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan...
Full Image

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched an early morning attack Monday on a strategic northern city, storming it from several directions, Afghan officials said.

Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, spokesman for the provincial police chief of Kunduz, said the attack on the city of Kunduz started about 3 a.m. Battles with government forces were still underway in at least four locations, he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on his Twitter account, saying the Taliban were entering hospitals around the city hunting for wounded government troops. He advised residents to remain indoors.

Abdul Wadood Wahidi, spokesman for the governor of Kunduz province, said no government buildings, including hospitals, had been overtaken by the insurgents. When the attack started, he said, insurgents had overrun "two local police check points outside the city but have been pushed back from both."

(AP) Taliban fighters take their positions after occupying a police station for several...
Full Image

He said three police officers had been wounded, and "more than 20 bodies of Taliban fighters are on the battlefield."

"They are not in a position to take control of the city," Wahidi said of the insurgents. "They have already been defeated by the security forces."

He added that reinforcements from neighboring provinces had already arrived in Kunduz city, with more on the way from other cities, including the capital Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif.

Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, the head of the Kunduz provincial council, said city residents were "greatly concerned" about the situation. "The Taliban are trying to take control of Kunduz city and this is why they have launched their attacks from different directions using their full power," he said.

Hussaini said the insurgents had been pushed back from the city and Afghan army helicopters were conducting patrols. "Intensive battles are going on between both the Afghan forces and the insurgents," he said.

Kunduz province is on a strategic crossroads connecting the four points of Afghanistan. It has been the scene of intense insurgent attacks since April, and this is at least the second time the Taliban have attempted to overrun the city.

Afghan officials say the Taliban have joined forces across northern Afghanistan with other regional insurgent groups as they have spread their fight against the government to the previously peaceful region.

The strategy for this year's offensive appears to have been to force government troops to spread resources around the country as the Taliban take control of remote rural districts, even if only temporarily.

However Afghan forces, fighting alone for the first time since the withdrawal of international combat troops last year, have largely held their ground while taking heavy casualties.

Lilbitsnana · Sep 28, 2015

Juha Wihersaari ‏@JittiShodan 4m4 minutes ago

#Iran to buy $21 billion in #Russia'n #space equipment and #aircraft - #Israel http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=28523 …

posted for fair use
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=28523

Iran to buy $21 billion in Russian space equipment and aircraft

Deal, which was signed last month at MAKS-2015 air show in Russia, involves satellite-related equipment and the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional passenger aircraft • Russia and Iran have been seeking to boost economic ties in wake of nuclear deal.
Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

An Iranian missile launch
|
Photo credit: Reuters

Iran has signed contracts worth $21 billion to buy satellite equipment and aircraft from Russia, Manouchehr Manteghi, the managing director of Iran Aviation Industries Organization, said in an interview with Russian news agency Sputnik on Saturday.

Manteghi said the contracts had been signed at the MAKS-2015 air show in Russia last month.

The contracts involved satellite-related equipment as well as the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional passenger aircraft, Sputnik said.

Russia and Iran have been working to boost economic ties since Iran signed a deal with six world powers in July, which offers Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.

Lilbitsnana · Sep 28, 2015

I've been seeing tweets for a few days, but nothing that would translate well.

Elijah J. Magnier retweeted
Sargon ‏@KingSargon26 3h3 hours ago

Hahahaha Saudi Prince asking @KingSalman to be removed ???? http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-regime-change-letters-leadership-king-salman …

posted for fair use
link to image of Arabic letters/papers at bottom of news article
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-regime-change-letters-leadership-king-salman

Saudi royal calls for regime change in Riyadh

Plea by grandson of state’s founder comes as falling oil prices, war in Yemen and loss of faith in authority buffet leadership of King Salman

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman. One Saudi royal claims that the king’s son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ‘is ruling the country’. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Hugh Miles in Cairo

Monday 28 September 2015 11.14 EDT Last modified on Monday 28 September 2015 13.05 EDT
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A senior Saudi prince has launched an unprecedented call for change in the country’s leadership, as it faces its biggest challenge in years in the form of war, plummeting oil prices and criticism of its management of Mecca, scene of last week’s hajj tragedy.

The prince, one of the grandsons of the state’s founder, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, has told the Guardian that there is disquiet among the royal family – and among the wider public – at the leadership of King Salman, who acceded the throne in January.

The prince, who is not named for security reasons, wrote two letters earlier this month calling for the king to be removed.

“The king is not in a stable condition and in reality the son of the king [Mohammed bin Salman] is ruling the kingdom,” the prince said. “So four or possibly five of my uncles will meet soon to discuss the letters. They are making a plan with a lot of nephews and that will open the door. A lot of the second generation is very anxious.”

“The public are also pushing this very hard, all kinds of people, tribal leaders,” the prince added. “They say you have to do this or the country will go to disaster.”

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.janes.com/article/54833/china-may-be-building-first-indigenous-carrier

Sea Platforms

China may be building first indigenous carrier

Sean O'Connor, Indianopolis, Indiana - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
27 September 2015

http://www.janes.com/images/assets/833/54833/1640199_-_main.jpg

Key Points
•An unidentified hull in an advanced state of construction at Dalian shipyard could be China's first indigenous aircraft carrier
•While a conclusive identification of the hull as an aircraft carrier cannot be made until work is observed on the upper decks and potential flight deck, the slow pace of assembly and outline suggests a military hull under construction

Satellite imagery suggests that China may be building its first aircraft carrier at Dalian shipyard in northern China.

Airbus Defence and Space imagery captured on 22 September suggests that the possible carrier is under construction in the dry dock associated with the refit and repair of Liaoning (CV16), the Soviet-era Kuznetsov-class carrier acquired from Ukraine that is now in People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) service.

The new hull, first noted under construction in imagery captured on 10 March, is in an advanced state of assembly.

IHS Jane's first noted preparations for a new vessel's assembly at the dry dock in Airbus Defence and Space imagery captured on 27 February. After the launch of a large commercial cargo vessel, the empty dry dock contained multiple support blocks used to provide a base for keel assembly. On 10 March, further imagery showed the initial stages of hull construction. At the time, the support layout suggested a hull of 150 to 170 m in length with a beam of about 30 m.

The hull assembly continued through the summer. Imagery from 22 September shows a lengthened aft section and expanded bow. The hull is currently assessed to have a length of about 240 m and a beam of about 35 m. The incomplete bow suggests a length of at least 270 m for the completed hull.

Given the incomplete nature of the upper decks, definitive identification of the Dalian hull as the first so-called '001A' aircraft carrier is not possible....

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/revealed-why-china-is-selling-submarines-to-pakistan/

Revealed: Why China Is Selling Submarines to Pakistan

Does the sale represent a step in China’s possible ambitions to have a toehold in the Indian Ocean?

By Benjamin David Baker
September 28, 2015

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As previously covered by The Diplomat, Pakistan announced earlier this year that it has agreed to purchase eight modified Type 41 Yuan-class diesel-electric submarines from China. These boats will provide Islamabad with much-needed Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) capabilities against the Indian Navy in case of war. This would be especially useful in case of an Indian blockade of Pakistan’s coast and could give New Delhi grounds to pause before deploying its planned new aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant.

A Yuan-class submarine is undoubtedly a great piece of kit. It is China’s first class of submarines to incorporate an indigenously designed- and constructed Air-Independent Propulsion system (AIP), giving it a cruise speed of 18 knots and an operational range of 8,000 nautical miles. Although the export version of the Yuan, named the S-20, does not automatically come fitted with the AIP, Pakistan has apparently been able to secure it for its subs. Furthermore, the Yuan is integrated “with advanced noise reduction techniques including anechoic tiles, passive/active noise reduction and an asymmetrical seven-blade skewed propeller.”

Combined with the AIP, this makes the Yuan-class the quietest non-nuclear sub in the PLAN. Furthermore, the Yuan has an impressive set of teeth. Aside from six tubes firing standard 553mm torpedoes, it is equipped with the YJ-8/8A Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM). While this weapon only has a maximum range of between 30-42 km, there are plans to equip the Yuans with the YJ-18 ASCM. These missiles have a reported range of 220 km and, represent a real A2/AD “force multiplier” for the Yuan. Whether Pakistan will attempt to acquire these missiles, or opt to go for another option (such as their indigenously produced Hatf VII Babur) is unknown.

The sale raises one crucial question: why is China selling Pakistan these subs? There is undoubtedly a commercial aspect to this transaction (it is unknown how much Pakistan will pay for these boats, although it is certainly in the multi-billion dollar range). However, one potential reason which is worrying analysts in New Delhi is that this represents a step in China’s possible ambitions to have a toehold in the Indian Ocean. Without opening the can of worms that is the “String of Pearls” debate, it’s worth looking at this possibility.

Here are the facts: Firstly, the Indian Ocean is important for China for a range of reasons. The amount of Chinese sea-borne trade which passes through the Indian Ocean sea-lane is staggering. These sea-lines of communication (SLOCs) represent a lifeline for the Chinese economy, not least in terms of imports of natural resources, especially hybrocarbons, and exports, in terms of manufactured goods. Any naval strategist worth his salt has read Alfred Thayer Mahan, and will immediately recognize the importance of securing a trading state’s SLOCs. China is no exception.

Secondly, China has recently deployed submarines to the Indian Ocean. (This, incidentally, included the visit of a Yuan-class boat to Karachi.) According to Beijing, these are primarily there to participate in the ongoing anti-piracy campaign in the Gulf of Aden. While this is at least partially true, it is also likely that they are conducting exercises, surveys, and perhaps even combat patrols which can be useful for future operations in the Indian Ocean. Thirdly, Beijing does care about its image and is “realistic” about its power-projection capabilities. According to a recent US Naval War College report, it’s unlikely that China will construct overseas bases in the same way that the United States or France have in the near future in fear of alarming other stakeholders and overstretching naval resources needed closer to home. Finally, China is a long way from the Indian Ocean, and Pakistan is its closest partner in the neighborhood.

Even if its subs can stay at sea for months without refueling at a time, its crews can’t. Having a well-fitted anchorage close to a submarine’s intended area of operations makes it much easier to rotate crews, take on fresh supplies, and carry out maintenance. The PLAN has already called on ports in Oman, Djibouti, and Aden during its anti-piracy campaigns in the Gulf of Aden. However, this has so far only included surface vessels. Submarines often require more specialized facilities to function effectively. Locating a resupply place (not base) in the friendliest state in the area makes sense.

A Pakistani naval facility which already berths compatible subs sounds like a good fit for such a “place.” It would remove the need to permanently station a large number of personnel and equipment abroad, while providing adequate maintenance facilities for the sort of routine repairs that submarines unavoidably need in order to function smoothly over long periods of time. This wouldn’t represent the first time this kind of arrangement has occurred. For example, the British Oberon-class was used by several other allied states during the Cold War, including Australia and Canada. The fact that these navies operated the same class of vessels facilitated maintenance during exercises and visits.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/abe-park-meet-on-un-sidelines-affirm-trilateral-summit-with-china/

Abe, Park Meet on UN Sidelines, Affirm Trilateral Summit with China

The leaders of South Korea and Japan met on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly.

By Ankit Panda
September 29, 2015

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye met on the sidelines of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sunday, signaling an improvement in ties ahead of a Northeast Asian trilateral summit between the two of them and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (or possibly even Chinese President Xi Jinping). Though the meeting wasn’t formal, South Korean presidential spokesperson Min Kyung-wook noted that Park spoke with Abe during a UN working luncheon. Park reportedly told Abe she expected a meeting with him in Seoul.

According to the Japan Times, Abe and Park briefly discussed the upcoming trilateral leaders summit when they met. The trilateral was confirmed shortly after Park attended China’s September 3 parade to commemorate Japan’s defeat in World War II. The South Korean president’s office confirmed that Xi and Park had agreed to hold a “trilateral summit in Korea at a mutually convenient date sometime at the end of October or the beginning of November.”

The last time Park and Abe met for brief informal talks was at Lee Kuan Yew’s funeral earlier this year. Bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea remain cool given historical tensions, including South Korea’s dissatisfaction with Japan’s apologies for the treatment of Korean sex slaves — euphemistically known as “comfort women” — during World War II. The two countries are both important U.S. allies and host several tens of thousands of U.S. troops between them. Both countries additionally are concerned about North Korean belligerence and the country’s nuclear program.

What’s still remarkable is that nearly two years into Abe’s term and two-and-a-half years into Park’s term, Japan and South Korea haven’t held an official bilateral summit. Abe and Park did not meet for the first year Abe was in power; their first official meeting was at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, with U.S. President Barack Obama included.

Japanese sources have been reporting that Abe and Park will meet officially on the sidelines of the upcoming trilateral. Park’s statement that she expects to meet Abe indicates that the bilateral meeting is still on for now. Earlier this month, Abe’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, noted that Abe “would be happy to receive an offer” for such a meeting. For Park, initiating a rapprochement with the Abe government via a trilateral is valuable as it is likely to avoid provoking a negative public reaction in South Korea. As the Korea Herald noted earlier this month, the trilateral format “will set the stage for a bilateral summit with Abe in a way that least offends South Koreans.”

Based on the Park-Abe interaction at the UN over the weekend, everything appears to be on track.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://www.ozy.com/pov/the-great-game-comes-to-syria/64940

POV

The Great Game Comes to Syria

By John McLaughlin • SEPT 28•2015

The author was acting director and deputy director of the CIA from 2000 to 2004 and now teaches at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Nature abhors a vacuum, but Vladimir Putin really loves one. The Russian president clearly sensed a big power void in Syria, where the civil war has intensified and where the United States has neither committed ground forces nor devised a compelling strategy to settle the conflict or defeat the Islamic State. Although the Islamic State has rampaged through Iraq, its headquarters is in Syria.

Into that vacuum, Putin has sent a substantial force of tanks, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems and upward of two dozen combat aircraft over the past several weeks. Russia is also building enough housing for 2,000 people, U.S. officials have said. What to make of Russia’s muscling into the war-torn country? For Putin, there are essentially five reasons, moving from the broadly strategic to the purely tactical.

Making Russia a Great Power Again. Gaining a pivotal role in the Middle East would be an important way station on the road to Putin’s overarching goal — restoring Russia to great-power status. The Syria problem allows him to vividly contrast Russia’s activism with what many see as Washington’s hesitation and timidity. Count on Putin to present himself as the regional peacemaker when he speaks at the U.N. today.

Shoring Up Assad … or His Successor. The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has been Russia’s only real ally in the region; Syria hosts Russia’s sole warm-water seaport at Tarsus. But Assad is weakening, particularly under assaults from the Islamic State, and now controls only about a sixth of the country. By establishing a ground presence, Russia hopes not only to increase Assad’s chances of surviving but also — equally important — to be in a position to influence the succession if he does not. More on this in a minute.

This clear Russian interest contrasts with the more complex calculus the U.S. has faced. By virtue of opposing both Assad and the Islamic State, Washington has been paralyzed by the simple reality that opposing one of them inevitably helps the other. The U.S. has yet to devise a strategy that avoids this Hobson’s choice.

Regional Influence. Military intervention gives the Russians an opportunity to tighten relations with Iran, which shares Russia’s desire to prop up the Assad regime. Already Iran has military advisers and proxy forces — Hezbollah militia fighters from Lebanon — on the ground in Syria. Not that Putin is depending solely on Iran: Russia has played regional power broker for months in the run-up to the Syria deployment, hosting consultations in Moscow with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Palestine and Iran.

Hammering on the Islamic State. Putin genuinely wants to defeat the Islamic State. Russia says about 2,400 of its nationals are fighting with the IS; chances are, many of them are from Russia’s Caucasus region, which has a large Muslim population and hosts a number of separatist movements. Returning Russian fighters would pose a direct threat to Russia’s control in key parts of its southwest.

When in Doubt, Distract. Activism in Syria gives Putin a way to distract attention from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. At the same time, it obliges the Western coalition opposing the Islamic State to work directly with Russia. At minimum, the U.S.-led coalition has to de-conflict military operations with Russia, but inevitably, that will begin to draw it into a cooperative relationship with Moscow. That will only muddy the waters when it comes to the West’s Ukraine grievances.

Although Russia’s broad objectives are clear, its precise plans in Syria are not. Its major fear is probably that the Assad regime will fall to some combination of extremists dominated by the Islamic State, thus depriving Moscow of its closest ally in the region. Faced with that fear, Russia could pursue one of two paths. Together with Iran, it could go all out to preserve Assad in power, concentrating its firepower on the Islamic State — and perhaps even on the more moderate rebels the West tends to favor.

On the other hand, Russia may have concluded that Assad’s crumbled legitimacy — due to the horrors his regime has inflicted on his own people — makes it unrealistic to preserve the regime in its present form. It may thus settle on a more modest objective: Prevent a total breakdown of order by preserving the rough form of the Syrian state while easing Assad out gradually in favor of some other, more acceptable ruler. The latter scenario is not far off from what the United States and the United Nations have been trying unsuccessfully to achieve in Syria. So if events move in that direction, there could be scope for cooperation between Russia and the West on a phased strategy, working first to destroy the Islamic State and then deciding what to do about the Assad regime.

In the end, the main thing Russia gains from its deployment is enhanced leverage over what becomes of Syria. At the same time, the limitation of U.S. efforts to an air campaign and the failure of its program to train a large force of moderate rebel fighters mean that the U.S. has lost leverage and will have less influence over the course of events in Syria. In short, Putin is forcing the U.S. to work with him and ensuring that he will have a large voice in determining the future of the Middle Eastern capital that means the most to Russia.

Overall, not a bad day’s work for Mr. Putin.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/28/world/afghanistan-kunduz-taliban-attack/

Government spokesman: Afghan city largely in 'hand of enemies'

By Michael Pearson, Masoud Popalzai and Mark Morgenstein, CNN
Updated 4:08 PM ET, Mon September 28, 2015

(CNN)—The Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz has largely fallen into "the hand of enemies," Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said late Monday.

Sediqqi had said earlier that Afghan security forces, backed by air power from the Afghan army, were holding Taliban insurgents who were targeting a prison at bay, the provincial police chief's compound and some other targets.

Fighter planes still were flying over Kunduz, but the gunfights had ended, and authorities were preparing to recapture the city from the Taliban as soon as possible, Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police chief, said.

Earlier Monday, the insurgents seized the main roundabout in the city and made it to the prison, where they freed more than 500 inmates, who flooded the streets of Kunduz, Hussaini told CNN.

One of the released inmates told CNN, "We were hearing gunshots throughout the day, but it was 4:00 p.m. when the Kunduz prison guards left the compound. Then, the inmates broke all the doors and fences and started running towards the main gate."

"As soon as we opened the main gate, we saw a group of armed Taliban outside the gate. They told us that we were free and could go home. ... We all headed towards our homes," he said.

The Taliban also claimed to have seized a 200-bed hospital -- posting photos to social media that they claimed proved their control of the facility.

Sediqqi said at least four civilians had died and 50 others were wounded as Taliban forces were firing heavy weapons indiscriminately throughout the city.

In addition, 25 Taliban fighters were killed, Sediqqi said, and two Afghan policemen died and four others were wounded.

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour issued a statement, congratulating fighters for successfully taking over Kunduz, and urging them to keep residents safe.

"All mujahideen (Taliban fighters) after taking over military targets and finishing the military operation should put their attention on keeping the lives, wealth and dignity of common people safe. Most of the times some opportunists and burglars misuse such opportunities to harm civilians and their wealth. Mujahideen should be conscious and shouldn't allow anyone to harm the lives and wealth of civilians and the public wealth," the statement read.

The aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said Monday that its trauma center in Kunduz had received 66 patients, including eight who were declared dead on arrival and 17 who were in critical condition.

Monday's assault is the latest in a series of clashes between Taliban and government fighters in the northeastern province.

Taliban forces, boosted by an influx of fighters from Pakistan and elsewhere, have battled government forces throughout the province since spring.

The assault comes a day after a suicide bombing killed at least nine in the eastern province of Paktika. The Taliban denied responsibility for that attack.

CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported from Kabul and and Brian Walker reported from Atlanta. Michael Pearson and Mark Morgenstein wrote from Atlanta.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/28/us-afghanistan-attack-idUSKCN0RS0A820150928

World | Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:39pm EDT
Related: World, Afghanistan, United Nations

Afghan Taliban seize Kunduz city center in landmark gain

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan | By Feroz Sultani and Folad Hamdard

Taliban fighters on Monday battled their way into the center of Kunduz, a city in northern Afghanistan, and seized the provincial governor's office in one of the militant group's biggest territorial gains in 14 years, witnesses and officials said.

In a major setback for Afghan forces, who abandoned a provincial headquarters for the first time since 2001, the insurgents raised their white banner over the central square and freed hundreds of fellow militants from the local jail.

The stunning assault came a day before President Ashraf Ghani's unity government marks its first anniversary, and will further complicate efforts to resume stalled peace negotiations.

It was the second time this year that the hardline Islamist movement has besieged Kunduz, a city defended by Afghan forces battling largely without NATO's support after it withdrew most of its troops last year.

The insurgents launched a surprise, three-pronged offensive before dawn, and by evening had captured the governor's compound and provincial police headquarters, said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the hardline Islamist movement.

"Our fighters are now advancing toward the airport," Mujahid said on Twitter.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi later confirmed that "most of Kunduz city has fallen to the Taliban," and said Afghan forces were regrouping at the airport.

"IT LOOKS GRIM"

The Kunduz assault marks a troubling development in the insurgency, although government forces have managed to drive the Taliban back from most of the territory gained this year during an escalation in violence.

"It is certainly the first major breach of a provincial capital since 2001," said Graeme Smith, senior analyst for International Crisis Group. "They are choking the Afghan forces from all sides. It looks pretty grim."

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan evacuated its Kunduz compound early on Monday, soon after the assault began.

"They've been relocated within Afghanistan," said U.N. spokesman Dominic Medley, declining to say where or how many staff were evacuated.

Related Coverage
› Families divided, residents flee from Afghan city under siege

The Afghan army's deputy chief of staff, Murad Ali Murad, defended the security forces' performance, suggesting they withdrew to avoid harming civilians with all-out urban warfare.

"There were enough troops inside Kunduz city, but the insurgents used some route deemed not that sensitive," Murad told a news briefing late on Monday.

"Our forces arrived there on time, but we had to take extra care not to cause civilian casualties."

Dozens of Afghan special forces were flown to Kunduz airport on a C-130 aircraft and were preparing to launch a counter-attack, according to a senior official in Kabul.

The U.S. military did not carry out any airstrikes in support of Afghan forces in Kunduz, U.S. officials said. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, could not say whether any action by the U.S.-led coalition - now primarily in an advise and assist role - was in the works.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Katy Bondy said that Afghan forces assumed primarily security responsibilities earlier this year, "and we expected that fighting would be severe this year."

"The situation remains fluid, and we are continuing to follow the situation closely," she said.

Related Video
Video

Taliban launch dawn attack on Kunduz in Afghan north

Abdullah Danishy, deputy governor of Kunduz, vowed that Afghan forces would retake the occupied city.

"We have reinforcements coming from other areas and will beat back the Taliban," Danishy said by telephone from Kunduz airport after fleeing his office.

But with most of downtown Kunduz now in Taliban hands and terrified civilians either trying to flee or hiding inside their homes, the insurgents may be tough to dislodge.

"Once they get inside an urban area, your air assets and artillery become much less useful," Smith said.

FAMILIES SEPARATED

The Taliban were ousted in 2001 after a U.S.-led campaign, and have been fighting to reimpose their rule in sporadic clashes ever since. They have stepped up their offensive this year as NATO forces drew down to just a few thousand troops.

One Reuters witness saw buildings on fire in the south of the city and Taliban fighters entering a 200-bed government-run hospital.

Dozens of panicked residents fled to the city's main airport, but were turned away by security forces. Electricity and phone services were cut across most of the city, and family members struggled to locate one another in the chaos.

"My uncle's wife has been killed by the Taliban today and still my wife and kids are in the area that the Taliban captured, so it is important to free my family," said Matin Safraz, an official at the Interior Ministry who was visiting Kunduz for the Muslim holiday of Eid.

Safraz had retreated to the airport, and said he was prepared to fight the Taliban with a borrowed AK-47 rifle.

Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for Kunduz police, said 20 Taliban fighters had been killed and three Afghan police wounded in the early morning clashes. Updated casualty figures were not immediately available.

According to two security officials, Taliban gunmen, some armed with rocket-propelled grenades, overwhelmed security guards and broke into the main city prison, freeing hundreds of fighters.

Taliban spokesman Mujahid urged Kunduz residents to stay inside.

"The mujahideen are trying to avoid any harm to Kunduz residents," he said on his official Twitter account, referring to Taliban fighters.

The once-quiet north of Afghanistan has seen escalating violence. Kunduz city was the center of fierce fighting earlier this year as the Taliban sought to gain territory after the end of NATO's combat mission at the end of 2014.

A scaled-down NATO presence now mostly trains and advises Afghan forces, although U.S. drones still target militant leaders and a U.S. counter-terrorist force also operates in the country.

(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni, Jessica Donati, Hamid Shalizi, and Phil Stewart and Lesley Wroughton in Washington.; Writing by Kay Johnson; editing by Mike Collett-White, Nick Macfie, Robert Birsel and G Crosse)

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/09/28/why-the-fall-of-kunduz-to-the-taliban-is-a-big-deal/

5:46 pm ET
Sep 28, 2015

Afghanistan

Why the Fall of Kunduz to the Taliban Is a Big Deal

By Michael Kugelman

Given all that’s in the news at home today—a just-concluded papal visit, the resignation of John Boehner, the U.N. General Assembly meetings, revelations about water on Mars—it would be easy to overlook one of the most consequential and troubling developments in Afghanistan since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.

On Monday, Taliban fighters seized Kunduz, city of about 300,000 people in the country’s north. Government forces have reportedly fled to the outskirts of town, and Taliban flags have been seen around the city.

We should be very concerned about the fall of Kunduz for four reasons:

1.) A Taliban takeover of a large urban area is no longer an abstraction.

Since losing power 14 years ago, the Taliban’s territorial triumphs in Afghanistan have been limited to taking control of pockets of rural and remote areas. This can be attributed to the international combat mission, improvements in Afghan war-fighting capacities, and an increasingly fractured and vulnerable insurgency. With the Kunduz seizure, however, the Taliban has pulled off what it could not do in nearly the last decade and a half, and what arguably no militant group other than ISIS has been able to achieve over the same period.

2.) The Taliban now boasts a bonafide bastion far from its traditional stronghold.

The Taliban’s main areas of strength have been eastern and southern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. It is in these regions where much of the international coalition’s combat missions were centered. In recent years, however, the Taliban and its allies have sought to develop new bases and footholds to the north and northeast. Ominously, nearly two years ago the journalist and Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid warned that militants were trying to secure Afghanistan’s entire northeastern corridor to establish a base for operations against the government in Kabul.

3.)Afghan forces are in big trouble.

The fall of Kunduz did not come out of nowhere. Taliban forces had been chipping away at the city’s security for weeks. Afghan government forces, however, were unable or unwilling to pre-empt this threat. For all the improvements that Afghan troops have made in recent years, the country’s fighting forces remain a major work in progress. And when your country faces an insurgency capable of seizing a big city, “work in progress” is not good enough—and is, in fact, quite dangerous.

4.)The government is in a very tough spot.

It’s hard to be optimistic that Afghanistan’s national unity government will mount a robust and rapid response to the Kunduz seizure. After all, this administration—which recently marked its first anniversary in power—still lacks a full cabinet, including a defense minister. Kabul’s capacity to confront an emboldened insurgency is questionable given its inability to achieve even the most basic tasks of governance.

Fortunately, there may be a silver lining to all this: a potential blow to ISIS. The terror group has gradually made inroads in Afghanistan, winning the allegiances of disaffected Taliban leaders. However, the Kunduz takeover underscores that the Taliban remains the biggest militant threat in Afghanistan, and that it can pull off, albeit on a smaller scale, the type of dramatic acts that ISIS can pull off in Iraq and Syria. This could boost Taliban recruitment efforts in Afghanistan, and dampen those of ISIS.

Either way, today’s news from Kunduz is a very big deal, and deserves a fair share of airtime.

Michael Kugelman is senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is on Twitter: @michaelkugelman.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://www.voanews.com/content/hong-kong-umbrella-movement-marks-anniversary/2983071.html

Hong Kong Umbrella Movement Marks Anniversary

Hai Yan
September 28, 2015 6:21 PM

HONG KONG— Supporters of Hong Kong's umbrella movement, which shut down sections of the city during a months-long protest last year, have returned to the streets in support of a cause they say they are still fighting for.

A small sea of yellow umbrellas descended on the area around government headquarters Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of an occupation movement that took over several key sections of the city for 79 days last year.

Chanting in favor of genuine universal suffrage, nearly 1,000 people raised their umbrellas for five minutes to mark the moment when police fired tear gas at protesters last year.

A large contingent of police was on hand and small pro-Beijing groups gathered nearby, but there were no reports of violence or arrests.

Student led protesters stormed government headquarters last September in protest of Beijing's decision to screen candidates for the territory's 2017 election for chief executive.

The movement, which involved more than 100,000 people, shut down major parts of the city and captured the world's attention, but was unable to force Beijing to change its policy.

A former British colony, Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" form of government that gave it separate laws and wide-ranging autonomy, but reserved ultimate authority for Beijing.

This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Mandarin service.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150929000026

Reentry technology key indicator of progress in N. Korea's missile program: U.S. expert

Published : 2015-09-29 08:58
Updated : 2015-09-29 08:58

A key indicator of progress to look for in North Korea's potential long-range rocket launch is whether the rocket would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, a technology essential to the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, a U.S. expert said Monday.

Concerns have grown that the North could launch a long-range rocket, possibly around next month's ruling party anniversary, after Pyongyang said earlier this month it has the right to the peaceful use of space and would launch satellites.

Such launches are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions as Pyongyang has long been accused of using long-range rocket launches as a pretext for test-firing intercontinental ballistic missiles. Experts say long-range rockets and ICBMs are basically the same with differences only in payloads.

"There is one area where satellite launches might make a major contribution to North Korea's ICBM program," John Schilling, a U.S.

aerospace engineer, said in a report carried by 38 North, a website run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

"An ICBM warhead, unlike a satellite, needs to come down as well as go up. North Korea has never demonstrated the ability to build a reentry vehicle that can survive at even half the speed an ICBM would require," he said.

The North could launch the reentry vehicle into Earth's orbit, "perhaps carrying a scientific payload where a missile warhead would go, and bringing it back down in a controlled fashion" or could put the reentry vehicle under an enlarged payload shroud, then "accidentally" cutting the third-stage burn short, the expert said.

"So we have two warning signs to look for from the North Korean space program. First, using Unha rockets to launch satellites at the same time they are deploying Unha-derived missiles in hardened silos. That might indicate that North Korea is planning to keep an Unha-based ICBM in service long enough to invest in improving its reliability," he said.

"Second, conducting high-speed reentry vehicle tests during satellite launches. The data from those tests would carry over into any long-range missile program. But it's not something they can really keep a secret," he added.

The North is believed to have honed advanced ballistic missile technologies through a series of test launches, including a 2012 launch that succeeded in putting a satellite into orbit. That test is considered the most successful so far.

The test also sparked fears that the North has moved closer to ultimately developing nuclear-tipped missiles that could potentially reach the United States mainland. The country has so far conducted three underground nuclear tests: in 2006, 2009 and 2013. (Yonhap)

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http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150929000027

Park urges N. Korea to scrap long-range rocket launch

Published : 2015-09-29 08:59
Updated : 2015-09-29 08:59

South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged North Korea Monday not to go ahead with a long-range rocket launch in the latest pressure on the hard-line communist country.

"North Korea should make efforts to ensure its people can get out of difficulties through reform and openness rather than" carrying out an additional provocation, Park said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly.

Still, North Korea has defied international pressure and renewed its resolve to carry out the launch to put a satellite into orbit, calling it an exercise of its sovereign right.

There is speculation that North Korea could launch a long-range rocket in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party.

Seoul and Washington view a satellite launch as a cover for testing the North's ballistic missile technology, which is banned under U.N. resolutions.

A new rocket launch, if carried out, could prompt the U.N. to further tighten sanctions on North Korea, which has long been under an array of U.S. and international sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.

Park said a rocket launch could harm the hard-won atmosphere of dialogue between South and North Korea and undermine the efforts to resume the long-stalled talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Last month, South and North Korea produced a breakthrough deal that defused tensions on the Korean Peninsula and set the stage for temporary reunions for families separated since the 1950-53 Korean War.

"We must no longer use political and military reasons as excuses for turning a blind eye to humanitarian issues, such as reunion of separated families in particular," Park said.

Park also called on the international community to concentrate efforts on ending North Korea's nuclear program, citing a recent nuclear deal reached between the United States, five other world powers and Iran.

North Korea pledged to scrap its nuclear programs in exchange for diplomatic concessions and economic aid under a landmark 2005 nuclear deal with South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.

Still, the North later backtracked from its commitment and conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, drawing international condemnation and U.N. sanctions. (Yonhap)

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

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http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/09/29/china-isnt-about-to-abandon-north-korea/

China isn’t about to abandon North Korea

29 September 2015
Author: Kevin Gray, University of Sussex

Much has been made of the recent cooling of diplomatic relations between China and North Korea and Beijing’s increased emphasis on Seoul. Deteriorating relations since 2012 were confirmed most recently by South Korean President Park Geun-Hye’s prominent position at China’s 70th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II. For those looking forward to North Korea’s rapid demise and to the reunification of the peninsula on Seoul’s terms, this growing distance between Beijing and Pyongyang has been greeted with cautious optimism.

But in terms of gauging the sustainability of the North Korean regime, it is worth looking beyond these outward manifestations of public diplomacy towards the question of how these political dynamics have affected economic exchange between the two countries.

In reality, economic relations between China and North Korea have remained largely unaffected by these tensions. Bilateral trade has risen sharply over the past decade, from a total of US$1.7 billion in 2006 to US$6.54 billion in 2013. As with China’s trade elsewhere with the developing world, mineral resources have formed a significant part of this growing trade. In 2013, exports of coal and iron ore accounted for 47 per cent and 10 per cent respectively of total exports to China.

North Korea’s deepening trade relations with China should be understood in the context of South Korea’s so-called ‘May 24th’ sanctions, put in place in 2010 following the alleged sinking of the South’s Cheonan corvette by the North. Pyongyang responded to the loss of foreign exchange earned through inter-Korean trade by rapidly reorienting its trade relations towards China.

Trade with China has also been accompanied by increased investment. Whereas Chinese investments were in the past limited to small-scale operations — restaurants, shops, fisheries — they have increasingly taken place in the natural resources, manufacturing and distribution sectors.

But there has been a downturn in trade since 2013 of around 2.8 per cent. This can be partially explained by the fact that, for some unspecified reason, Chinese Customs stopped recording crude oil exports to North Korea in 2014. Yet the first seven months of 2015 have shown a much sharper decline in trade of 13.59 per cent.

There is little evidence to suggest, however, that this decline has been a result of political tensions. As a recent report by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) has argued, the downturn is a result of the broader slowdown in the Chinese economy and the corresponding decline in demand for raw materials.

With regards to coal, North Korea has been able to partially counter the impact of declining prices through increasing the volume of exports. But the value of iron ore exports for the first seven months of 2015 has seen a much sharper decline of 71.6 per cent — a greater decline than the fall in international prices would suggest. This appears to also be a result of internal domestic factors. As the Korean Development Bank has recently suggested, North Korean iron ore production appears to have been negatively impacted by the severe spring droughts experienced over the past two years.

Given North Korea’s dependence on hydropower, droughts have negatively impacted energy production and halted production at Musan iron ore mine, the largest in the North Korea, leading the mine to lay off approximately 40 per cent of its workforce. So although declining prices do pose a longer-term challenge to North Korean mineral exports, the sharp decline in iron ore production in 2015 can be seen, weather permitting, as temporary.

While mineral exports have declined, clothing exports under consignment-based processing arrangements (whereby materials are exported to North Korea by Chinese corporations, processed by North Korean labour and then re-exported back to China) have seen a steady increase. Between 2013 and 2014, clothing saw an increase of 38 per cent, with further increases in 2015. Though the smaller scale of this trade will not offset the decline in mineral exports, it does underline the attractiveness and potential of North Korea’s competitive wage advantages for Chinese businesses.

Arguably, a stronger case can be made that worsening political relations have impacted on China’s developmental cooperation with North Korea. Since the late 2000s, Beijing and the provincial governments of Liaoning and Jilin have pursued joint cooperative projects with North Korea under the Changchun–Jilin–Tumen Pilot Area and Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt Development Plans. These projects appear to have lost steam in recent years, although this is likely due to the poor returns on existing large-scale investments.

Still, as KIEP have further argued, Chinese investment in North Korea has continued to grow, albeit taking the form of a relative shift away from government-backed projects towards investment by profit-oriented Chinese small and medium enterprises. As such, economic exchange between the two countries is increasingly being conducted in accordance with market principles.

There is little evidence to suggest that political tensions have played a role in the recent downturn in trade between China and North Korea. Indeed, the exchange has become so significant to China’s economically depressed border cities and regions that Beijing is unlikely to take any steps to significantly disrupt it. Given the ongoing marketisation of the North Korean economy, this increased exchange is likely to expand and will continue to confound expectations that Beijing will move to sever relations with Pyongyang anytime soon.

Kevin Gray is a senior lecturer in international relations at the School of Global Studies, the University of Sussex.

Housecarl · Sep 28, 2015

Hummm.....This does not bode well at all for Israel, Jordan, Lebanon or Egypt, let alone the average Palestinian....

For links see article source.....
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150928/ml--palestinians-flailing_abbas-b8d37dc70e.html

Abbas out of options, out of synch with angry Palestinians

Sep 28, 2:03 PM (ET)
By KARIN LAUB and MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to drop a "bombshell" in a speech to the United Nations this week — prompting speculation that he will sever ties with Israel over its settlement expansion and other hard-line policies.

The warning reflects desperation, but may not signal action.

Abbas' hopes of setting up a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel have been derailed, and a new poll shows that a majority of Palestinians want the 80-year-old to resign and dissolve his self-rule government, the Palestinian Authority. Many no longer believe a two-state solution is realistic and support political violence.

Abbas could try to align himself with a frustrated public by shifting to a more confrontational policy, including ending security cooperation with Israeli troops against a shared foe, the Islamic militant Hamas group.

It's a risky move that could cost him vital foreign aid, trigger chaos and end his 10-year rule. Abbas aides have suggested in recent days that despite his threats, he will make do with a general warning to Israel at the U.N.

Yet more indecision could further turn Palestinians against him. The mood in the West Bank is explosive, with anger mounting over Palestinian Authority mismanagement, perceived Israeli threats to a major holy site in Jerusalem and a sense of having been abandoned by the Arab world, said veteran pollster Khalil Shikaki.

"If a spark comes along, there is absolutely no doubt that the Palestinian situation today is very, very fertile for a major eruption," he said.

Here is a look at what lies ahead.

---

ON THE SIDELINES?

Just three years ago, Abbas was the center of attention at the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders. He asked for, and later received, General Assembly recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967.

But when Abbas addresses the General Assembly on Wednesday other regional conflicts, including the war against the Islamic State group and the migration crisis in Europe, are likely to take the spotlight.

President Barack Obama made no mention of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his speech to the General Assembly on Monday, drawing rare public Palestinian criticism.

"Does Obama believe that he can defeat Islamic State and terrorism or achieve security and stability in the Middle East by ignoring the continued Israeli occupation...?" Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said in a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Washington appears to have little interest in mounting another major push for peace. A nine-month effort by Secretary of State John Kerry collapsed last year because Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn't even agree on the ground rules. Netanyahu, unlike some predecessors, refuses to recognize Israel's pre-1967 frontier as a starting point for border talks.

---_

WHAT CAN ABBAS DO?

Statehood through negotiations has been his sole strategy for decades and he opposes violence. With those options off the table, Abbas tried to gain leverage by courting further international recognition, including by joining institutions such as the International Criminal Court.

But any possible ICC war crimes case against Israel for settling on occupied lands is years away, if it's possible at all. And symbolic victories, such as the right to raise the Palestinian flag outside U.N. headquarters this year, mean little to Palestinians struggling with unemployment, rising prices and Israeli movement restrictions.

In recent weeks, Abbas resorted to threats to remind the world that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must not fester. He warned he is fast-tracking his retirement, hinted at dramatic changes in dealings with Israel and said he would "throw a bombshell" at the end of his U.N. speech. But he has not elaborated.

---_

WHAT'S IN THE SPEECH?

Abbas will make his decision only after talks with Kerry and other Arab and European mediators in New York, aides said.

In a weekend meeting, Kerry did not offer Abbas sufficient guarantees if he gives peace efforts another chance, Abbas adviser Ahmed Majdalani told Voice of Palestine radio.

Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour told the station that Abbas' speech is to "present steps to create facts on the ground toward setting up statehood, the statehood how we see it, how the international community sees it, not how the occupation (Israel) sees it."

Abbas will likely complain about Israeli actions, including settlement expansion and army incursions into autonomous Palestinian areas, said Majdalani and another aide, Nabil Shaath.

They suggested the Palestinian leader will not go beyond general warnings, but Shaath cautioned that last-minute changes are possible.

Some senior Palestinians raised the idea that Abbas request U.N. trusteeship, but the option was dropped on legal grounds, officials said.

---_

HOW DURABLE IS THE STATUS QUO?

The Oslo Accords that set up Palestinian autonomy in the mid-1990s were meant as a stepping stone toward Palestinian statehood. Instead, a temporary arrangement has largely remained in place despite wars, uprisings and political crises. Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, but Abbas still administers 38 percent of the West Bank, with the rest of that territory and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem under sole Israeli control.

The arrangement serves both sides to some extent. Israel has given itself free rein on security, while successfully subcontracting some security tasks to Abbas' forces. The Palestinian Authority, supported by millions of dollars in foreign aid, provides public services, relieving Israel of its costly burden as military occupier.

The Palestinian Authority has become the largest employer in the West Bank, while the political class enjoys many perks, such as preferential access to housing and jobs.

"Abbas is not going to dissolve the Palestinian Authority because there is an internal interest in maintaining it, the privileges, the international pressure and the international money," said Ali Jerbawi, a former Palestinian Cabinet minister.

---

WHAT DOES ISRAEL WANT?

Netanyahu has accused Abbas of fomenting violence through alleged incitement, as tensions have risen around Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, revered by Muslims and Jews. But despite the rhetoric, Netanyahu appears to have little interest in seeing Abbas go.

Netanyahu faces growing international isolation due to anger over settlement construction and stalled peace efforts. The collapse of the Oslo accords would raise pressure on Netanyahu to try to resolve the Palestinian issue. Netanyahu has called for a resumption of peace talks, but has not said what he might offer.

---

WHAT'S NEXT?

Abbas has lost Palestinian public opinion, according to last week's poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, based on 1,270 respondents, with an error margin of 3 percentage points.

"Two-thirds of the public want him out, they demand that he resign," said pollster Shikaki.

But there is no clear path to change.

If presidential elections were held today, Abbas would lose to Ismail Haniyeh, the top Hamas leader in Gaza. However, elections are unlikely because of the political and geographic split between the West Bank and Gaza. No obvious successor to Abbas has emerged from within his inner circle.

Palestinian anger is rising— in some ways reminiscent of the mood before the outbreak of the second uprising 15 years ago, Shikaki said. At the same time, Palestinians are still scarred from the harsh Israeli clampdown following the bombings and shootings of the last revolt, and there might be little appetite for renewed hardship.

Mohammed Ennayah, a pharmacist in the West Bank, said Abbas failed and should resign.

"There is no hope to have a state, not in peace and not in war," he said. "After 25 years of the peace process, we have more settlements and more settlers. Where would we build the state?"

---

Laub reported from Jericho, West Bank. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

Hummm......

For links see article source.....
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150929/ml--syria-breaking_up-db0937994a.html

After ruinous war, Syria regions may go separate ways

Sep 29, 2:47 AM (ET)
By ZEINA KARAM and DAN PERRY

(AP) In this Dec. 31, 2014 file photo, released by the Syrian official news agency...
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BEIRUT (AP) — Syria has already been shattered by more than four years of civil war, and with no solution in sight, some players on the ground and observers outside have concluded its fate will be to break up along sectarian or regional lines — in a best-case scenario, tenuously held together by a less centralized state.

A true partition would risk yet more mayhem, including ethnic or sectarian cleansing and battle over every bend in the border. But so spectacular is Syria's disaster that many wonder whether its disparate groups can share a unifying national sentiment again.

The sectarian dynamic was evident last week in a U.N.-backed truce deal in the key Zabadani region near the Lebanese border, which reportedly envisions the transfer of thousands of Shiites and Sunni fighters from one area to another.

In all, half the prewar population of 23 million has been displaced and a quarter million killed, propelling a huge wave of refugees to neighboring countries and now to Europe.

(AP) In this Sept. 6, 2004 file photo, Druse minority people greet some 480 Druse...
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The government, dominated by President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, controls Damascus, the Alawite heartland along the Mediterranean coast, other cities and connecting corridors in between. Kurds run their own affairs in the northeast. The militant Islamic State group controls much of the Sunni heartland in the east. Other Sunni rebels control pockets in the north and south. The Druze remain loyal but are starting to talk about autonomy in their southern areas as well.

"What we have today is a partition that no one wants to acknowledge formally," said Ahmad Shami, an opposition activist from the besieged suburbs of Damascus, using his nickname to protect his identity.

The debate in the region and in international capitals has centered on Assad's fate, what might replace his government and whether he should be allowed a face-saving transitional role. But as the highly authoritarian state has disintegrated and the deaths and population transfers have mounted, sectarian hatreds have become so inflamed that the bigger question is impossible to ignore.

"After the destruction and killings that took place, it is difficult for the Syrian people to coexist (in) a central state," said Mustafa Osso, a leader of the minority Kurds who is vice president of the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group. He favors not total partition but federalization.

The idea of dividing the country among various groups is not new: about a century ago French and British colonists carved up much of the Middle East, spoils of war taken from the Ottoman empire.

(AP) In this Aug. 22, 2013 file photo, smoke from heavy shelling rises in the...
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Awarded the area to become modern Syria, the French in the 1920s toyed with the idea of ethnically cohesive statelets. They envisioned six areas, including the State of Alawites, a state for the Druze and a State of Aleppo. But in the end a unitary state was established instead.

When Syria became independent, authoritarian leaders kept any notion of rebellions at bay — much as was the case in similarly multi-ethnic Iraq, also created by the colonial powers. Since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq is now divided between a Shiite-dominated government region, a highly autonomous Kurdish north, and a Sunni-dominated region mostly controlled by the Islamic State group.

The Levant was hardly unusual in this: big-power cartography left its fingerprints all over the world. Many countries found themselves with diverse populations — like Africa's Nigeria, at loggerheads between a Muslim-dominated north and a Christian south.

In some cases a breakup eventually proved possible: Eritrea splitting from Ethiopia, for example, and the more recent independence of South Sudan.

Partition appears more possible along a country's recognized internal borders or in cases where the ethnic or sectarian map is fairly clear.

(AP) In this undated file image posted on June 30, 2014, by the Raqqa Media Center...
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However things play out here, "Syria as we've known it since it was formed 100 years ago — it's finished, I think," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at The Washington Institute for Near East policy. "What the international community will have to recognize is de facto partition, and work with different parties to try and stabilize those areas."

In an interview with The Associated Press this weekend, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi referred to the issue, saying, "We are very keen that Syria remains as a nation and as a state and does not divide into smaller states."

After a century of global upheaval, the world community is generally inclined to keep national borders as they are, fearful of any change.

"Even though a lot of newly independent states after World War II in Africa, the Middle East and Asia have borders that were drawn by colonizers, the strong tendency within international law has been to respect those boundaries," said Kenneth Schultz, professor of political science at Stanford University.

Syrians seem to generally share the reluctance.

(AP) In this April 11, 2015 file photo, released by the Syrian official news...
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Dividing the country up would bring to the surface the complication that key cities like Aleppo and Damascus remain too mixed for a simple divorce.

Partition in such mixed areas can open the door to new horrors. Images of Sarajevo — the ethnically mixed Bosnian capital devastated by civil war in the 1990s — come to mind. Or the horrific ethnic cleansing seen when mostly Muslim Pakistan broke off from what had been British-ruled India.

Fears in this direction are already arising in Syria.

Alawites and other minorities such as Christians and Druze have mostly fled predominantly Sunni opposition-held areas. Sunni Arabs accuse Kurds of creating laws that aim to change the demographics and intimidate their communities in predominantly Kurdish areas.

Some are gearing up to reverse their losses. Abdullah al-Muhaysini, a Saudi militant linked to al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, suggested that the transfer agreed on in Zabadani would not be permanent, adding that the insurgents are ready to reverse it by force. "Demographic changes are not that simple," said al-Muhaysini, who lives in Syria.

(AP) In this April 18, 2015 file photo, Kurdish mourners and fighters carry the...
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Complicating the situation is that most areas that could form a Sunni region are under the control not just of the Islamic Sate group but a host of other groups, most of them also radicals.

Some believe the components of a looser federated state might in some cases be based on sects that dominate and in other cases simply on the geographical area, which might remain mixed.

Tarek Abdul-Hai, an anti-Assad Druze activist, said people were increasingly thinking in terms of "cantons," a subdivision term used in placid Switzerland. "Impoverishment and fear" were driving people to depend on local allies, "and these are the cantons."

Abdul-Hai said total partition was impractical for the Druze, whose population of a few hundred thousand is not enough to go it alone. But, he added, "reality is not always as one wishes."

"If there is partition, it will begin with the coast," he predicted, because the situation is "pushing the Alawites to rally around a special clear geography to protect themselves."

(AP) In this Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, a Syrian boy shouts slogans against the...
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Alawites undoubtedly fear repercussions in a post-Assad Syria they would likely no longer dominate. The past weeks' Russian deployment, focused on the Alawite coast, is seen by some in this context: while Russia, like Assad, favors maintaining a unified Syria, its actions suggest an effort to shore up the Alawite heartland as well.

In some government-held areas, like Homs and Damascus, people of various sects still proudly co-exist, viewing partition as a danger, not a solution. Assad remains publicly committed to a unified Syria. But he has acknowledged that the army has been forced to relinquish far-flung areas to focus military resources on core areas.

"If Syrians do not move beyond the present and come together, partition becomes a possibility and there are political sides that are working on psychologically paving the way for it," said Mohammad Saleh, an Alawite businessman living in the central Homs province. "We are fighting to come up with a solution."

One man of Alawite background said the brutality of the Islamic State group was driving Alawites and other minorities toward the idea of an enclave as a safe haven. He refused to give his name for fear of retribution.

Schultz, who specializes in international conflict and conflict resolution, pointed to the solution reached in Bosnia some 20 years ago: the former Yugoslav republic's borders have been maintained, but minority Serbs run a highly autonomous state-within-a-state.

"If I thought about a model that could work for Syria it would be the Bosnia model, where you maintain the unity of the state but you partition it into reasonably autonomous areas," he said.

---

Perry reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150929/af--central_african_republic-violence-5b3e6f04ea.html

About 500 prisoners escape Central African Republic jail

Sep 28, 8:38 PM (ET)
By HIPPOLYTE MARBOUA and KRISTA LARSON

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The worst violence to hit Central African Republic's capital in a year further deteriorated Monday as more than 500 inmates escaped from a prison and militia fighters looted the offices of international aid organizations, officials said. The death toll from several days of clashes reached 42 including a teenage boy who was decapitated.

The unrest erupted as transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, sparked by the death of a Muslim man whose body was left near a mosque. Muslim militants then attacked a Christian neighborhood with weekend clashes leaving several dozen people dead.

Amnesty International, which has documented the human rights abuses since the conflict first erupted in early 2013 with the overthrow of the president of a decade, said the latest fighting had shattered the peace in Central African Republic. Sectarian violence had ebbed in recent months with the arrival of a U.N. peacekeeping force and after tens of thousands of Muslims fled the country for their lives.

"The deadly violence in the capital illustrates that CAR remains in a very fragile state and that immediate action must be taken to enhance the capacity of U.N. peacekeepers to detect and respond effectively to such incidents before escalation of attacks on civilians," said Alioune Tine, Amnesty International regional director for West and Central Africa.

The United States swiftly condemned the unrest, and pledged its support for Samba-Panza's government, which was supposed to organize elections by year-end. Few see the Oct. 18 dates as possible, and the near-anarchic conditions in Bangui on Monday further cast doubt on their feasibility. Pope Francis is also due to visit in late November as part of his upcoming Africa trip.

"We fully support the efforts of the Central African and international forces to re-establish order and bring these perpetrators to justice," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. "The era during which such individuals have been able to carry out their malevolent actions with impunity must come to an end."

Monday's jailbreak, though, at Nagaragba unleashed at least 60 high-level convicts including militants from both the Muslim ex-Seleka rebellion and the Christian anti-Balaka fighters, authorities said. The escape was confirmed by head clerk Thierry Ngoalessio at Bangui's court, as well as witnesses who saw the men fleeing.

Earlier in the day, a group of protesters had gathered in downtown Bangui in an effort to march on the presidential palace. At least six people died when the group was fired upon and protesters blamed peacekeepers for shooting into the crowd to disperse the demonstration, said Christophe Gazam-Betty, a former communications minister.

However, the U.N. mission known as MINUSCA denied that its peacekeepers were to blame for the shooting deaths in this heavily-armed city.

"MINUSCA protected the presidency but did not kill protesters," said Myriam Dessables, a spokeswoman for the mission, told The Associated Press by telephone.

And a spokesman for the peacekeeping office at U.N. headquarters, Nick Birnback, said, "MINUSCA is patrolling and doing everything it can to stabilize the situation."

The U.N. Security Council issued a statement expressing "deep concern about the upsurge of violence" and repeated its demand that all militias and non-state armed groups immediately lay down their arms.

Among the 42 victims in recent days were three teenage boys, one of whom was decapitated, according to the U.N. children's agency citing preliminary reports from local organizations.

---

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press Writer Baba Ahmed in Dakar, Senegal also contributed to this report.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150928/af--burkina_faso-unrest-890ab4f707.html

Burkina Faso: Coup plotters refuse to disarm

Sep 28, 1:40 PM (ET)
By BRAHIMA OUEDRAOGO and BABA AHMED

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso's government on Monday accused the military general who was the leader of this month's failed coup of derailing the disarmament of his supporters.

For his part, Gen. Gilbert Diendere said his soldiers are under threat and need their arms for protection.

The setback for reconciliation in this West African nation comes just days after the international community applauded the reversal of the coup when Diendere agreed under heavy pressure to return power to the civilian president he had overthrown.

In a communique issued Monday, the government lashed out at Diendere's presidential guard which was disbanded last week after the short-lived coup. The statement further warned that it was aware of the "mobilization of foreign forces and jihadi groups" to challenge the government.

"Despite the pledges of good faith, the disarmament process that began Saturday was suddenly called into question yesterday by Gen. Diendere, who told his unit in fact that it could not be dissolved by the transitional government and that it was better to resist," said the statement.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Diendere said the presidential guard soldiers had not received the protections they initially were promised.

The presidential guard "agreed with disarmament, but there were no security measures for them or their families from the transitional government nor the military hierarchy," he said.

Under the peace deal brokered last week, the presidential guard members were supposed to give up their weapons and remain in their barracks. In return, members of the military who had come from around the country in a show of force agreed to withdraw from the capital, Ouagadougou.

Burkina Faso's transitional government has said that members of elite unit found to have played significant roles in the coup are to face trial.

---

Ahmed reported from Dakar, Senegal.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150929/lt--peru-mine_protest-24126949f7.html

3 killed as police, protesters clash over Peru copper mine

Sep 29, 12:06 AM (ET)
By FRANKLIN BRICENO

LIMA, Peru (AP) — At least three people were shot and killed and 17 wounded in a clash between police and highlands farmers protesting a $7.4 billion Chinese-owned copper mining project, health officials said Monday.

Police apparently opened fire on the protesters when they entered part of the Las Bambas mine where the plant that separates copper ore from rock is under construction.

The local health director, Jose Soplopuco, told The Associated Press that two men died en route to the regional capital of Cuzco and one at the local health clinic.

Percy Jeronimo, the oral surgeon running the emergency room, said three of the wounded were in critical condition.

Soplopuco said ambulances couldn't reach Challhuahuacho, the town of about 10,000 residents where the clinic is located, because police had shot at a vehicle carrying doctors.

The Las Bambas project is owned by a consortium led by Chinese state giant China Minmetals Corp. It is scheduled to begin production in 2016 and produce 400,000 metric tons of copper the following year.

President Ollanta Humala appealed to protest leaders for calm. He called Las Bambas Peru's biggest mining project on Monday.

The Associated Press called the project's office in Lima but no one answered.

Peru is the world's No. 3 copper producer and mining accounts for about 60 percent of its export earnings.

But resistance by local farmers has frustrated and delayed major projects across the rugged Andean nation. Six people have been killed so far this year in anti-mining protests, including a police officer whose skull was fractured during May protests against a Mexican-owned copper mining project.

---_

This story corrects the number of inhabitants of town to about 10,000.

Lilbitsnana · Sep 29, 2015

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http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN0RT0O820150929?sp=true

Countries pledge 40,000 U.N. peacekeepers at U.N. summit
Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:36am GMT

Helmets belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian army are seen as part of preparations for deployment to Mali, at the Nigerian Army peacekeeping centre in Jaji, near Kaduna January 17, 2013. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde
1 of 1Full Size

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Monday more than 50 countries have pledged some 40,000 peacekeepers for possible deployment on United Nations missions, as well as helicopters, medical units and training and equipment to deal with roadside bombs.

Obama chaired a summit of world leaders at the United Nations to garner commitments to boost the capacity and capabilities of U.N. peacekeeping and to allow the world body to deploy forces more rapidly if a new operation is created.

"Our goal should be to make every new peace operation more efficient and more effective than the last," Obama said.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said in addition to some 40,000 new troops and police, more than 50 countries had pledged to provide more than 40 helicopters, 15 military engineering companies and 10 field hospitals.

China made one of the biggest commitments. President Xi Jinping pledged to set up a "permanent peacekeeping police squad and build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops."

Amid a stream of allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in Central African Republic, U.S. officials say the surplus troops will also allow the United Nations to exercise more discretion with its 16 current missions.

"The overwhelming number of peacekeepers serve with honor and decency in extraordinarily difficult situations. But we have seen some appalling cases of peacekeepers abusing civilians ... and that is totally unacceptable," Obama said.

According to the U.N. website, the United States provides 82 of the more than 106,500 people deployed on U.N. peacekeeping missions: 34 troops, 42 police and six military advisers. But Washington pays for more than 28 percent of the more than $8.2 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget.

Obama said the United States would work to double the number of military advisers that it contributes to U.N. peacekeeping, and offer logistical support, including air and sea lifts, and training.

"When there's an urgent need and we're uniquely positioned to help, we'll undertake engineering projects like building airfields and base camps for new missions," he said.

During a speech in Brussels in March, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power called on Europe to consider contributing more to U.N. peacekeeping. She said two decades ago Europeans made up 40 percent of U.N. peacekeepers, but that has fallen to about 7 percent.

More than a dozen European countries stepped up on Monday. British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to send 70 troops and experts to the U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia and up to 300 troops to the U.N. mission in South Sudan.

"I believe these things are in our own national interest," Cameron told the summit. "When countries break up, we see the problems of migration can affect us all. When countries become havens to terror, we all suffer as a result."

The top five troop- and police-contributing countries to U.N. peacekeeping missions are Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and Rwanda. They all made further pledges at Monday's summit.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

Lilbitsnana said:
posted for fair use
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN0RT0O820150929?sp=true

Countries pledge 40,000 U.N. peacekeepers at U.N. summit
Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:36am GMT

Helmets belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian army are seen as part of preparations for deployment to Mali, at the Nigerian Army peacekeeping centre in Jaji, near Kaduna January 17, 2013. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde
1 of 1Full Size

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Monday more than 50 countries have pledged some 40,000 peacekeepers for possible deployment on United Nations missions, as well as helicopters, medical units and training and equipment to deal with roadside bombs.

Obama chaired a summit of world leaders at the United Nations to garner commitments to boost the capacity and capabilities of U.N. peacekeeping and to allow the world body to deploy forces more rapidly if a new operation is created.

"Our goal should be to make every new peace operation more efficient and more effective than the last," Obama said.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said in addition to some 40,000 new troops and police, more than 50 countries had pledged to provide more than 40 helicopters, 15 military engineering companies and 10 field hospitals.

China made one of the biggest commitments. President Xi Jinping pledged to set up a "permanent peacekeeping police squad and build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops."

Amid a stream of allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in Central African Republic, U.S. officials say the surplus troops will also allow the United Nations to exercise more discretion with its 16 current missions.

"The overwhelming number of peacekeepers serve with honor and decency in extraordinarily difficult situations. But we have seen some appalling cases of peacekeepers abusing civilians ... and that is totally unacceptable," Obama said.

According to the U.N. website, the United States provides 82 of the more than 106,500 people deployed on U.N. peacekeeping missions: 34 troops, 42 police and six military advisers. But Washington pays for more than 28 percent of the more than $8.2 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget.

Obama said the United States would work to double the number of military advisers that it contributes to U.N. peacekeeping, and offer logistical support, including air and sea lifts, and training.

"When there's an urgent need and we're uniquely positioned to help, we'll undertake engineering projects like building airfields and base camps for new missions," he said.

During a speech in Brussels in March, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power called on Europe to consider contributing more to U.N. peacekeeping. She said two decades ago Europeans made up 40 percent of U.N. peacekeepers, but that has fallen to about 7 percent.

More than a dozen European countries stepped up on Monday. British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to send 70 troops and experts to the U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia and up to 300 troops to the U.N. mission in South Sudan.

"I believe these things are in our own national interest," Cameron told the summit. "When countries break up, we see the problems of migration can affect us all. When countries become havens to terror, we all suffer as a result."

The top five troop- and police-contributing countries to U.N. peacekeeping missions are Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and Rwanda. They all made further pledges at Monday's summit.

Considering the nature and swath of current conflicts, 40,000 would get literally swallowed in any one of the conflict zones, never mind diluted if scattered to all of them.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

Hummm........

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.politico.eu/article/putin-new-world-order-syria-united-nations-new-york/

Speechreader

Putin’s new world order

The Russian president, far from ostracized, is the center of global attention.

By Paul R. Gregory
| 9/29/15, 7:59 AM CET
| Updated 9/29/15, 10:32 AM CET

The president of Russia uses a Putin-speak in his speeches that we must parse word for word, in our own best interests. Only after translating them into normal speech do we learn what he has said and why. His speech Monday to the United Nations General Assembly made seven overlapping and interdependent points that are worth translating.

Unlike Barack Obama’s passionate address, Putin delivered his remarks in the measured and moderate tones of a world statesman. They were still words of warning: Join us in a broad coalition and leave nondemocratic regimes alone, or catastrophe will strike.

Following are the major points that Putin wished his audience to take back to their respective countries:

First, the United States and its Western allies are responsible for the sad state of world affairs owing to their foolhardy interventions on behalf of democratic revolutions. Democratic revolutions are the dreams of those who have unrealistic views of the world. The USSR learned that it could not export socialist revolution; the West must learn that it cannot export democratic revolution.

Second, the United Nations, not some agglomeration of prosperous Western powers, should guarantee peace and security for all, not just to a select few singled out for narrow benefit. Only the U.N. can form a broad coalition that can put an end to the terrorist threats of ISIL. The matter is urgent. If such a coalition is not formed soon, the migrant flow to Europe will reach into the millions, not tens of thousands, and no country will be safe from terrorist attack, says Putin.

Three, Russia’s status as a veto-welding member of the U.N. Security Council is not affected by Russia’s recent disagreements — namely, the United Nations’ condemnation of the Crimean annexation and Russia’s veto of a criminal tribunal to punish those responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines MH17. Such disagreements, even among the major Western powers, have disrupted the work of the Security Council since the U.N.’s founding. Putin tells his audience that the fact that Russia disagrees with certain U.N. resolutions is normal and does not affect its veto power.

Fourth, the West must understand that the choice between governmentalism (‘gosudarstvennost’) and chaos must be made in favor of the former. The Assad government may not be ideal, but it is the only institution of statehood that exists. Libya’s Gaddafi regime was tyrannical, but what came afterward has been worse. Well-intentioned actions that destroy a nation’s “governmentalism” leave vacuums that forces of evil, such as ISIL, fill. The ranks of ISIL, for example, were populated with the disaffected remnants of Saddam Hussein’s regime. No such thing as a moderate opposition exists, as shown by America’s comedic efforts to train and arm anti-Assad forces.

Fifth, the West must suppress its appetite for supporting democratic opposition forces that challenge “governmentalism” in regimes whose human rights, press freedom, and election procedures fall short of Western ideals. (Not stated by Putin is that he includes Russia in this category; hands off Russia’s internal affairs.) The West’s meddling in Ukraine had the unanticipated consequence of what Putin calls a “spontaneous civil war,” with over 8,000 deaths.

Sixth, the world must return to normal trading patterns, “harmonized” by the World Trade Organization and the U.N. This new order cannot be a diktat of the strong but must be fair and even for all, perhaps including a common market between the European Union and Putin’s proposed Eurasian Union. Sanctions, which are imposed for political reasons and personal financial gains, would have no room in such a world order. The sanctions against Russia must be lifted immediately. The West knows they are not fulfilling the purposes for which they were levied.

Seventh, the Western world must respect the security concerns of Russia over NATO expansion. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, NATO enlargement can only be seen as encircling and threatening Russia’s sovereignty. If the world goes to a common market of common markets (European Union with Putin’s Eurasian Union), there is no reason to be concerned about the EU expanding to include Ukraine.

* * *

Putin’s U.N. speech did not deviate from previews he gave weeks earlier. His broad coalition will include the Assad government as a non-negotiable condition. Putin portrays himself as the knight on a white horse galloping in to save the day for the bumbling Obama. Putin is betting his new world order on the U.N., where less than half of its members are classified as free and where his “leave bad regimes alone” message resonates.

Putin cleverly weaves together points to which Western audiences would agree (we have indeed made a mess of the Middle East and Ukraine) with ideas that are wrong or inoperable. He does not explain how a broad coalition can be formed that includes warring Sunni and Shia factions. Nor does he tell us how his Eurasian Union can blend with the European Union, when both are founded on completely different economic and political principles. Are the Western countries supposed to lift sanctions if Putin’s armed forces fight only against anti-Assad forces? Is the West supposed to tolerate ruling regimes, no matter how terrible, just because they can promise a state that prevents vacuums from being formed?”

Putin was the center of attention in New York. This is what drives him. Instead of Putin the ostracized, he is now Putin the creator of a new world order.

Paul R. Gregory is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He holds an endowed professorship in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, Texas, is a research professor at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, and is emeritus chair of the International Advisory Board of the Kiev School of Economics.

Also On Politico
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Michael Crowley

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-again-flight-tests-illegal-inf-cruise-missile/

Russia Again Flight Tests Illegal INF Cruise Missile

Obama administration still weighing response—years after violation detected

BY: Bill Gertz
September 28, 2015 5:00 am

Russia flight-tested a new ground-launched cruise missile this month that U.S. intelligence agencies say further violates the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, according to Obama administration defense and security officials.

The missile launch Sept. 2 was the latest flight test for what the Pentagon is calling the SSC-X-8 cruise missile. The cruise missile did not fly beyond the 300-mile range limit for an INF-banned missile, said officials familiar with reports of the test.

However, intelligence analysts reported that the missile’s assessed range is between 300 miles and 3,400 miles—the distance covered under the landmark INF treaty that banned an entire class of intermediate-range missiles.

The SSC-X-8 test also involved what officials called a “nuclear profile,” meaning that the weapon is part of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.

An earlier flight test of the missile prompted the administration, backed by U.S. intelligence agencies, to declare the system a breach of the INF treaty.

Disclosure of the SSC-X-8—the first unofficial identification of the suspect missile—comes as President Obama is set to meet in New York with Vladimir Putin.

Talks between the two presidents on Monday are expected to focus on increasing Russian military operations in Syria and Ukraine.

White House officials would not say whether the president would raise the SSC-X-8 flight test and other INF noncompliance issues with Putin on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting.

The cruise missile test is the latest sign from Moscow that it has no plans to return to compliance with the INF treaty despite U.S. efforts in talks held since May 2013.

The administration is under growing pressure from Republicans in Congress to respond to the INF violation, which has rattled nerves among NATO allies concerned by a major buildup of Russian nuclear forces and public threats by senior Russian officials to use nuclear weapons.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, has been pressing the Pentagon to respond to the INF breach. He said that continued Russian missile tests that violate INF treaty provisions would be unsurprising because there has been no pressure on Putin to change course.

“It is time for the White House to get out of the way of the [Defense Department] so that it can field military responses to this treaty violation,” Rogers said. “We must make sure the Russian Federation cannot obtain a military advantage from this or any of its other arms control violations.”

“What’s more, the mullahs in Tehran are watching: when Putin gets away with cheating on INF, the IRGC gets ideas about what it will do under President Obama’s misbegotten nuclear deal,” he added.

“We do not comment on intelligence matters,” said Alexandra Bell, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s arms control bureau, when asked about the missile test.

Yuri Y. Melnik, a Russian Embassy spokesman, said that his government is unaware of any new U.S. allegations regarding a cruise missile test this month in violation of the INF treaty.

“As to the ‘old’ allegations, we can confirm again that they are groundless,” Melnik said in an email. “The U.S. administration did not give us explanations [of] what these violations exactly were. Russia is not in violation of the INF Treaty.”

Russia repeatedly has denied violating the INF treaty and countered U.S. charges with assertions that U.S. drones and target missiles, which are not covered by the 1987 accord, have violated the treaty.

In a related matter, a Russian official announced last week that Russia would withdraw from the INF treaty if the United States goes ahead with reported plans to deploy additional nuclear bombs to Germany.

Victor Ozerov, Russian Federation Council defense and security committee chairman, told RIA Novosti last week that Moscow could withdraw from the INF treaty if B61-12 aircraft-carried guided nuclear bombs are sent to Germany. Der Spiegel reported the U.S. nuclear deployment plans.

Ozerov was sanctioned by the Treasury Department last year along with 15 other Russian officials in Putin’s inner circle who were targeted by the administration for their role in the military annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said that if the reports are accurate, it would not be the first time that Russia has violated the agreement.

“The Russians have repeatedly violated this agreement,” Pompeo said. “These violations have been met with mild responses from the Obama administration. The President has agreed to meet with Putin after the sacking of Crimea, the invasion of Syria, violations of agreements related to missile testing. The weak response is dangerous for America.”

Michaela Dodge, a defense policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said that as Moscow is continuing to violate almost all arms control obligations, the most recent INF treaty violation is unsurprising.

“Despite congressional pressure, the administration is way overdue with a meaningful response to previous Russian violations of the INF Treaty—and Russia is quick to take advantage,” she said.

“The treaty has outlived its strategic utility,” Dodge added. “As long as the treaty remains in force, the United States and its European allies will not devote meaningful resources into thinking through implications of Russia’s violations for the military balance in Europe, which is why the United States should withdraw from the treaty.”

Arms control experts said the Russian cruise missile flight test highlights the need for a U.S. response to the INF violation.

“Like most arms control aficionados, Obama never seems able to say the word ‘violation,’” said John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former undersecretary of state for arms control. “Now would be a good time to learn.”

Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon strategic nuclear forces policymaker, warned that the new missile is part of a large-scale buildup of Russian forces that is dangerous.

“The number of strategic and intermediate-range nuclear armed and nuclear capable missile systems announced by the Russian Defense Ministry and reported in the Russian and Western press is staggering,” said Schneider with the National Institute for Public Policy.

“Yet if one reads the congressional testimony of senior administration officials almost nothing specific is being said about this.”

Schneider said the administration so far has refused to identify the cruise missile system that it says is an INF treaty violation.

“To its credit, the Obama administration now says that nuclear deterrence is its highest priority and Russia is the biggest threat,” he added. “Yet the allocation of dollars in the defense budget does not match this.”

U.S. nuclear modernization efforts are over a decade from completion and pale in comparison to Russian strategic modernization, which includes new missiles, submarines, and bombers.

“We are now making unilateral reductions in our nuclear capability to comply with the seriously flawed New START Treaty and pretending the even more seriously flawed Iran deal is going to prevent Iran from enhancing its nuclear weapons capability,” Schneider said. “This is dangerous.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the latest test of a Russian INF missile “is only the most recent indicator of their long history of cheating on such agreements.”

Cruz said he wrote to the president 38 days ago seeking the release of a Pentagon report on the INF missile violation and the threat it poses to U.S. and allied security.

“Despite my request, the report is still being withheld,” said Cruz (R., Tex.).

Obama’s scheduled meeting with Putin on Monday is “no doubt in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the disastrous ‘reset’ initiated by Secretary Clinton,” Cruz said.

“We have to let go of this dangerous delusion,” he said. “It is now more important than ever that President Obama prioritize the safety and security of the American people over his political legacy and release this pivotal document so we can see Russia for what it is, not what President Obama wants it to be.”ý

A State Department official said that talks with the Russians are continuing and that “we have made it abundantly clear that we are also consulting with allies and reviewing a range of appropriate options—diplomatic, economic, and military—to respond to Russia’s continuing violation of its treaty obligations.”

While the United States remains committed to seeing Russia return to INF limits, “we do not want to see another action-reaction cycle, like the one we saw during the Cold War,” the official said.

“However, while it is our desire to seek a diplomatic resolution, our patience is not unlimited,” the official said. “We have made clear that we will protect our allies and ourselves and deny Russia any significant military advantage, if it persists in its violation.

The White House has been holding up a report produced by the Pentagon assessing the risk to U.S. security posed by the new Russian cruise missile.

The Free Beacon reported in August that Russia is close to deploying a new supersonic naval cruise missile that is not covered by the treaty. Defense officials have said that a ground-launched version of the naval missile, the SSN-30A, may be the illegal INF missile.

It could not be learned whether the SSC-X-8 is a ground-launched variant of the SSN-30A, dubbed “Kalibr” by the Pentagon.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Senate hearing last month that Russia was “the greatest threat to our national security.”

And NATO commander Gen. Philip Breedlove has said that Russia in recent years has become a greater danger than the Islamic State terrorist group because of its large and growing nuclear forces.

Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said in June that the R-500 cruise missile and the RS-26 ballistic missile are not the missile in question.

“At issue is a ground-launched cruise missile with a range capability of 500 to 5,500 kilometers,” Gottemoeller told Russia’s Interfax in June. “We are confident that the Russian government is aware of the missile to which we are referring.”

Gottemoeller declined to comment on the recent Russian cruise missile test.

She told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty two weeks after the SSC-X-8 test that Russian government requests to the United States for information about the INF missile were a part of a “fishing expedition” aimed at learning U.S. intelligence information about the missile and how it was obtained.

“We don’t make determinations on arms control violations lightly,” Gottemoeller told RFE/RL. “So I want to make clear that this violation is not a technicality or a mistake as some have suggested. We are talking about a missile that has been flight-tested as a ground-launched cruise-missile system to these ranges that are banned under this treaty.”

Gottemoeller said the United States has provided extensive information that would allow the Russian government to pinpoint the missile at the center of the violation charges.

The violation was officially confirmed last year in the State Department’s annual arms compliance report. The report said Moscow had violated the treaty provision banning possession, production and flight-testing of a ground-launched cruise missile with a range between 300 miles and 3,400 miles. The 2015 report contains the same language and also did not further identify the missiles.

Among the options being considered by the Pentagon in response to the missile are new missile defenses and building and deploying new U.S. INF missiles.

All Pershing II ballistic and ground-launched cruise missiles were eliminated after the 1987 treaty.

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-buys-21-billion-in-aircraft-satellites-from-russia/

Iran Buys $21 Billion in Aircraft, Satellites from Russia

BY: Adam Kredo
September 29, 2015 9:55 am

Iran has purchased $21 billion worth of Russian satellite technology and aircraft, according to Iranian officials.

An Iranian delegation reportedly visited Russia’s MAKS-2015 air show and signed an agreement to purchase the equipment, according to Sputnik, which quoted Iranian officials.

“There is a large share of contracts for the purchase of this type of aircraft,” Manouchehr Mantegh, an Iranian technology and aviation official, reportedly disclosed, according to Sputnik.

This includes “satellite-related equipment” and the Sukhoi Superjet, a twin-engine passenger plane, according to the report.

The official did not reveal the total number of jets to be purchased.

Tehran has expressed interest in the past in purchasing this type of hardware from the Russians.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official on Tuesday emphasized the country’s commitment to destroying its enemies.

Iran will deliver a “crushing response” to any country that attempts to wage war against it, General Seyed Ali Mehrabi, lieutenant commander of Iran’s Army Ground Force for Operations, was quoted as saying by the country’s state-controlled Fars News Agency.

“The enemy is aware that Iran is an important place for all Muslims and an influential country in the region and even the world, given its great capacities,” Mehrabi was quoted as saying.

“Our Armed Forces have proved that if the enemy makes a mistake, they will give a strong and crushing response to them with all their power,” he said.

vestige · Sep 29, 2015

"Iran Buys $21 Billion in Aircraft, Satellites from Russia"

I wonder if Ivan "inadvertently" slipped in one or two tactical nukes in the order?

Housecarl · Sep 29, 2015

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...nce-russia-iran-iraq-syria-and-hezbollah.html

Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly September 28, 2015 at the United Nations in New York.
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty

James Miller

Kremlin ‘Reality’

09.28.156:30 PM ET

Putin’s New Axis of Resistance: Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Hezbollah

The Russian leader just told the UN that state sponsors of terrorism are the West’s only partners for fighting terrorism.

One year ago, on September 5, 2014, a group of Russian agents, armed with smoke grenades, radio jammers, and guns, crossed eight kilometers into NATO territory, subdued a NATO counterintelligence agent and kidnapped him across the border. Eston Kohver (married, father of four) was then tried in Moscow as a spy and, despite inadequate legal representation, he was given 15 years in prison.

On Saturday, Kohver was released back to Estonia, exchanged for a real Russian spy, Aleksei Dressen. Those who follow news on Saturdays applauded Kohver’s return to his family, but one has to wonder whether he was kidnapped just to make this exchange possible. One also has to wonder if Kohver’s release was cynically timed with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the United Nations General Assembly.

One year ago, on September 5, 2014, the same day Kohver was kidnapped, Russia signed an agreement in Minsk, Belarus, with representatives of Europe, Ukraine, and the Russian-backed separatists who have been waging war in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. That agreement, the Minsk Protocol, was supposed to end the fighting, return the border between Russia and Ukraine to the Ukrainian military, and establish local elections, governed by Ukrainian law and monitored by international observers. In short, what is now known as “Minsk I” was supposed to return peace and order to a single, unified Ukraine (ignoring Crimea, the peninsula which Russia illegally annexed in March 2014).

This diplomatic “breakthrough,” however, was negotiated at the point of a gun—a Russian gun; or rather a small army of Russian special forces, volunteers, armored and airborne units, tanks, multiple-launch rocket launchers, advanced anti-aircraft systems (including the one that shot down civilian airliner MH17 just a month and a half earlier), and a seemingly infinite supply of ammunition and fuel to keep the war machine running. In fact, as a recently published report I coauthored establishes, Russian troops led every major battle between May 2014 and today, taking advantage of the nominal “ceasefire” to expand proxy-controlled territory in a more gradual (and arguably less expensive) way.

And in eastern Ukraine today, the carnage left by last year’s invasion by tens of thousands of Russian troops, tanks, and other heavy weapons, has been replaced by a permanent, foreign occupation of European soil. Each day violence is reported near the border between territory Ukraine controls and the edge of “Novorossiya,” or “New Russia,” the territory controlled by Russian proxies and occupied by Russian military units and war machines. Now explosions and terrorist acts are regularly reported on both sides of the line of demarcation (though, thankfully, few claim actual lives). Ukraine continues to increase its military spending to match this threat, despite having to cut back government spending overall.

It is the poor who suffer the most, and there are many of them since more than a million Ukrainians have been internally displaced because of the illegal annexation of Crimea and the fighting in the Donbass. In territory controlled by Russian proxies, the Russian ruble—which has rapidly deteriorated in recent months—is replacing the Ukrainian hryvnia as the currency in a kind of “creeping institutionalization,” which violates both the spirit and letter of the Minsk Protocol. The UN warns of a growing humanitarian crisis, but UN aid workers have just been forced out by the “de facto authorities” who run Donetsk and Lugansk.

The international community placed Russia in the driver’s seat of diplomatic efforts to ensure that conditions agreed to by Russian-backed proxies were adhered to. Not only did Russia fail to hold up its end of the bargain, it continues to increase military support for the Russian-backed fighters. This month, the Secretary General for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the international body which the Minsk Protocol placed in charge of monitoring the ceasefire, confirmed to this author something he told a conference in Kiev earlier in the day—the “militants” in eastern Ukraine continue to get stronger, supplied by an outside source, despite yet another ceasefire that was supposed to go into effect on Sept. 1 of this year.

Kim Sengupta of The Independent recently interviewed other aid workers and NGOs in Donetsk who are in the process of pulling out, fleeing physical violence and intimidation against their workers and bureaucratic conditions imposed by the “leaders” which the Russian military installed. Meanwhile, dozens of Western and Ukrainian reporters have said, some privately to this author and some publicly, that they have had their “accreditation” pulled by the Russian-backed proxies. Russia and its proxies, it seems, do not want the outside world to see what happens in territories that they have effectively and illegally annexed.

Despite the stark realities on the ground in Ukraine—undisputed by all except those who openly support or work for the Kremlin or those who have no familiarity with the facts—the fighting has decreased since this new ceasefire, and Russia is once again engaging with the international community, some of which is hailing this false “peace” as a victory for diplomatic relations with Moscow.

Ukraine, rebels agree to ceasefire at Minsk talks
AFP

And now Russian soldiers and jets, some of which are being shipped from Russian-occupied Crimea and led the invasion of Ukraine, are building their presence in Syria. There are calls, in the Western media and perhaps even from political advisers to President Obama, to work with Vladimir Putin to help solve the crisis in Syria.

It is against this backdrop that Putin’s speech (PDF) to the United Nations General Assembly must be assessed. Putin used his first address in a decade at Turtle Bay to lay out his peculiar vision for “peace” in the world, particularly in the Middle East. It was a speech filled with lies and distortions that have become the dominant worldview inside the Kremlin and propagated outward on state-controlled media. According to Putin, the Soviet Union made a key mistake—creating “‘social experiments’ for export” based on “ideological preferences” which led to “tragic consequences.” Putin then said that the world was doing the same thing by “the export of revolutions, this time of so-called ‘democratic’ ones.” He claimed that the West fomented a “military coup” in Ukraine and was busy cutting secretive trade deals to expand its own economic sphere of influence. In reality, the European Union’s Association Agreement with Ukraine was negotiated out in the open; the former Yanukovych government even campaigned on its promise; and Putin had earlier expressed his support for Ukraine’s signing it. Until he didn’t.

Putin even hinted darkly that ISIS was a Western invention designed to weaken or overthrow “secular” autocratic regimes. In reality, his client Bashar al-Assad spent a decade underwriting al-Qaeda in Iraq, the predecessor of ISIS, including by dispatching into Iraq foreign jihadists freshly arrived in Damascus for the purpose of blowing up U.S. coalition and Iraqi forces. This relationship continued until at least 2009. When the Syrian uprising began, Assad released from prison many of the jihadists his security organs arrested upon their return to Syria, knowing that they’d radicalize what started as a peaceful protest movement. According to IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center, of all the military operations Assad’s regime waged in 2014, the minority were against ISIS, and ISIS returned the favor. Both parties instead preferred to annihilate the moderate opposition which Putin today insists simply never existed in Syria; in some instances, Assad’s warplanes have even bombed targets the jihadists’ ground forces were simultaneously besieging. To this day, ISIS sells oil it pumps from seized Syrian refineries back to Damascus. Assad is both a duplicitous and failed counterterrorist.

Now add to this Putin’s fondness for Iran, the Iranian-controlled paramilitary Hezbollah, and the Iranian-influenced government of Iraq, all of which Russia is now sharing intelligence with and, in the case of the first two, coordinating joint military operations with in northern Syria, according to recent press reports. In other words, two of the world’s leading state sponsors of terrorism, and an actual terrorist organization, are what Putin is presenting to the West as its single best and last hope for combating terrorism. Meanwhile, his definition of the t-word is broad enough to encompass all Syrian opponents of Assad, including those who, far from wanting to blow up American planes, would sooner have them keep barrel bombs and chlorine gas away. (He even had the temerity to compare this emerging new regional axis to an “anti-Hitler coalition,” perhaps forgetting that the Soviet Union’s compact with the Third Reich inaugurated World War II with the invasion and carve-up of Poland, Romania, Finland, and the Baltic states.)

Putin’s strategy—in Georgia, Estonia, in Ukraine, and now in Syria—is transparently simple. He wishes to define himself as the defender of independent nations who dare to defy Western imperialists and their puppet states. In Putin’s rhetoric, anti-authoritarian revolutions are Western proxy wars, “human rights violations” are excuses for Western annexation of sovereign governments, economic agreements designed to modernize economies and defensive pacts voluntarily signed in light of Russian aggression are really daggers pointed at the Russian Motherland. And anyone who defies Russia or its allies is either a “terrorist” or a “Nazi.”

WAR 09-26-2015-to-10-02-2015_____****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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Deceased

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WAR 09-26-2015-to-10-02-2015_____THEWINDSofWAR