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Europe
Ukraine Pro-Russian Separatists Say They've Detained International Observers
2014-04-26
[VOA News] Pro-Russian separatists say they've detained a group of international observers after finding a Ukrainian spy traveling with them.

"They are with us in Slovyansk," Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, a separatist leader, told Rooters.

He made the comments in front of the seized security service building where the Ukrainian government says the observers are being held.

"What the situation was I do not know," Ponomaryov said. "It was reported to me that among them [the observers] was an employee of Kyiv's secret military staff. People who come here as observers bringing with them a real spy: it's not appropriate."

The monitors work for the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe and its teams are currently deployed in nine locations in Ukraine.

The interior ministry in Kyiv said the detained group includes 7 OSCE representatives and five members of the Ukrainian armed forces who were accompanying them.

On his Twitter account, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt called for the group's immediate release: "Extremely concerned with OSCE inspectors being kidnapped in Eastern Ukraine. Including one Swede. They must be released immediately."
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
UN talking to Sweden on Golan force
2013-06-14
[Bangla Daily Star] The UN is in exploratory talks with Sweden about its participation in a beefed-up peacekeeping force between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Swedish and Israeli officials said yesterday.
"Ya, sure! We bane next in th' barrel!"
The UN has asked Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt whether the Scandinavian country would consider sending troops to the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) after Austrian troops have begun withdrawing as a result of attacks and abductions of peacekeepers.
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Africa North
5bn-euro EU aid package boosts Egypt
2012-11-16
CAIRO: The European Union has approved a 5.0 billion euro financial aid package to Egypt after its economy was battered by a 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, the presidency said yesterday.

The European Investment Bank will grant Egypt 2.0 billion euros and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development a further 2.0 billion euros, while EU countries will come up with 1.0 billion euros, the presidency said.

For his part, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt wrote on Twitter that 600 million euros would go to Cairo's underground train system.
Call it 'high-speed rail', and Obama will throw billions at it...
Ahah! High speed underground rail. Good idea.
Don't tell Mike Bloomberg...
The presidency's announcement came after President Muhammad Mursi met with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Cairo.

It is "a strong sign of the EU's support for Egypt's path to development," the presidency said in a statement.

Ashton, who attended a meeting of EU and Arab foreign ministers on Tuesday, is also participating in the EU-Egypt task force which aims at bolstering economic relations between Egypt and Europe. Representatives of around 100 large European companies and members of the European Commission and European MPs are participating in the meetings, which wrapped up later yesterday.
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Britain
Britain faces EU isolation
2011-12-10
LONDON/BRUSSELS: Prime Minister David Cameron has made history by blocking EU treaty change in a move that has isolated Britain and this detachment will define the next chapter in this island nation's notoriously tricky relations with continental Europe.

Cameron, who styles himself a "euroskeptic", seems to have pushed Britain further from the heart of Europe than even "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher dared to do in her battles in the 1980s when she said "No, No, No" to Brussels increasing its powers.

The prime minister was left out in the cold in Brussels on Friday when France and Germany failed to give him the safeguards he wanted for the powerful City of London financial services industry, which accounts for 10 percent of economic output.
So in response he blocked the Euro plan. And of course the French and Germans blame him for this.
Cameron's hard line may appease elements of his Conservative Party but is likely to open up a rift with his pro-Europe Liberal Democrat allies. It could also leave Britain at risk of being excluded from Brussels decisions that affect business across the nation.

"It is a black day for Britain and Europe," Liberal Democrat Lord Oakeshott said. "We are now in the waiting room while critical decisions are being taken."

Cameron's tough talk, described by one senior diplomat as "clumsy", is likely to give him short-term relief from the demands of a restive right wing of his Conservatives who have been clamoring for him to claw back powers from Brussels. But they will be back for more, with some seeking nothing short of a complete exit.

Britain, the EU's third-biggest economy, was left on its own with an overwhelming majority of countries led by Germany and France agreeing to forge ahead with a separate treaty to build closer fiscal union to preserve the euro.

"This is the moment when we have to start completely renegotiating our relationship," Conservative euroskeptic member of parliament Bernard Jenkin told Sky News. "We are going to be a satellite on the edge of what is going to be an economic superpower."

London Mayor Boris Johnson, a fellow Conservative who, like Cameron, attended the elite private school Eton College, welcomed the prime minister's performance and, using a sporting metaphor, said his leader "had played a blinder".

One EU diplomat summed up the outcome of the Brussels summit as: "Britain seethes, Germany sulks, and France gloats."

In the past, closer ties between Britain and Europe have torn apart the Conservatives in a country where protecting sovereignty can prove to be a big vote winner.

Britons pride themselves on their national identity and some have joked that the United Kingdom's sometimes blinkered relationship with Europe could be characterized by the old newspaper headline: "Heavy Fog in Channel, Continent Cut Off".

Britain never joined the 17-country single currency zone, although former Prime Minister Tony Blair declared his intention to join when the economic conditions were right. The country has long had an ambivalent attitude to European institutions after joining the then European Economic Community in 1973. Nevertheless, over 40 percent of Britain's trade is with the euro zone and about 3 million jobs depend on trade with Europe.

Conservative leaders are all too aware of painful rebellions of the past over Europe, weighing up the interests of trading as part of a bloc with the rules and regulations that go with it. Alarm bells rang for Cameron this October when some 80 of his legislators — a quarter of the total — defied him and backed calls for a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.

"He's thrown some meat to the euroskeptics who like to see the British PM wielding the veto. (But) it is going to make it harder to defend British interests," said Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank in London. "Cameron has played a bad hand poorly. He's been stung by the mounting rebellion here."

In Brussels, Germany failed in its campaign to persuade all 27 EU countries to write the tougher rules into the bloc's treaty, with just Britain and Hungary refusing to go along.

"Worried that Britain is starting to drift away from Europe in a serious way. To where? In a strong alliance with Hungary," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in a tweet on Friday. By lunchtime, even Hungary had changed its mind.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague played down London's isolation and tried to put a positive spin on the treaty clash, noting that different groups of EU nations had long worked together on various issues like defense and border controls.

"Decisions about the European single market, the thing that matters most to us for jobs and businesses in the UK, still have to be made by the 27 countries together," he told Sky News from Brussels. "We will be very vigilant about any threat to that."

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, also put on a brave face, saying that the government was united over the EU treaty and that Cameron had made reasonable demands in Brussels.

Analysts said Britain's isolation could result in core EU nations effectively taking over decision-making without London.

"You have the potential risk that this new emerging group manages to colonise the EU structures," said Mats Persson of the Open Europe think tank.
Perhaps that's best for Britain. Let the continent go its own way. The trade will still be there -- no one's going to cut that.
Regulation affecting financial services industry could now be decided by 26 rather than all 27 EU members.

Proposals such as short-selling bans and the European Central Bank's insistence that euro-denominated financial transactions are cleared within the euro zone could damage Britain's financial markets, political analysts said. Britain may still try to exercise a veto over an EU-wide financial transactions tax, since taxation policy is subject to unanimity rules, but Cameron effectively goes home with little tangible to show for his defiance.

British government bond markets were looking beyond Cameron's position and were more interested in whether the euro zone economy would stabilize. But threats to the stability of the coalition could imperil the low yields of which Britain has boasted.

Anthony O'Brien, fixed-income strategist at Morgan Stanley, said: "Europe is a major trading partner of ours and therefore any disagreement between us and Europe could be damaging for trade and therefore (mean) a slowing of the economy."
Link


Africa North
Qaddafi's son will get fair trial: Libyan PM
2011-11-20
They'll try him fair and then hang him fair...
ZINTAN, Libya: Libya's prime minister hailed the capture of Muammar Qaddafi's son on Saturday as the "crowning" of the Libyan uprising and promised a fair trial for Seif Al-Islam, who was found in the southern desert overnight.
Wonder if he was hiding in a hole...
In the first official announcement of Seif Al-Islam's capture, Abdurrahim El-Keib said he hoped it would "turn the page on the phase of revolution and will mark the beginning of the building of a state of freedom, law, justice and transparency.

"I want to assure our people and all nations of the world that Saif and those with him will be given a fair trial, with the guarantees of local and international law -- those legal processes which our own people were deprived of," he told a news conference in the Western mountain town of Zintan, where Seif Al-Islam and several bodyguards had been taken.

Seif Al-Islam, once favorite to succeed his late father, was arrested by fighters from Zintan, who make up one of Libya's most powerful militia factions. They said they would hold him until they could hand him over to the authorities.

The West urged Libya's new rulers to give Seif Al-Islam a fair trial and work with the International Criminal Court to bring him to justice, fearing he might suffer the same fate as his father, who was beaten and shot dead after his capture.
Not that there was anything wrong with that...
"It is important for future national reconciliation that those responsible for human rights violations committed both before and during the recent conflict are brought to justice," said a spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
That pre-supposes that justice will be done not just fairly but swiftly. We haven't ever seen anything 'swift' from the ICC or the various Euro courts of justice.
British Prime Minister David Cameron joined calls for a fair trial and offered Libya help in ensuring justice.

"The Libyan government has told us again today that he will receive a trial in line with international standards, and it is important that this happens," he said in a statement. "Britain will offer every assistance to the Libyan government and the International Criminal Court to bring him to face full accountability and justice for what he has done."
The Libyans don't need the ICC to be involved. They can handle this.
France, which together with Britain pushed for a military intervention in Libya last March, urged fighters who captured Seif Al-Islam to hand him over to the authorities.

"Seif Al-Islam must answer for his acts and face trial," the French foreign ministry said.

Human rights activists said a trial by the ICC would send the right message to the international community that Libya is serious about protecting rights.
Then again, having the new Libyan government try and execute him would send a message too...
"Fair prosecution at the ICC will afford Libyans a chance to see justice served in a trial that the international community stands behind," said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.
Fair prosecution by a Libyan court, delivered by Libyans, would send a better message. Note that the implicit message of all the Euros is, in the end, imperialist: the Libyans apparently aren't capable of delivering justice. The Libyans should be insulted.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt pressed for his removal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which wants to try the 39-year-old on charges of crimes against humanity during the crackdown on protests.

The court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he would visit Libya in a week to discuss the prosecution.

But many Libyans want Seif Al-Islam tried at home, believing he knows the location of billions of dollars of public money amassed by the Qaddafi family. Libya's interim justice minister said the country would try him first, for crimes that carry the death penalty.

"We are ready to prosecute Seif Al-Islam," Mohammed Al-Alagy said. "We have adopted enough legal and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him."
That ought to end it...
Alagy, who does not expect to retain his post in a new government, said he would be tried on charges of instigating others to kill, misuse of public funds and recruiting mercenaries among other crimes.

Across Libya, Said Al-Islam's capture was celebrated. Keib, the incoming prime minister, thanked Libyans for their "struggle and historic heroism" that ousted the regime and captured Seif Al-Islam.

"It is the crowning of the sacrifices of our people," he said.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
EU Officially Adopts New Sanctions against Syria
2011-06-24
[An Nahar] The European Union on Thursday announced fresh sanctions against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
's regime, adding 11 individuals and businesses to a list of Syrians already targeted.

"The Council today adopted a decision ... imposing restrictive measures on seven additional persons and introducing such measures against four entities associated with the Syrian regime, in view of the gravity of the situation," said a statement from the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

After already targeting 23 Syrians, including Assad and members of his inner circle, the new list includes three Iranians who will also be hit by an asset freeze and travel ban, diplomats said.

The three Iranians, whose named will be released along with the others on Friday, are accused of militarily aiding Syria's crackdown on dissent.

The expanded sanctions, spearheaded by La Belle France and Britannia and agreed in principle by the bloc's 27 foreign ministers this week, were adopted under a special procedure for urgent decisions and will come into force Friday when the EU Official Journal publishes the names of those on the latest list.

The Iranians face sanctions for "providing military equipment and support to help the regime suppress protests in Syria," a diplomat said.

Another EU diplomat said their inclusion sent "a clear message to the government of Iran that its provision of equipment and technical advice to help the Syrian regime quash protests is unacceptable."

Syria has reacted angrily to Europe beefing up its sanctions, with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem this week slamming the measures as "equivalent to war" and denying receiving assistance from Iran or Leb's gang Hizbullah in putting down the protests.

EU foreign ministers looked to toughening action against Syria after Assad's latest pledges of change in a public address this week failed to convince.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad should "reform or step aside."

Several European nations however have joined Washington in pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian crackdown, but Russia has warned it would veto such a move.

U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
 on Wednesday urged the Security Council to overcome divisions on the Syria crisis, saying: "I do not see much credibility (in) what he has been saying."

The U.N. leader said it would be "very helpful" for the U.N. Security Council to speak out on the Syria crisis.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt this week said it was vital for the Council "to express the outrage of the world."

"The silence of the Security Council until now can be seen as an indirect tolerance of what is going on in Syria and that is unacceptable," he said.

German counterpart Guido Westerwelle said Moscow's U.N. position "goes in the wrong direction".

More than 1,300 civilians have been killed and some 10,000 people placed in long-term storage, according to Syrian rights groups, in the crackdown that has seen troops dispatched to crush revolt in cities across the troubled country.
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International-UN-NGOs
'Secret world government' to meet in Switzerland
2011-06-09
[Emirates 24/7] The secretive Bilderberg Group of some 100 political and economic leaders, as well as aristocrats, will meet from Thursday in the chic Swiss ski station of St Moritz.

The exact location and date of the meeting has been shrouded in mystery. A front man from the Graubunden canton told AFP that it will take place at the mountain resort, but would not give details on the location, date and participants.

"We have taken special police measures to protect the personalities," he said, adding however that the army has not been mobilised, unlike during the World Economic Forum, which gathers elites in nearby Davos annually.

While few official details have emerged about the Bilderberg meetings, which have been ongoing since 1954, they have been catalogued by opponents of the group.

The president of the Young Swiss Socialists, David Roth, said that 100 participants will be meeting from Thursday over four days at the five-star Suvretta hotel.

"There is a problem as the politicians and economic representatives are meeting behind closed doors," said Roth, who is planning a protest against the event on Saturday at St Moritz.

The group is "making important decisions behind closed doors. The participants are not meeting to have coffee," but to influence world governance, he claims.

The Bilderberg meetings, including last year's event in Spain and 2009's in Athens, are usually secured by a tight police presence.

On what has been claimed as the official website -- which is impossible to verify as it gives no contact information -- the group is described as "a small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum in which different viewpoints can be expressed and mutual understanding enhanced."

"At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued," it added.

But investigative journalist David Estulin contests these claims. In his book "The Real Story of Bilderberg" he noted that the group has become "a kind of shadow world government, which decides during these annual meetings how it will implement its plans."

The group only publishes a list of participants afer a meeting is over. Last year, they included Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.

European Union commissioner on new technologies Neelie Kroes, was also present and will be back again this year, along with competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia, Brussels has confirmed.

Swiss Energy Minister Doris Leuthard will also be there, the government said Tuesday in response to a parliamentary question from Dominique Baettig, an MP from the far-right SVP.

"This meeting is in complete contradiction with the Swiss model of transparency. These leaders meet without us knowing what they are doing," Baettig said.

While he does not believe in any conspiracy theories surrounding the Bilderberg Group, he said he has been "made to understand that there is some sort of self-censorship on the subject."
Link


Arabia
Bahrain forces launch crackdown on protesters
2011-03-17
[Ennahar] Bahraini forces backed by helicopters launched a crackdown on protesters on Wednesday, imposing a curfew and clearing hundreds from a camp that had become the symbol of an uprising by the Shi'ite Mohammedan majority.

Hospital sources said three coppers and three protesters were killed in the assault that began a day after Bahrain declared martial law to quell sectarian unrest that has sucked in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbor Soddy Arabia.

A member of parliament from the largest Shi'ite Mohammedan opposition group denounced the government assault as a declaration of war on the Shi'ite community.

"This is war of annihilation. This does not happen even in wars and this is not acceptable," Abdel Jalil Khalil, the head of Wefaq's 18-member parliament bloc, said.

"I saw them fire live rounds, in front of my own eyes."

A protest called by the youth movement, which had been leading protests at the Pearl roundabout, failed to materialize after the military banned all marches and gatherings and imposed a curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. (9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EST) across a large swathe of Manama.

A Rooters witness saw Bahraini tanks move in the direction of Budaya Street, where the protest was set to take place.

The United States, a close ally of Bahrain and Soddy Arabia, has called for restraint in the island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. It sent Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman to Bahrain to push for talks to resolve the crisis.

Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites and they complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family, the al-Khalifa. Most Shi'ites want a constitutional monarchy but calls by some hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears that unrest could serve non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.

Gulf Arab ruling families are Sunni and analysts say the intervention of their forces in Bahrain might provoke a response from Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Leb.

Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad said Bahrain's crackdown was "unjustifiable and irreparable."

"Today, we witness the degree of pressure imposed on the majority of people in Bahrain," he said according to state TV.

"What has happened is bad, unjustifiable and irreparable."

CRACKDOWN ACROSS MANAMA

Helicopters flew overhead and riot police fired teargas as they advanced from about 7 a.m. on the Pearl roundabout, focal point of weeks of protests. Youths hurled petrol bombs at police near the roundabout and scattered as new rounds of teargas hit.

The area was cleared within about two hours but protesters knocked down two police in their cars as they decamped.

At Budaya health center, a visitor saw about 50 casualties.

"I've seen some terrific wounds, lots of people hurt by bird shot. One had half his head injured with that. One had his hand blown up by some kind of bullet. He was using his other hand to show the victory sign," he told Rooters, declining to give his name.

"There's less than 50 injured there but it's very small there's not enough chairs even for everyone. I went to donate blood but they couldn't even test it because of lack of equipment," he added.

A medical source said dozens were taken to Bahrain International Hospital, hit by rubber bullets or shot gun pellets or suffering tear gas inhalation, all weapons used by riot police. One was hit by a live bullet.

Wearing semi-automatic rifles and black face masks, Bahraini troops blocked off several streets including the main road to the Shi'ite area of Sitra. Tanks guarded key intersections and the entrances to some areas. Streets were deserted, shops were closed and people queued at cash machines.

"There are shots near and far. It's not only shooting in the air, it's urban warfare," said a resident who lives near the Budaya Street, adding that forces had cut off some roads leading to Bahrain's airport, on Muharraq island.

Riot police blocked access to Manama's Salmaniya hospital, where many civilian casualties had previously been treated, and witnesses said access to other health centers was also blocked.

It did not appear that Gulf Arab forces invited in by the government for support were involved in the operation.

The crackdown by Bahrain's Sunni-led government against Shi'ite protesters has galvanized Iraq's own Shi'ite community, exacerbating sectarian tension that led to years of war in Iraq.

Iraqi Shi'ite holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
 called for mass demonstrations in Storied Baghdad and Basra on Wednesday in support of mainly-Shi'ite demonstrators in Bahrain.

"This was a major and a dangerous decision because this issue has been internationalized now. There are protests in Iraq, in Iran, in Leb," said Wefaq MP Jasim Hussein.

"It has been internationalized and there was no reason when our demands were local demands and nothing to do with Soddy Arabia or the United Arab Emirates," he said.

SECTARIAN VIOLENCE

Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters erupted into the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

Unlike those countries, where the mainly Sunni populations united against the regime, Bahrain is split along sectarian lines, raising the risk of a slide into civil conflict.

The latest crackdown raised the stakes in the crisis between the country's Shi'ite majority and its dominant Sunni minority. The arrival of Saudi troops highlighted that the conflict in Bahrain was part of region-wide hostilities between Sunni Gulf Arab countries and non-Arab Shi'ite Iran.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on his blog that developments in Bahrain risked a regional conflagration.

"When the Gulf states now send military units to the small and prosperous island state, there is a very critical risk that the situation will instead be seen as part of a broader confrontation," he said.

"While there was most likely initially no Iranian interference, the opportunities for Iran to take advantage of the situation now undeniably grow."

Bahrain's stock market was closed due to the state of emergency, a day after Fitch downgraded Bahrain's sovereign ratings by two notches due to the unrest.

Bahrain 5-yr credit default swaps tightened 7 basis points to 350 basis points on Wednesday, according to Markit data.

In London, Standard Chartered and HSBC Holdings -- two of the leading foreign banks in the country -- said they have closed all their branches in Bahrain on Wednesday. Both banks said their priority was the safety of staff.

The British embassy upgraded the travel warning on its website on Wednesday as the security situation deteriorated and residents trying to flee said flights out of Bahrain were full.

The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and Britain have echoed the U.S. call for restraint and the Group of Eight powers expressed concern, though analysts said the escalation showed the limits of U.S. influence when security was threatened.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russia accuses Iran of nuclear non-cooperation
2010-02-20
Russia on Friday accused Iran of refusing to cooperate with the UN nuclear agency, demanding "clear explanations" from the country on its nuclear program.

"We are very alarmed and we cannot accept this, that Iran is refusing to cooperate with the (International Atomic Energy Agency) IAEA," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"For about 20 years, the Iranian leadership carried out its clandestine nuclear program without reporting it to the IAEA," he said. "I do not understand why there was such secrecy."

The remarks came after a report by the IAEA on Thursday confirmed that Iran is enriching uranium to the 20-percent level, required for fuel used in the medical research reactor in Tehran.

According to Reuters, the IAEA also made public a classified analysis, which claimed Iran has explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon.

"Some questions remain on the table and Iran has so far not reacted to them but they are rather serious and we need to understand how several documents concerning military nuclear technology found their way to Iran," Lavrov said. "Clear explanations are needed."

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Friday moved to refute the allegations, declaring that Iran neither believes in atomic bombs nor seeking to develop such weapons.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says its nuclear program is directed at the civilian applications of the technology. The West, however, accuses the country of conducting a covert military nuclear program.

The US-led campaign for fresh sanctions against the country over its nuclear program and the delays over a nuclear fuel-swap deal between Tehran and the West appeared to be gaining more support in Europe with Germany, France and Sweden expressing concerns over the IAEA claim.

Berlin threatened Tehran with new sanctions if it refuses to increase its cooperation with the UN body.

"I don't want to set any deadline, but make it clear that the patience of the international community is not unlimited," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was quoted by DPA.

France urged world powers to act with "determination" against Tehran following the IAEA report.

"This report confirms precisely the very serious concerns of the international community," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero was quoted by AFP.

However, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said the report was a verification of the non-diversion of the nuclear material in the country.

Iran says it conducts its program under the supervision of IAEA inspectors and in line with its obligations under the NPT.

Sweden, meanwhile, urged Iran to adhere to the previous UN Security Council resolutions against the country and abandon its enrichment program. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said it was "difficult to know" whether Iran was operating a weapons program.

"They have an enrichment program that is not in accordance with decisions made by the United Nations Security Council," Bildt said.

Under the NPT, Iran says, it is entitled to enrich uranium to any level for civilian purposes, including providing the research reactor with fuel and feeding its under-construction nuclear power plants.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
New Iran clashes as govt threatens "no mercy"
2009-12-09
[Al Arabiya Latest] Protesters clashed with supporters of the Iranian regime for a second straight day Tuesday even as the chief prosecutor threatened to try the main opposition leader and vigilantes briefly besieged his office.

The new crackdown on the opposition to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drew strong criticism from Western governments already angered by Iran's rejection of a U.N.-brokered deal aimed at allaying concerns over its nuclear ambitions.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi clashed at the prestigious Tehran University with backers of the Iranian government, official media said.

"Rioters wearing green wristbands" gathered from early in the day in front of the university's engineering college to protest against Monday's crackdown by authorities on people protesting against Ahmadinejad's hotly disputed June re-election, the state news agency IRNA said.

A confrontation ensued between the protesters and what the news agency described as pro-government students, resulting in the "breaking of glass and firing of tear gas," IRNA said.

It added that there had also been stone-throwing by supporters of Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's leading challenger in the June vote, who chose green as the signature color for his campaign and who has yet to accept the official result.

On Monday, anti-Ahmadinejad protesters used an annual Students Day ceremony on and around Tehran campuses to stage new demonstrations against his controversial second term.

Tehran police chief Azizollah Rajabzadeh said 204 demonstrators -- 165 men and 39 women -- were arrested in those protests for "disrupting public order."

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi said 86 were later released "after they expressed remorse," news agencies reported.

Iran's chief prosecutor warned Tehran provincial authorities that he expected opposition leaders to face the full force of the law if they encouraged further protests.

"From now on, we will show no mercy toward anyone who acts against national security. They will be confronted firmly," said prosecutor Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, according to the official IRNA news agency.

And Tehran governor Morteza Tamaddon directly blamed Mousavi for the unrest since Monday.

"The statement Mousavi issued on Dec. 6 triggered the riots and moves that pleased the enemy on Dec. 7," he told IRNA.

On Sunday, Mousavi posted a statement on his website challenging regime officials ahead of the Students Day commemoration.

Meanwhile, dozens of people on motorcycles briefly surrounded Mousavi's office and prevented him from stepping out for several hours, witnesses and his Kaleme.com website reported.

Mousavi's wife attacked
All the entrances of the Academy of Fine Arts, located in central Tehran and which Mousavi heads, were surrounded by motorcyclists, a source working inside the building told AFP.

A group of vigilantes also attacked Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who is a professor at Tehran University, during Monday's Student Day protests, another opposition website reported.

Rahnavard was hurt in the eyes and lungs, the Mowjcamp.com website added.

France strongly condemned "unacceptable" violence by Iranian authorities against opposition protesters.

"We remind the Iranian authorities that they are responsible for the safety of all Iranians, including opposition representatives," a French foreign ministry spokesman told reporters.

International reactions
E.U. foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were set to voice their "deep concern" at they regard as persistent human rights violations by Iran.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters that the "violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations" had led E.U. nations to "significantly strengthen the language" used in their draft statement.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Iran to respect the right to protest, saying it was a "fundamental freedom."

The unrest, now in its sixth month, has cut a rift through the Islamic regime, sparking its worst crisis since the 1979 revolution.

Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami warned that the regime was following a "dangerous" path in its dealings with critics, his website reported on Tuesday.

"The current situation is not a war between reformists and conservatives. Many conservatives are unhappy too and the wise ones among them face elimination."
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel okays 900 units in occupied Jerusalem
2009-11-18
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel approved the construction of 900 new housing units in the occupied east Jerusalem on Tuesday in defiance of calls by the United States to freeze the project as the Palestinian leadership said it was headed to the United Nations to gain state recognition.

Earlier today press reported that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant on building illegal settlements in the occupied land in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians hope to make the capital of a future state.

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell had recently asked the hawkish premier to halt the project in Gilo, saying it risks raising tensions with Palestinians amid floundering efforts by Washington to restart peace negotiations, it said.

" I would hope that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state but there has to be one first, so I think it is somewhat premature "
Swedish FM
But Netanyahu refused, saying that the project did not require government approval and that Gilo was "an integral part of Jerusalem," it said.

Asked to comment on the report, a senior Israeli official would say only that Netanyahu "is ready to show the maximum restraint when it comes to construction in Judeaea and Samaria (West Bank) to help restart (peace) negotiations, but this policy does not apply in Jerusalem, our capital."

No comment was immediately available from the U.S. side.

Gilo lies in the mostly Arab east Jerusalem that Israel captured along with the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in an illegal move not recognized by the international community.

Israel is defiant and promotes the idea that both halves of the Holy City are its "eternal, indivisible" capital. The Palestinians want to make the eastern part of the city the capital of their promised state.

Also on Tuesday the European Union's Swedish presidency said that it was "premature" to recognize a Palestinian state, which the Palestinians are taking as their next step due to repeated stalled peace talks.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, told reporters in Brussels: "I don't think we are there yet."

"I would hope that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state but there has to be one first, so I think it is somewhat premature," he said, before chairing talks with his EU counterparts.

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Europe
Sweden rules Israel organ theft claim not racist
2009-09-21
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Swedish newspaper report alleging that Israeli soldiers stole and sold body parts of dead Palestinians did not constitute inciting racism, judicial authorities have ruled, news agency TT reported Saturday.



Two written requests had been submitted to the Swedish Chancellor of Justice to probe whether the report in the Aftonbladet tabloid last month amounted to inciting racial hatred and violated freedom of expression laws.

TT said the Chancellor of Justice had decided not to open a preliminary investigation into the case that sparked a row between Sweden and Israel. The chancellor, who was unavailable for comment on Saturday, is a government-appointed official who acts as an independent judicial watchdog and is the only prosecutor in Sweden who can take legal action in cases concerning freedom of speech.

Aftonbladet alleged in a story in August that Israeli soldiers had been involved in the illegal trafficking of human organs. The claims sparked outrage in Israel and prompted senior figures in the Israeli government to demand that Sweden condemn the report.

Israel had demanded Sweden condemn the article it labeled an anti-Semitic "blood libel." But Stockholm rebuffed the calls, saying that doing so would violate the country's tradition of freedom of speech.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt abruptly cancelled a trip to Israel early in September allegedly after reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had considered refusing to meet with him.
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