MIDDLE EAST BULLETIN - ORSAM EAST BULLETIN GÜNLÜK ORTADOĞU ÜLTENİ 12 DECEMBER / ARALIK 2011 NO:...
Transcript of MIDDLE EAST BULLETIN - ORSAM EAST BULLETIN GÜNLÜK ORTADOĞU ÜLTENİ 12 DECEMBER / ARALIK 2011 NO:...
Sayfa 1
MIDDLE EAST BULLETIN GÜNLÜK ORTADOĞU BÜLTENİ 12 DECEMBER / ARALIK 2011
NO: 1281 1. IRAQ / IRAK ......................................... 3
Four Iraqi journalists win four Arab and International prizes for best 2011 investigative reports3
Buchanan: US committed to withdrawal timeline from Iraq .......................................................4
Sadrists invite everyone to honor conference .............................................................................4
KIU boycott raises political tensions ............................................................................................5
Radars, not Saudis, no protect Iraqi airspace ...............................................................................6
Dhafir al-Ani urges Maliki to comply with the demand of UN, international community to repeal deadline set to close Ashraf Camp ............................................................................................7
Call for reviewing illegal practices in Iraq, Hashimi ......................................................................8
Iraqi Parliament discusses nomination for Presidency post law ..................................................9
Anlaşmanın Tek Bir Maddesi Bıle Yerine Yetirilmedi ...................................................................9
Neçirvan Barzani’n Kürdista Halkına Mesajı .................................................................................9
NATO will not extend its training mission in Iraq: Fayadh says................................................. 11
1st Kurdistan Region- France Economic Form kicks off in Paris ................................................ 11 2. IRAN / İRAN ....................................... 12
Islamic Jihad Leader: UN Resolutions to Exacerbate Israel's Isolation ...................................... 12
Iran Asks S. Arabia, Kuwait to Respect OPEC Quotas ................................................................ 13
General Selami: İran, radara yakalanmadan uçabilen uçak yapabiliyor! .................................. 14
İran, RQ-170 bilgilerini çözecek teknolojiye sahip ..................................................................... 15
Salihi: Amerikan uçağının ihlali İİT ve Bağlantısızlar Hareketine yansıtılacak ........................... 16
İran’ın Washington mahkemesinin kararına tepkisi .................................................................. 16
İran-Suriye karma ekonomi komisyonu toplantısı Şam’da yapılacak ........................................ 17 3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE / İSRAİL – FİLİSTİN 17
Israel approves more settler homes near West Bank town of Bethlehem: report ................... 17
Hamas in Gaza says it’s learning from Arab Spring ................................................................... 20
Israel calls for ‘paralyzing’ sanctions on Iran to contain nuclear weapons strength ................ 23
Israel moves to curb African migrants....................................................................................... 24
'Rocket fired at Israel lands in south Lebanon' ......................................................................... 26 4. AFRICA and EGYPT / AFRİKA ve MISIR . 26
U.S., Libyan weapons specialists dispose of country’s weapons .............................................. 26
Egypt Islamists reject army interference in constitution as advisory council convenes ........... 28
Egypt army affirms parliament role over constitution .............................................................. 31
NTC representative describes road ahead ................................................................................ 32
Tunisia debates interim constitution ........................................................................................ 34 5. JORDAN and LEBANON / ÜRDÜN ........ 36
Jumblatt advises Hezbollah to distance itself from Syria .......................................................... 36
Rocket fired from and landed in south Lebanon ....................................................................... 38
Syrians in Jordan attack their Embassy in Amman .................................................................... 39
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6. SYRIA / SURİYE ................................... 39
Syrian troops battle defectors as protest strike shuts businesses in several cities .................. 39
Syrians hold strikes amid battles in south ................................................................................. 42
Defectors fight loyalist forces in southern Syria ....................................................................... 44
Government Completes measures for Local Administration Elections due on Monday .......... 45
Seferberlik İlan Edilsin… Sözde İstanbul Meclisi Haindir… ........................................................ 47 7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA / ARAP YARIMADASI VE BASRA KÖRFEZİ 48
Egypt has good chances of joining GCC as a member state: official ......................................... 48
Yemen transition government starts work ............................................................................... 50
Bahrain security forces break up Shiite demo........................................................................... 51
Pro-govt Bahrain marchers target opposition group HQ .......................................................... 52 8. AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN / AFGANİSTAN - PAKİSTAN 54
Karzai: Death Toll in Attacks on Afghan Shi’ites Rises to 80 ..................................................... 54
Afghan president vows to fight corruption ............................................................................... 55
Berlin plans Afghanistan troop pull-out .................................................................................... 57
Two US-led troops killed in Afghan war .................................................................................... 57
Pakistan: US Military Vacates Pakistani Air Base by Deadline .................................................. 58
Sayfa 3
1. IRAQ / IRAK
Four Iraqi journalists win four Arab and International prizes for best 2011 investigative reports
The General Supervisor of Iraqi Reporters
for Investigative Journalism (IRIJ)
Mohammad Al Rabii announced, on
Friday, that four Iraqi journalists and
members of IRIJ received four Arab and
International prizes for best 2011
investigative reports. Financial awards of 2
million to 3 million Dinars will be granted
soon to reporters to carry out profound
investigative reports for the network,
Rabii declared.
“Reporter Dlovan Barwari member of IRIJ
won, on Thursday in Belgian Capital
Brussels, the International Lorenzo Natali
Prize for Journalism for his article entitled
female genital mutilation in Kurdistan,”
Mohammad Al Rabii told Alsumarianews.
“Reporters Milad Al Jabouri, Saman Nouh
and Mouafak Mohammad also won first
and second prizes of Arab Spring Contest
for best 2011 investigative reports in Arab
World,” Rabii added. “12 Arab countries
participated in the contest that took place
on the sidelines of IRIJ Network Congress
in Jordanian Capital Amman,” he
explained.
“Iraqi Journalist Milad Al Jabouri won the
first prize in IRIJ Contest for best 2011
Arabic investigation for its report entitled
Poor law and governmental inability
forces homeless people to engage in
violence, delinquency and crime that was
accomplished in cooperation with IRIJ,”
Rabii advanced.
“Journalists Saman Nouh and Mouafak
Mohammad won the second prize for
their report entitled Kurdistan women
Holocaust eats up a new girl every 20
hours, after the inability of authorities to
stop it also performed in cooperation with
IRIJ,” Rabii indicated.
Iraq’s winning of Lorenzo Natali Prize as
well as first and second prizes for best
investigative reports in Arab world for
2011 occurred 1 year after receiving first
and second prizes for best investigative
reports for 2011 for female genital
mutilation in Kurdistan of Dlovan Barwari
and Recruitment of children by armed
groups of Milad Al Jabouri.
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http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-
71572-Four-Iraqi-journalists-win-four-
Arab-and-International-prizes-for-best-
2011-investigative-reports.html
Buchanan: US committed to withdrawal timeline from Iraq
The US military in Iraq announced, on
Friday, that the US government is
committed to complete withdrawal from
Iraq according to the set timeline and
indicated that 170 000 soldiers left Iraq
with 7500 remaining.
“The US is committed to complete
withdrawal from Iraq according to the
defined schedule,” US army spokesman
General Jeffrey Buchanan told a statement
to the media including Alsumarianews.
“There are 7500 US soldiers remaining in
Iraq,” Buchanan added noting that “these
remaining forces are divided over 5 US
bases that counted 505 before the
beginning of withdrawal.”
“The US withdrew millions of military
equipments outside Iraqi territories,”
Buchanan revealed. “We count on Iraqi
security forces to protect our embassy just
like any other country would act within its
territories,” he indicated, a source told
Alsumaria.
“Iraqi forces has the expertise and has
done a very good job lately,” Buchanan
advanced.
US President Barack Obama had assured
on October 21 that US troops in Iraq will
be home during end of year’s holidays.
Washington will support Iraq in all fields,
he stressed. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al
Maliki, for his part, stressed the necessity
to begin a new stage of strategic relations
after US withdrawal by the end of 2011.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-
71543-Buchanan%3A-US-committed-to-
withdrawal-timeline-from-Iraq.html
Sadrists invite everyone to honor conference
BAGHDAD, Dec. 12 (AKnews) - The Sadrist
Movement, named after its leader radical
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, seeks to
organize a "national conference".
Bah al-Aaaraji, head of the Ahrar Bloc, a
faction of the Sadrist Movement, said at a
press conference at the House of
Representatives that his party is almost
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done with the invitations of "all the
parties".
"Political personalities, chieftains, and
even those who did not participate in the
political process -- such as sportsmen and
intellectuals -- are invited to attend the
national conference," Aaaraji said.
The topic of the conference is supposed to
be "honor", but obviously it is just a main
topic for an underlying range of issues.
Aaaraji said, "Honor compels everyone to
protect civil peace, coexistence and
cooperation in overcoming the issues after
the U.S. withdrawal."
The participants of the conference are
expected to sign some kind of a "charter
of honor". Yesterday, Sadr himself called
on the parties to sign the charter.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/27
7681/
KIU boycott raises political tensions
ERBIL, Dec. 11 (AKNews) – Tensions
between the Kurdistan Islamic Union party
who accuses the ruling Kurdistan
Democratic Party of torching its offices in
Duhok Governorate earlier this month
may further escalate further after the
Islamic party boycotted a meeting with
the ruling party because KDP detained KIU
members when the unrest began.
Brokered by Ali Bapir, leader of the
Kurdistan Islamic Group, the meeting on
Sunday at 10 am was called off after KDP
negotiators waited for an hour but the KIU
refused to show up. The KDP is said to be
surprised that the KIU set the release of its
detained members on charges of
encouraging or taking part in the arson in
Duhok Governorate last week as a
precondition for talks.
Present at the KIG leader’s office, where
the meeting was supposed to be held,
AKnews can report the KDP delegation
was formed of senior officials including
Fadhil Mirani, KDP politburo secretary and
Masrour Barzani, son of Massoud Barzani,
the president of Kurdistan Region and
leader of the KDP.
KIU claims that dozens of its members and
supporters were detained in the period
following the arson in Duhok some of
whom were released. According to KIU
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officials, 17 of their members are still in
detention.
KDP-KIU tensions started in February
when the KIU joined protests in
Sulaimaniyah that first called for political
reforms, improved living conditions and
an end to corruption. The demands of the
protests were later hightened to calls for
fulll reform.
The second phase of the tensions started
on Dec. 2 when a mob in Zakho torched
liquor stores and massage parlours. The
mob were allegedly encouraged by a cleric
during the Friday sermon. Immediately
the KIU was accused of having links with
the attacks – KIU rejected such claims.
Following the attacks, alleged KDP
supporters attacked KIU offices in Zakho,
Duhok city, Semel and Qarok and torched
them. KIU accused the KDP of being
behind the attacks.
It is the second time in six years that the
KIU offices are attacked and torched in
Duhok – a Governorate known to be a KDP
domain. Four senior KIU members were
also killed in the 2005 attacks.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/27
7581/
Radars, not Saudis, no protect Iraqi airspace
BAGHDAD, Dec. 11 (AKnews) - In the
ongoing debate whether or not Iraq is able
to protect its airspace after the
withdrawal of U.S. forces, government
adviser Hamid Abdul Hussein announced
that Iraq began the construction of two
radars to protect the Iraqi border.
The construction will allegedly be finished
by April 2012. After that, the government
hopes that Iraqi military can monitor and
protect 60 percent of Iraqi airspace.
"We don't need protection from the U.S.
or neighboring Gulf states for the Iraqi
airspace because we are developing our
defense system," Hussein said.
Although it is easy to understand that a
radar system can help monitoring the
country's airspace, the second part -- the
protection -- has to be done by aircrafts or
anti air-craft weapons. Hussein did not
mention if the government is construction
these tools as well.
Sayfa 7
The question if Iraq can protect its
airspace has been going on for weeks. On
Thursday, the Security and Defense
Committee in the House of
Representatives suggested that Iraq
should ask Arab countries to protect Iraqi
airspace after the U.S. withdrawal.
The head of the Presidential Office,
Naseer al-Ani, had announced on Monday
that such a deal had been signed with
Saudi Arabia. This announcement was
denied by the Saudi government.
Now, the Iraqi government also denied
any intention to conclude an agreement
with Gulf countries about this issue.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Commander
General of the Armed Forces claimed that
Iraq needs another 360 days to develop its
air defense. The Office's spokesman
Qassim Atta said during a conference
Baghdad that the Iraqi government is
working with the military on a plan to
develop its air defense and supply it with
improved military equipment.
However, Hamed al-Maliki, the Iraqi
Army’s Aviation Commander, said Iraq is
already able to protect its airspace. “The
Iraqi Army Air Force has been, since its
establishment in early 2010, able to
protect the Iraqi airspace and to develop
its abilities…If this ability was not present,
the Iraqi government would not have
signed the deal on the U.S. forces
withdrawal.”
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/27
7574/
Dhafir al-Ani urges Maliki to comply with the demand of UN, international community to repeal deadline set to close Ashraf Camp
Baghdad (NINA) – Iraqiya official and
Secretary General of National Future
Gathering, Dr. Dhafir al-Ani, urged Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki to review his
convictions concerning the closing of
Ashraf Camp by the end of this year.
Sayfa 8
In a statement to the press on Saturday,
Dec. 10, Ani expressed hope that Maliki
will respond to the international
community’s call, mainly the UN’s
Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and the
Head of UNAMI, Martin Kobler, as well as
the European Union's High Representative
of the Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, and
change his stance during his upcoming
visit to Washington.
Ani added, “It is not appropriate for the
Prime Minister to put Iraq against the
international community at such critical
time, when it is badly in need of the
international community’s help. He must
reflect Iraq as a civilized country that
respects its agreements, human right and
refugees’ rights, his decision to repeal the
dead line is a positive sign that his visit to
Washington is successful.”
He went on saying, “Maliki must not put
Iraq in a losing and unjustified battle
against the world who look with
admiration and respect to Mujahedin-e
Khalq Organization considering it an
organization that battles tyrannical
authority in Tehran, and it is not
appropriate for the Prime Minister to
show that Iraq as a small village belongs to
Iran.”
http://www.ninanews.com/english/News
_Details.asp?ar95_VQ=FJFGLK
Call for reviewing illegal practices in Iraq, Hashimi
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Vice-President
Tariq al-Hashimi called to courageous
review of illegal practices against people's
freedom, according to a statement issued
by his office today.
The statement, copy received by Aswat al-
Iraq, confirmed the need to protect
people's dignity and freedom guaranteed
by the constitution.
It reminded the 63 Anniversary of Human
Rights Declaration and called all
governmental departments to fully abide
by the terms of this declaration.
"UN reports on human rights in Iraq
devastated its international reputation", it
added.
http://ku.aswataliraq.info/%28S%28k3l24r
uqyzlm5245mhhc5555%29%29/Default1.a
spx?page=article_page&id=132624&l=1
Sayfa 9
Iraqi Parliament discusses nomination for Presidency post law
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Parliamentary
discussions for the Presidency post law
and his deputies, according to Parliament
media sources.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the
session was attended by 210 members.
Different law readings were made today
http://ku.aswataliraq.info/%28S%28k3l24r
uqyzlm5245mhhc5555%29%29/Default1.a
spx?page=article_page&id=132623&l=1
Anlaşmanın Tek Bir Maddesi Bıle Yerine Yetirilmedi
Koalisyonu parlamenteri, Kürdistan
Koalisyonu ile Ulusal İtifak arasında
imzanalan anlaşmanın tek bir maddesinin
bile yerine getirilmediğini açıkladı.
Kürdistan Koalisyonu üyesi Irak
Parlamenteri Said Resul PNA’ya “ Irak
seçimleri sorası yaşanan kriz sonrası
Krüdistan Bölgesi Başakanı’nın çizdiği yol
haritası çerçevesinde Hewler de yapılan
toplantıda 19 maddeyi içeren bir anlaşma
imzalandı” dedi.
Maddelerden kaçının yerine getirildiği
üzerine Resul “ bir çok kişi bu anlaşmanın
içeriğini ve önemi bilmiyor. Şuana kadar
hiç bir madde yerine getirilmedi” açıkladı.
Bu anlaşmadan yer alan bir maddeye göre,
anlaşmaya imza atan taraflardan hagisi,
anlaşmaya uymazsa direk olarak kendi
rızası ile hükümetten çekilmiş
sayaılacaktır.
http://www.peyamner.com/Turkish/PNAn
ews.aspx?nID=258766
Neçirvan Barzani’n Kürdista Halkına Mesajı
Haber Merkezi/8-Dec-11(PNA)- PDK
Başkan Yardımcısı Neçirvan Barzani,
Facebook’ta ki resmi sayfasından
yayınladığı mesajında, dini, siyasi, kültürel,
Sayfa 10
toplumsal, sınıfsal ve düşünsel farklılıkların
şiddet zeminine çekilmesinin yanlış
olduğunu ve bunun kabul edilemeyeceğini
belirtti.
PDK Başkan Yardımcısı Neçirvan Barzani,
birkaç gün önce Zaho da otel, masaj
salonları ve içki satış noktalarına yapılan
saldırılarla başlayan ve yayılan olaylarla
ilgili olarak dün kendisine ait olan
Facebook sayfasından Kürdistan halkına
seslendi
Mesajın da Barzani “ maalesef bir kez daha
şiddet olayları tüm yasaları çiğneyerek
Kürdistan bölgesini sarmaya çalıştı. Birkaç
kişi dini gerçeklikten uzak bir bahaneyle
bazı yerlere saldırıp, Kürdistan’ı
karıştırmak istiyorlar. Bizler her zaman
birlikte yaşasam ve hoşgörü kültürümüzle
övünürüz bu nedenle bu garip bir olaydır.
Bizler Kürdistan Bölgesin de iktidar
hükümet ortağı olarak sürekli, asayiş ve
istikrarı sağlamaya çalışıyor ve bu dış
tehlikelerden korumaya çalışıyoruz.”dedi
Bölge’de ki gelişmelere dikkat çeken ve
bunun diğer parçalarda ki
Kürdlerin kendi haklarına kavuşmasına bir
kapı araladığını beliten Barzani “ bölgede
yeni ve büyük gelişmeler vuku buluyor. Ve
bu bağlamda diğer parçalarda ki Kürdlerin
de kendi haklarına kavuşması bekleniyor.
Bu nedenle bu hassas dönemde iç
karşıtlıklara neden olacak davranışlardan
uzak durmak halkımızın ulusal çıkarlarına
hizmet etmektir. Bu da birlik ve beraberliği
korumakla sağlanır” dedi.
Barzani, Irak’ın içinde bulunduğu
durumun herkes için açık olduğunu ve
bunun tek nedeninin birbirini
kabullenememe olduğunu ve Kürdistan
bölgesi’nin de bu taraz istenmeyen bir
yola sokulmak istenmesine izin
verilmeyeceğini belirtti.
İktidara ve muhalefete seslenen Barzani,
iktidar ve muhalefetin diyalog yoluyla her
şeyi birlikte konuşarak ve siyasi ayrılıklarını
halkın birliğini olumsuz etkileyecek
noktaya taşımadan, el ele verildiğinde
çözülemeyecek bir sorun olduğuna
inanmadığını dile getiriyor.
Mesajının sonunda Barzani, Kürdistan
bölgesi vatandaşları, partiler sivil, toplum
kuruluşları, basın kuruluşları ile toplumun
kanaat önderlerinin ulusal ve tarihi
sorumluluk bilinci ile hareket etmelerini
umut ettiğini ve yasaların egemenliğine
Sayfa 11
olan güvenin yitirilmesine neden olacak
davranışlardan uzak durmalarını ve
alınacak her kararın halkın çıkarlarına ve
yasalara uygun olması temennisinde
bulunuyor.
http://www.peyamner.com/Turkish/PNAn
ews.aspx?nID=258702
NATO will not extend its training mission in Iraq: Fayadh says
Iraqi National Security Adviser Falah al-
Fayadh , in a press statement , said that
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or
NATO recommended , 3 days ago, to
withdraw its training mission from Iraq
after the Iraqi government refusal to grant
immunity to its soldiers.
We respect the NATO decision , I hope to
establish cooperation with the NATO
within other frameworks, not only
through its mission in Iraq, al-Fayadh
added.
http://www.pukmedia.com/english/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&i
d=10829:nato-will-not-extend-its-training-
mission-in-iraq-fayadh-
says&catid=25:iraq&Itemid=386
1st Kurdistan Region- France Economic Form kicks off in Paris
The First Economic Forum between
Kurdistan Region and France kicked off
Monday , in Paris , with the presence of
Dr. Barham Ahmed Salih Prime Minister of
Kurdistan Regional Government , KRG
minister of interior, trade, industry, higher
education , head of KRG investment body
, a number of Kurdish businessmen as
well as representatives of key French
companies.
The Forum which will last for 2 days , will
discuss ways to enhance economic ties
and promote horizons of joint cooperation
between France, Kurdistan Region and
Iraq.
KRG Representative in France Khaman
Zarar Asaad , said that the Forum aims at
encouraging the French companies to
contribute in construction process in
Sayfa 12
Kurdistan Region and consolidate the
economic cooperation.
http://www.pukmedia.com/english/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&i
d=10828:1st-kurdistan-region-france-
economic-form-kicks-off-in-
paris&catid=29:kurdistan-
region&Itemid=385
2. IRAN / İRAN
Islamic Jihad Leader: UN Resolutions to Exacerbate Israel's Isolation
TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior leader of the
Islamic Jihad movement said that the
recent approval of 9 resolutions against
Israel on one day at the UN General
Assembly will exacerbate the regime's
isolation in the world.
"The approval of 9 resolutions against the
Zionist regime at the UN General
Assembly will increase the regime's
isolation at the international level," Sheikh
Nafiz Izam told FNA in Gaza on Monday.
He reiterated that Israel is already isolated
in the world and there are merely a few
countries which support it at the UN
General Assembly.
He called for the implementation of the
resolutions approved against Israel at the
UN, and said the US which has dominated
the world body is attempting to prevent
the implementation of the resolutions.
The UN General Assembly by approving
nine anti-Zionist regime resolutions on
Friday condemned the various types of
crimes committed by the regime against
the Palestinians, including different
instances of human rights violations.
The resolutions were passed by the
General Assembly after the
recommendation of the Special Political
and Decolonization Committee. Several of
the resolutions were passed almost
unanimously, with only Israel voting
against them.
Among these were a resolution that called
for an accelerated return of displaced
Sayfa 13
persons who became refugees in 1967,
and called on donor countries to assist the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in
meeting the needs of the Palestinian
refugees. This resolution was passed by a
vote of 160 in favor to 1 opposed (Israel),
with 9 abstentions.
Another resolution urged Israel to
reimburse UNRWA for all transit charges
incurred and other financial losses
sustained as a result of delays and
restrictions on movement and access, and
to cease obstructing the movement and
access of the staff, vehicles and supplies of
the Agency. That resolution passed with a
vote of 163 in favor to 7 against (Israel,
Canada, Federated States of Micronesia,
Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, the United
States), with 2 abstentions (Cameroon,
Vanuatu).
Of the other Israel-Palestine related
resolutions passed by the United Nations
General Assembly on Friday, five were
part of the report from the Special
Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices
Affecting the Human Rights of the
Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the
Occupied Territories, and related to
Israel's practices and obligations as an
Occupying Power under the Fourth
Geneva Convention.
Since 1947, the United Nations has passed
hundreds of resolutions on the Israeli-
Palestinian issue, all of which have been
voted against by the Israeli UN delegate.
These resolutions have repeatedly called
on Israel to adhere to its obligations under
international law and the Fourth Geneva
Convention. But the UN General Assembly
has no enforcement capability to ensure
that its resolutions are carried out.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.ph
p?nn=9007277037
Iran Asks S. Arabia, Kuwait to Respect OPEC Quotas
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Oil Minister
Rostam Qassemi renewed calls for OPEC
members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to ease
back their above-quota production as
Libyan oil flows back into the market.
"Today, supply and demand in the market
is balanced and Iran's policy is to keep
OPEC member states from raising
production," Qassemi said on the oil
Sayfa 14
ministry's website ahead of a meeting by
the cartel on Wednesday.
Iran also wishes to see an "end (to) some
countries' extra production which started
when Libya exited the market," he said.
Qassemi did not name the countries, but
the remarks were clearly aimed at Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait.
The two Persian Gulf states boosted
production after Libya ceased exports
during the anti-Qaddafi revolution this
year.
"Libya's production will reach 1.5 million
barrels a day in less than a year, and Iraq
is also seeing a rise in production,"
Qassemi said.
Libyan production topped 600,000 barrels
a day in November, according to the
International Energy Agency (IEA).
OPEC, of which Iran currently holds the
rotating presidency, is expected to
maintain its quota system during this
week's ministerial meeting in Vienna,
analysts say.
The oil cartel is currently injecting 30
million barrels per day (bpd) into the
market, including the output from Iraq,
which is exempt from quotas as it
struggles to rebuild after years of conflict.
Excluding Iraq, the cartel is pumping
almost 10 percent above its aggregate
quota limit.
Saudi Arabia -- OPEC's biggest producer --
was pumping 9.45 million bpd in October,
well above its quota of 8.05 million,
according to the IEA.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.ph
p?nn=9007277035
General Selami: İran, radara yakalanmadan uçabilen uçak yapabiliyor!
FHA- İran Sipahiler Ordusu Genel Komutan
Vekili “İran dünyada, insansız uçak
teknolojisine sahip 2. ülke. Bizim onlarca
saat radara yakalanmadan uçabilen
insansız uçaklarımız var” dedi.
Sayfa 15
FHA- İslam İnkılabı Muhafızları (Sipahiler)
Ordusu Genel Komutan Vekili General
Hüseyin Selami, ülkemiz Silahlı
Kuvvetlerinin en son Amerikan insansız
gelişmiş casusluk uçağınının kontrolünü
nasıl ele geçirdikleri hakkında muhabirlere
bilgi verirken, ülkemizin insansız uçak
yapma teknolojisine sahip dünyanın sayılı
ülkelerinden biri olduğunu belirterek “İran
bugün insansız uçakların yönetim, kontrol,
scan ve araştırmalarıyla ilgili en modern
sistemlere sahip” dedi.
General Selami ayrıca, radara
yakalanmayan uçak teknolojisinin artık
İran’da yerel bir şey olduğunu ifade
ederek “Gerçek şu ki, ülkemiz bugün
insansız uçak teknolojisine sahip olma
açısından dünyada 2. sırada yer alıyor”
dedi.
General Selami açıklamalarının devamında
“Bizim bugün radara yakalanmayan yerel
teknolojiye sahip ve en dakik sistemlerle
test edilmiş olan öyle uçaklarımız var ki
bunlar onlarca saat uçuş yapabiliyorlar”
ifadesini kullandı.
http://turkish.farsnews.com/newstext.asp
x?nn=9007276931
İran, RQ-170 bilgilerini çözecek teknolojiye sahip
FHA- İslami Şura Meclisi Milli Güvenlik ve
Dış Politika Komisyonu üyesi Hüseyin
Tagavi, İran’ın sahip olduğu ileri teknoloji
ile Amerika’nın insansız casusluk uçağının
taşdığı belge ve bilgileri çözebileceğini
vurguladı.
FHA- İran’ın CIA için görev yapan
Amerika’nın insansız casusluk uçağının
kontrolünü ele alması hakkında
muhabirimize konuşan Tagavi, bu tür
uçakların uzaktan kumanda edildiğini,
kumanda teknolojisine sahip olan ülkeler
casusluk uçaklarının kontrolünü ele
geçirerek istedikleri yöne doğru
yönlendirebildiğini kaydetti.
Sayfa 16
İran’ın bu zaferinin, hava savunma
sistemindeki ileri teknolojisini yansıttığını
kaydeden Tagavi, İran sahip olduğu ileri
teknoloji ile Amerika’nın insansız casusluk
uçağının taşdığı belge ve bilgileri
çözebileceğini vurguladı.
Tagavi, şifrelerin çözülmesi ile birlikte
İran’ın önemli bilgilere ulaşacağını
sözlerine ekledi.
http://turkish.farsnews.com/newstext.asp
x?nn=9007276907
Salihi: Amerikan uçağının ihlali İİT ve Bağlantısızlar Hareketine yansıtılacak
İran İslam Cumhuriyeti Dışişleri Bakanı Ali
Ekber Salihi, Amerikan insansız uçağının
İran hava sahasını ihlal etmesi ile ilgili
şikayeti BM’ye gönderdiklerini ve bu
konunun İİT ve Bağlantısızlar Hareketine
de yansıtılacağını belirtti.
Namibya mevkidaşı ile ortaklaşa
düzenlediği basın toplantısında konuşan
Salihi, “Amerikalıların bu girişimi saldırgan
bir girişimdir. İran bu konuyla ilgili olarak
diğer kuruluşların koordinasyonuyla
uluslar arası konvansiyonlar çerçevesinde
tüm yasal haklarını kullanacak. Dışişleri
Bakanlığı BM Genel Sekreterine gönderdiği
mektupta gerekli şikayeti yaptı ve ayrıca
bu konuyu İslam İş Birliği Teşkilatı,
Bağlantısızlar Hareketi ve diğer uluslar
arası kuruluşlara da iletecek.
Amerikalıların niyetini her zaman biliyoruz
ve onlar, hiçbir zaman İran milletinin
iyiliğini düşünmediğini de gösterdiler”
dedi.
Salihi “her zaman tam teyakkuz halinde
sağduyulu bir ülke olan İslam Cumhuriyeti,
saldırıya uğradığı zaman egemenliğini en
iyi şekilde savunabilecek” dedi.
http://www2.irna.ir/tr/news/view/line-
119/1112128304120619.htm
İran’ın Washington mahkemesinin kararına tepkisi
Sayfa 17
Washington eyalet mahkemesinin 1998
yılında Kenya’daki ABD Büyükelçiliğindeki
patlama ile ilgili El Kaide bağlantılı olduğu
iddiasıyla altı İran vatandaşı ile ilgili
kararından sonra Mihmansperest,
mahkeme avukatının yönelttiği
suçlamaları yalanlayarak bunu şiddetle
kınadı.
Dışişleri Bakanlığı Sözcüsü Ramin
Mihmanperest “bu suçlama asılsızdır ve bu
da, ABD’nin İslam Cumhuriyetine yönelik
planlanan bir başka senaryosudur” dedi.
El Kaide’nin kurulması mazisine ve ABD
tarafından desteklenmesine işaret eden
Mihmanperest “bu örgüt tarafından 1998
yılında Afganistan’da dokuz İran
diplomatının şehit edilmesi, İran’ın
haklılığını ve ABD iddiasının asılsız
olduğunu gösteren açık bir belgedir” dedi.
http://www2.irna.ir/tr/news/view/line-
120/1112122467120735.htm
İran-Suriye karma ekonomi komisyonu toplantısı Şam’da yapılacak
İran İslam Cumhuriyeti ve Şam arasındaki
ekonomi iş birliğini izleyen 14. karma
ekonomi komisyonu toplantısı Şam’da
yapılacak.
Bu komisyonda İran tarafının başkanlığını
Yol ve Şehircilik Bakanı Ali Nikzad ve Suriye
tarafının başkanlığını Ekonomi Bakanı
üstlenecek.
Karma komisyonun yapılmasının bir hedefi
de, ikili ilişkilerin geliştirilmesi, çeşitli
alanlarda iki ülke arasında iş birliğinin
artması ile ilgili yolların izlenmesi,
ekonomi alanda ve ticaret hacminde iş
birliği düzeyinin geliştirilmesidir.
http://www2.irna.ir/tr/news/view/line-
117/1112129002121043.htm
3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE / İSRAİL – FİLİSTİN
Israel approves more settler homes near West Bank town of Bethlehem: report
Sayfa 18
Israel has approved construction of 40
homes and a farm in two new settler
enclaves near the West Bank town of
Bethlehem, Haaraetz daily reported on
Monday.
“Israel’s military establishment has
approved the establishment of a new,
permanent neighborhood and a farm near
the West Bank settlement of Efrat,” the
paper said.
“The projects will go beyond the
community’s current built-up area,
constituting an effective expansion of the
Etzion Bloc of settlements toward the
north and north-east,” it added.
“With their completion Jewish settlement
in the northern Etzion Bloc will reach the
edges of Bethlehem’s southernmost
suburbs.”
It said the plan was approved by Defense
Minister Ehud Barak.
Haaraetz quoted Efrat Mayor Oded Ravivi
as saying “the decision to approve, at this
stage, construction of 40 residential units
at Givat Hadagan in Efrat, Gush Etzion--
which is in the heart of the consensus--is a
good decision but far from sufficient. We
congratulated Netanyahu for it but also
explained that to solve Efrat’s serious
housing shortage the cabinet must
approve 3,000 new homes.”
The paper said that the farm will be built
at Givat Eitam, located on the Palestinian
side of the planned route of the
separation barrier. Its establishment is
designed to preserve the territory for the
future expansion of Efrat.
Efrat is located on a series of hills on a
mountain ridge east of Route 60, which
connects the Palestinian cities of the West
Bank.
When the separation barrier was built in
the Efrat area, then-Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz included the area on the
western side of the barrier, but as the
result of deliberations in the High Court of
Justice the route was changed to exclude
Sayfa 19
Givat Eitam. According to the Israeli daily,
it can be expected that the establishment
of the farm will be followed by the
building of an access road and the
deployment of IDF soldiers and other
security arrangements, to guarantee the
area’s future role as part of Efrat.
Israel has come under renewed
international criticism for its settlement
activities recently, since a government
decision last month to speed up building
in response to Palestine joining UNESCO.
More than 310,000 Israelis live in
settlements in the occupied West Bank
and the number is constantly growing.
Another 200,000 live in a dozen
settlement neighborhoods in east
Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in
1967 and annexed in a move never
recognized by the international
community.
The international community considers all
settlements in territories occupied by
Israel since June 1967 are illegal, whether
or not approved by its government.
Rockets fired from Gaza
Meanwhile, Gaza armed groups fired a
rocket at southern Israel on Monday but it
landed in open ground in the Negev
desert, injuring nobody, the military said.
“A rocket fell in the Shaar Hanegev region;
there were no casualties and no damage,”
a spokeswoman told AFP.
It was the first incident in about 48 hours,
following a weekend of tit-for-tat attacks
between the two sides.
On Thursday, an Israeli air strike killed two
Gaza gunmen, ending a relative lull since
the end of October, when cross-border
violence killed 12 Palestinians and an
Israeli civilian.
Following the Thursday hit, Palestinian
fighters fired five rockets at Israel, none of
which caused casualties or damage.
In an ensuing Israeli air raid at a militant
training ground in Gaza on Friday morning,
a father and his 12-year-old son were
killed and 10 other civilians injured, after
the attack caused a nearby house to
collapse.
Sayfa 20
Palestinians then fired 12 rockets at Israel
on Friday, and another four on Saturday,
none causing casualties.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/12/182108.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Hamas in Gaza says it’s learning from Arab Spring
Bans on women smoking water pipes in
public and male coiffeurs styling women’s
hair are no longer being strictly enforced
in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip,
apparent signs of greater tolerance as the
Islamic militant group acknowledges
mistakes in seeking to impose a religious
lifestyle.
In explaining the change, several senior
members said Hamas has matured in five
years in power and learned lessons from
the Arab Spring. Islamic groups that have
scored election victories in the wake of
pro-democracy uprisings in the region
now find themselves trying to allay fears
they seek Islamic rule.
Since seizing Gaza, Hamas had largely
silenced opponents and tried to impose
stricter religious rules on an already
conservative society. Modesty squads
asked young couples seen in public to
show proof of marriage, told beachgoers
to put on more clothes and ordered
shopowners to cover up mannequins.
High school girls came under pressure
from teachers to wear headscarves.
In recent months, there’s been a change in
atmosphere, say rights activists and even
political rivals of Hamas.
“Things are freer than before,” said Nasser
Radwan, whose family restaurant is one of
the places where women again come to
smoke water pipes.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said
“some mistakes were made” under Hamas
rule, though he blamed individual security
commanders and overzealous activists,
not the government, for heavy-handed
tactics.
Sayfa 21
“They don’t represent the ideology and
policy of the Hamas movement,” Barhoum
said. “Our policy is that we are not going
to dictate anything to anyone.”
Huda Naim, a Hamas legislator, said the
movement took its cues from the pro-
democracy revolts sweeping the Arab
world, but also has learned it needs to be
more tolerant of others.
It’s not clear whether the changes are
tactical, or whether they represent a true
shift that will lead to more political
freedom. Hamas has shut down offices of
political rival Fatah, arrested activists and
strictly controls the local media. However,
in recent months, it has permitted rivals,
including Fatah, to stage rallies that were
previously banned.
There are no signs Hamas is softening its
stance toward Israel - the movement
refuses to recognize the Jewish state or
rule out violence against it - or that it is
breaking its alliance with financial
benefactor Iran and with Syria, its
longtime host. Hamas has reduced its
presence in Syria following President
Bashar Assad’s crackdown on anti-
government protesters, but continues to
maintain a foothold there.
Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary
elections in 2006, defeating Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction.
After failed power-sharing attempts,
Hamas seized Gaza a year later, defeating
Abbas’ forces and leaving him with only
the West Bank. Acrimony intensified as
dueling governments in the two territories
cracked down on rivals.
Hamas is the only wing of the pan-Arab
Muslim Brotherhood movement that has
had a chance to rule, and its performance
is of interest following the Brotherhood’s
strong showings in recent elections in
Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. The
Brotherhood faces concerns in the West
and among local secular groups that the
Islamists, despite their embrace of
democracy, might gradually try to
establish strict theocracies.
Two prominent Hamas figures in Gaza said
change was being encouraged by the
Brotherhood. The movement’s leadership
in Egypt confirmed contacts, but denied
it’s telling Hamas how to govern.
Sayfa 22
Top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who
runs the group from Syrian exile, told Gaza
leaders of the movement at a meeting in
Cairo last month that he was impressed by
the political success of the Brotherhood in
elections in North Africa. “Mashaal said
we need to learn from these experiences
in dealing with other parties and social
groups, and that one-party rule is
outdated,” a Hamas official said.
Mashaal’s political bureau told Gaza
activists in a memo that restrictive
measures are tarnishing the movement’s
image, said a second Hamas figure. He
said the Brotherhood has voiced similar
criticism.
Both men spoke on condition of
anonymity because they were not
authorized to reveal Hamas’ internal
discussions.
Egyptian and Tunisian members of the
Brotherhood visited Gaza, and Gaza Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has
spoken by phone more than a dozen times
with Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood
chief in Egypt, Haniyeh’s office said.
Rashad Bayoumi, a senior official in the
movement in Egypt, confirmed the
contacts, but said they focus on the need
to end the internal Palestinian split. He
denied the Brotherhood has criticized
Hamas’ domestic practices or urged it to
dial back Islamic zeal. “We do not
interfere at all in politics with Hamas,” he
said.
Fawaz Gerges, head of the Middle East
Center at the London School of
Economics, said he believes the
Brotherhood is moderating Hamas, but
that the Islamists in Gaza are also
evolving. “They realized that their wooden
rhetoric no longer applies, that in the
aftermath of the Arab Awakening,
Palestinian public opinion demands a
different behavior,” he said.
Issam Younis of Gaza’s human rights group
Mezan said that in recent months he’s
seen a drop in complaints about
harassment by Hamas security forces and
that restrictive rules are no longer being
enforced.
At the beginning of the school year, when
some high school girls complained about
being ordered by principals to put on
Sayfa 23
headscarves, the Education Ministry told
schools that the girls are free to choose,
he said.
Eighth-grader Inas Abu Shaban, 14, said
her principal initially told her to wear a
headscarf. “I put it on the first day, but not
the second day, and then no one asked
me about it again,” she said.
At a beauty parlor in Gaza City, the shop’s
male owner said he doesn’t trust the new
tone.
“They say one thing and do another,” said
the coiffeur, speaking on condition of
anonymity for fear of retribution. “I work,
but I’m afraid.”
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/11/182064.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Israel calls for ‘paralyzing’ sanctions on Iran to contain nuclear weapons strength
Iran’s ruling clerics could use nuclear
weapons to strengthen their grip on
power and the world must urgently
impose crippling sanctions to prevent
them from building such arms, Israel’s
defense minister Ehud Barak said on
Sunday.
Asked about prospects for an Israeli attack
on its arch foe Iran’s nuclear sites, Barak
said he still believed that it was “time for
urgent, coherent, paralyzing” punitive
steps targeting Iranian oil trade and its
central bank.
“Nothing short of this kind of sanctions
will work,” Barak said, adding there was a
need for a “direct attack, isolation, by the
whole world” of the Iranian central bank.
Speculation that Israel, which sees Iran’s
nuclear program as an existential threat,
could launch preemptive strikes against
Iran was fuelled by a U.N. report last
month which said Tehran appeared to
have worked on designing a nuclear
weapon.
The Islamic Republic, which often lashes
out at Israel over its assumed atomic
Sayfa 24
arsenal, says allegations that it is seeking
nuclear arms are based on forged
evidence.
Barak said he would “love to see the Arab
Spring jumping over” the Gulf into Iran,
referring to political upheaval in Egypt,
Tunisia, Libya and elsewhere over the last
year.
“This regime in Iran, the ayatollahs, they
will be not be there I believe in 10 or 15
years. It is against the nature of the
Iranian people and what happens all
around the world.
“But if they turn nuclear they might assure
another layer of immunity, political
immunity for the regime in the same way
that Kim Jong-il assured his,” Barak said,
referring to the North Korean leader and
that country’s development of nuclear
weapons.
He suggested that the Libyan conflict
could have taken a different course if
Muammar Gaddafi had declared at the
outset that “he has three or four nuclear
devices”.
Earlier this month, Barak said that an
Israeli attack on Iran was not imminent.
He has also said there were several
months left in which to decide on such
action.
Turning to events in Palestine, he said
Israel might at some stage have to “take
more assertive action” in Gaza, where
Palestinian fighters responded with rocket
attacks on Israel after an Israeli air strike
killed two Palestinians last Thursday.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/11/182060.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Israel moves to curb African migrants
Cabinet approves $167m plan to stem
flow of migrants, mainly from Eritrea and
Sudan, through porous border with Egypt.
Israel's government has approved a
$167m plan to stem the flow of African
migrants who cross into the country
through its porous border with Egypt.
Announcing the government's intention to
increase fines for employers who hire
illegal workers, Binyamin
Sayfa 25
Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said:
"If necesssary, we will close businesses so
that the enterprise called the State of
Israel will not shut down."
Speaking on Sunday, Netanyahu said he
would make a trip to countries on the
African continent where among other
issues he will discuss the repatriation of
migrants.
Political sources said he was likely to
travel to Kenya, Uganda and possibly
South Sudan in February next year.
The Israeli government puts the number
of illegal workers in the country at more
than 52,000.
Activists however accuse the government
of misrepresenting the number of
migrants. A large proportion, they say, are
legitimate asylum seekers.
Netanyahu said the overwhelming
majority of infiltrators are not refugees
escaping persecution, but instead have
come to Israel seeking better economic
opportunities.
Most migrants come from Eritrea and
Sudan, and cross into Israel through
Egypt's Sinai desert.
Israel is building a fence along its frontier
with Egypt to block the migrants.
The government has also announced the
construction of detention facilities to hold
migrants.
The plan was first announced a year ago
and Sunday's cabinet decision freed up
government funds to implement it.
"Without a plan to deal with illegal
workers, the number of migrants will rise
to 100,000 a year," Netanyahu was
quoted in a government statement as
telling the cabinet.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/20
11/12/20111211172810353522.html
Sayfa 26
'Rocket fired at Israel lands in south Lebanon'
Security sources in Lebanon say 1 person
injured when rocket fired from Wadi al-
Qaisiyeh area lands in Lebanese village.
One person was injured in southern
Lebanon on Sunday when a rocket
apparently fired towards Israel hit a
Lebanese border village, security sources
in Lebanon said.
They said the rocket was fired from the
Wadi al-Qaisiyeh area, about 2 km (one
mile) from the frontier and landed in the
village of Houla inside Lebanon.
Two weeks ago, four 122-millimeter
rockets were fired from southern
Lebanon, just north of the border, and
landed in the Western Galilee. No one was
hurt but the rockets caused extensive
damage to a chicken coop and a propane
gas tank, which went up in flames. IDF
artillery responded by pounding the
launch sites.
Lebanese security sources confirmed that
four rockets were fired into Israel from an
area between the villages of Aita Shaab
and Rumaysh, about 2 km from the
border.
An organization associated with al- Qaida
claimed responsibility.
IDF sources said Hezbollah did not appear
to be behind the attacks and that the
Islamist group was not believed to be
interested right now in a large-scale
conflict with Israel. Responsibility for
previous rocket attacks from Lebanon –
the last was in 2009 – was claimed by
radical Palestinian terror groups.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.as
px?id=249051
4. AFRICA and EGYPT / AFRİKA ve MISIR
U.S., Libyan weapons specialists dispose of country’s weapons
Sayfa 27
Hundreds of pounds of explosives in Libya
stockpiled during the years of the
Muammar Qaddafi-led regime have been
disposed of by a team of U.S. and Libyan
weapons experts.
The now-buried weapons include about
5000 surface-to-air missiles and some
1,300 pounds (600 kilograms) of
ordnance.
Qaddafi had a stockpile of 20,000
shoulder-fired missiles before the revolt
against him broke out in February, AFP
news agency reported.
“We have identified, disbanded and
secured more than 5,000 MANPADS (Man-
Portable Air Defense Systems), while
thousands more have been destroyed
during NATO bombing,” Andrew Shapiro,
assistant secretary of state for political
and military affairs told a group of
reporters.
“We are working side by side with the
National Transitional Council (NTC) to
reduce the threat of these loose
weapons,” Shapiro said after talks in
Tripoli with officials from the ruling NTC,
the interior and defense ministries.
There is a “serious concern about the
threat posed by MANPADS... about the
potential threat MANPADS can pose to
civil aviation. However our efforts with the
NTC to reduce these threats are already
paying off.”
Shapiro said contractors on the ground
were still in the process of assessing how
many missiles are still missing, AFP
reported.
A large amount of weapons went missing
during Libya’s civil war which erupted in
February and resulted in the capture and
subsequent killing of Muammar Qaddafi
by opposition fighters in October.
The missing weapons have fueled fears
that the material may have fallen into the
wrong hands.
Sayfa 28
Libya, under Qaddafi, was reportedly the
country with the biggest stock of
MANPADS outside of nations that produce
these weapons. The missiles, mainly SAM-
7, were acquired in the 1970s and 1980s.
Shapiro said the United States has already
spent six million dollars in its efforts to
secure these weapons.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/11/182054.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Egypt Islamists reject army interference in constitution as advisory council convenes
Egypt’s Islamists said on Sunday they
would not accept any interference from
the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces (SCAF) over the future constitution
amid uncertainty about the army’s role in
the process, as the SCAF’s newly formed
advisory council convened for the first
time.
“No one except the elected parliament
has the right to draft legislation,” Khairat
al-Shater, the number two in the Muslim
Brotherhood, Egypt’s biggest Islamist
movement, said on Twitter.
Major General Mukthar al-Mulla, a
member of the ruling military council told
reporters on Wednesday that the army
would have final say over those appointed
to a 100-member panel tasked with
writing the constitution next year,
according to AFP.
The statements prompted the
Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party
to pull out of the advisory council, which
would have a supervisory role in drafting
the constitution.
According to FJP member Amr Zaky, their
withdrawal came as a response to the
new, extra authorities granted the
advisory council.
Zaky explained that the advisory council’s
authorities had been amended to allow
the SCAF to infringe upon powers that
should only belong to the incoming
parliament. Such a move, he asserted,
would be widely considered
“a circumvention of the people’s will,”
according to Egypt’s al-Ahram daily.
But on Saturday, another member of the
SCAF, General Mamdouh Shahin, said the
Sayfa 29
army would have “no opinion” regarding
the members of the panel.
The Muslim Brotherhood said it would
stand firm in calling for a parliament with
full powers and that the military should be
judged by its actions.
Shahin’s statements “were good. But it is
not words that count, it is actions,”
Mohammed al-Beltagui, a senior leader in
the Muslim Brotherhood, told AFP.
He noted that the army-backed advisory
council had met on Sunday to discuss the
criteria for the constitution-writing panel.
“We have a parliament that will be elected
within a month, and the panel that will
write the constitution should be chosen by
parliament,” Beltagui said.
The advisory council meets
The advisory council on Sunday elected a
former information minister, Mansour
Hassan, as its president.
The members elected two deputies for
Hassan: Abul Ela Mady, president of the
Wasat Party, and Sameh Ashour,
president of the Lawyers Syndicate.
Mohamed Nour Farahat, a leader from the
Egyptian Social Democratic Party, was
elected secretary general. Sherif
Mohammed Zahran and Abdul
Mohammed al-Moghazy were elected
assistants to the secretary general.
Ashour told Egypt’s al-Masry al-Youm daily
that they were elected in a secret ballot.
The council’s secretary general will act as
liaison between the council and the SCAF.
The council is to convene at least once a
week, but may meet whenever the need
arises or upon the request of one-third of
its members or the head of the SCAF.
Twenty-four of the council’s 30 members
were present at the first meeting. Among
the most notable absentees were Coptic
businessman and founder of the Free
Egyptians Party Naguib Sawiris,
Sayfa 30
presidential hopeful Amr Moussa, and
president of al-Wafd Party al-Sayed al-
Badawy.
Protests against SCAF
The idea of establishing an advisory
council to “assist” the SCAF was first
floated following last month’s
clashes between security forces and anti-
SCAF protesters in which more than 40 of
the latter were killed. The
incident triggered an enormous
demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on
Nov. 19 to demand an end to military rule.
The proposed council was initially
presented as one that would include
revolutionary political figures to “advise”
the SCAF until executive power could be
handed over to an elected, civilian
authority. Shortly after the initial
proposal, however, statements by SCAF
spokesmen suggested the advisory council
might aspire to more than just an advisory
role.
Islamist thinker and advisory council
member Selim al-Awa, however,
challenged this assertion, noting that
the SCAF would soon release an official
statement refuting such claims – a
contention later confirmed by
Shahin’s televised statements on Sunday.
But al-Awa differentiated between the
notion of choosing constituent assembly
members and simply laying out
the criteria for their selection. The
advisory council, he insisted, would
merely set the criteria by
which parliamentarians would choose
constituent assembly members.
Several political figures, meanwhile, have
turned down offers to join the nascent
advisory council, arguing that the council
only serves to lend legitimacy to the
ruling SCAF, al-Ahram reported.
Ahmed Bahaa Eddin Shaaban, member of
both the National Association for Change
reform movement and Egypt’s Socialist
Party, issued a statement late last week in
which he cited eight reasons why political
figures should not join the advisory
council.
According to Shaaban, the SCAF is a
“counter-revolutionary” force
“responsible for all those killed and
injured during the past months.” Shaaban
stressed that joining the advisory council
Sayfa 31
would only serve to legitimize the SCAF
and thus prolong military rule.
Along with Shaaban, several other young
revolutionary activists – citing similar
reasons – have also turned down formal
offers to join the council.
The next parliament is likely to be
dominated by the FJP, which won 36
percent of votes in the first of three
rounds of elections, followed by the
ultraconservative Salafist al-Nour party
with at least 24 percent of the vote.
Millions of Egyptians voted in a March
referendum to allow the next parliament
the power to elect a 100-person
committee that would draft the next
constitution.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/12/182087.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Egypt army affirms parliament role over constitution
CAIRO, (Reuters) - The army has said only
parliament will choose the make-up of a
constituent assembly, appearing to retreat
from earlier statements that riled Islamists
and others when a general said unelected
bodies would have a role in the selection
process.
Under an interim constitution, parliament
is responsible for picking the 100-strong
assembly that will write a new
constitution to replace one that helped
keep Hosni Mubarak in power for three
decades.
But a general last week had suggested
parliament's role would be diluted by
saying the army-backed cabinet, a
consultative body to the ruling generals
and parliament, would first agree on
criteria for selection before any
appointment.
That angered Islamists who are on course
to secure a parliamentary majority in
Egypt's staggered election. It was the
second time the army has become
embroiled in a row over the new
constitution and then backtracked.
"The only body responsible for choosing
the constituent assembly is parliament
and its elected members," General
Mamdouh Shaheen was quoted telling
television at the weekend.
Sayfa 32
His remarks were published by state-run
Al Ahram and other newspapers Sunday.
The independent Al-Masry Al-Youm said
Shaheen was "backtracking" on comments
that caused the stir and which were made
by General Mokhtar al-Mullah last week.
"The consultative council, the government
and the military council will not have any
opinion in choosing members of the
constituent assembly writing the new
constitution," Shaheen said, according to
Al Ahram.
"The consultative council's role is limited
to presenting views and suggestions, with
no legislative role, and it will not contest
parliament's jurisdictions," the general
said.
The consultative council is a civilian body
being set up by the army to advise them
during the transition. Islamist politicians
have said they will not join the council.
Before the latest row, the army-backed
cabinet had made proposals for who
should be in the constituent assembly and
had proposed articles for the new
constitution that would have permanently
shielded the army from civilian oversight.
Those proposals prompted a blizzard of
criticism and led to violent protests
against army rule in November that killed
42 people. The ideas were dropped and
the army has since insisted they had only
been non-binding ideas.
http://www.asharq-
e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=27643
NTC representative describes road ahead
With Libya's new interim government less
than a month old, challenges are adding
up for the National Transitional Council
(NTC). From disarmament and
reconstruction to building state
institutions, the nation's aspiring
democrats have an enormous task ahead.
Magharebia sat down with NTC
representative Intissar al-Akili in Benghazi
Sayfa 33
to ask her what the government plans to
tackle first and where Libya goes from
here.
Magharebia: What are the priorities of the
new government?
Intissar Al-Akili: The first priority is the
security situation until we start the
maturation stage, and it is necessary to
attend to these files at the start.
Organisation will now begin and building a
national army and the army structure, and
either the security battalions within the
cities will be dealt with or the military
battalions that were on the fronts that
fought and achieved a great victory,
whether they join under the banner of the
national army or join under the banner of
national security.
At the same time, we do not forget that
many of those enlisted in the battalions
are teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers
and journalists from all segments of
society, so do not forget that it creates
difficulty now that we are a modern state
vested with everything.
Magharebia: As the interim government
goes forward, what parts of the old
regime does the NTC plan to preserve?
Al-Akili: There are not many constants we
can adhere to, as we lived under the
marginalisation of qualified people. My
own view is that after the revolution of
February 17th, and after October 20th,
building a new Libya will begin, although
this will take a long time. But I am
optimistic, for the people who toppled the
Kadhafi regime will build a new Libya.
There must be work to guide the people's
enthusiasm toward building – the
enthusiasm with which they were working
to overthrow the regime and liberate the
country. This enthusiasm should now be
directed toward state-building in all
areas—not placing the burden heavily on
the National Council because it is the
ruling, executive and legislative authority,
but relying on the institutions of civil
society, which assume the role of
watchdog, because in Libya there are no
parties, and these institutions must play a
political role and not institutions of a
charitable, voluntary or social nature.
Sayfa 34
Institutions of the political role must be
the watchdog over the legitimate
authority of the National Council, the
governing authority and the executive
branch represented in the interim
government, in order to detect mistakes
and educate people, because I believe
that the revolution is still being renewed
and on-going.
Related Articles
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Magharebia: International rights groups
have called for an investigation into the
killing of Kadhafi. How does the new
Libyan government plan to handle the
situation?
Al-Akili: It was addressed by Attorney-
General Abdul Aziz al-Hasadi and he in fact
announced that a file was opened to
investigate the killing Kadhafi and that the
file would be ready as soon as possible.
We have highly qualified people in the
field of the judiciary and the prosecution,
and this file will be incorporated at the
beginning of the autopsy report in the
prosecution's investigations. This file will
be ready for human rights and
international organisations to review.
Magharebia: How can the Maghreb help
Libya?
Al-Akili: It already provided aid. To begin,
we are satisfied with solidarity with our
people and we do not expect a lot from
Arab governments, and often there are
governments that have an effective role.
We need to co-operate at all levels,
beginning with the security, military and
health field, and there is a co-operation
agreement between us and the attorney-
general of the State of Qatar to provide
full advice and guidance in all areas and
specifically in the judicial field. We hope it
is a priority for the Arab states in the
reconstruction.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi
/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/20
11/12/11/feature-01
Tunisia debates interim constitution
Tunisia's Constituent Assembly resumed
debate Friday (December 9th) on an
interim constitution designed to govern
the nation ahead of a permanent
democratic constitution.
Sayfa 35
On Wednesday, the assembly approved a
controversial measure that allows the
body to continue work beyond the original
one year deadline, sparking anger among
opposition activists. Parties previously
pledged to limit the Constituent Assembly
duration to one year, with the option for a
single sixth month extension.
"We are surprised by parties that pledged
to set a one-year mandate for the
Constituent Assembly but soon afterwards
broke their word," said Iyad Dahmani, a
parliamentarian from the Progressive
Democratic Party (PDP). "This is practically
a coup against the legitimacy of the
decree calling for elections and against
their moral commitment before people, as
well as an attempt of these parties to
perpetuate the interim situation."
However, Ennahda MP Noureddine
Beheiri stressed that "the coalition's
political and moral commitment to a one-
year mandate for drafting the constitution
and running the affairs of the country 'is
irreversible'."
Beheiri also said that Ennahda and the
governing coalition supported measures
to require an absolute majority for
withdrawing confidence of the president,
prime minister or assembly speaker.
"The three-party coalition did not honour
its commitment. As such, it is unfit to run
the state," commented PDP
parliamentarian Issam Chebbi. "The
opposition will remain on the lookout for
such violations and will address any
deviations that are likely to disrupt the
path of achieving the goals of the
revolution."
Tunisians had their own views regarding
the vote against defining a mandate for
the Constituent Assembly.
"We are worried the assembly could usurp
power and the country would thus remain
in chaos without a time limit," citizen
Essam al-Zaidi said. "This is dangerous,
particularly as the country's experiencing
Sayfa 36
an economic crisis, which requires urgent
solutions."
Related Articles
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Mona Belaaab echoed the concern. "I
think this decision betrays the selfishness
of some parties that want to control the
assembly resolutions as the majority," she
said, adding that prolonging the assembly
"only serves to extend the chaos in which
we are living".
Political parties were also critical the
Constituent Assembly's interim
constitution. Samir Tayeb of the
Democratic Modernist Pole (PDM) said
the draft as it stands gives the
government too much power over other
institutions.
"The draft law grants executive powers to
the head of the next government at the
expense of the rest of the executive
authority parties," PDP chief Ahmed Najib
Chebbi said.
"This approach only reinforces the
practices of the former regime that
neglected citizens' concerns and focused
on ways of strengthening its own position
as a monolithic authority with full control
over the entire community," Chebbi
added.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi
/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/20
11/12/09/feature-02
5. JORDAN and LEBANON / ÜRDÜN
Jumblatt advises Hezbollah to distance itself from Syria
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid
Jumblatt urged Hezbollah to distance itself
from the Syrian government and called on
the group’s leader to convince Damascus
to agree to the Arab League’s initiative to
end unrest in the country.
“I advise Hezbollah not to be completely
attached to the Syrian regime and
[Hezbollah] should advise the regime that
the best solution lies in the Arab League
initiative and for it to abandon security
Sayfa 37
measures,” Jumblatt told Al-Majalla
magazine in an article published over the
weekend.
“*Hezbollah leader+ Sayyed Hasan
Nasrallah should advise [Syrian President]
Bashar Assad of the need to implement
reforms for a populist, democratic Syria
that is open to all political movements,”
he added.
Nasrallah, a close ally of Syria in Lebanon,
has repeatedly voiced support for the
Syrian leader and, like Assad, says
Lebanon’s neighbor is facing a conspiracy
aimed at toppling the pro-resistance
government. While acknowledging the
need for reform in Syria, Hezbollah has
criticized Arab efforts to end the crisis in
the country, arguing that many Arab
states have yielded to a Western agenda
against Assad.
“I don’t agree with Nasrallah. There is no
conspiracy in Syria. The regime has made
a fatal mistake against citizens in Deraa
and it was not resolved and no one was
held accountable for the crimes,” said
Jumblatt, who earlier this year realigned
with Hezbollah.
While warning that the situation in Syria
was very sensitive, Jumblatt urged rival
Lebanese politicians to relax their
positions toward Syria and resume
national dialogue.
“Those who are attached to the Syrian
regime should recognize that they’re
being hostile to the majority of the Syrian
people. Also those who are betting on the
fall of the Syrian regime should recognize
the sensitivity of the internal and sectarian
situation in Syria,” Jumblatt said.
Throughout the interview, the PSP leader
repeatedly accused Assad of prolonging
the crisis, which the U.N. estimates has
left some 4,000 Syrians, mostly civilians,
dead.
“I have advised the Syrian president
repeatedly of the need for reform but it
seems that the will to adopt a security
solution is stronger than the will to
reform,” he said.
Jumblatt spoke about Iran’s role in the
region, and on the subject of resisting
Israel he said the Islamic Republic should
acknowledge the right of Arabs to decide
how to confront Israel.
Sayfa 38
“If the Iranians insist on the principles of
resistance in the face of Israel in their own
way, they need to know that the Syrian
and Lebanese people as well as Arab
people are basically resistant. We do not
need lessons from anyone.”
Jumblatt’s recent statements have
seemed closer to the positions of the
opposition March 14 coalition, prompting
analysts to suggest that the PSP leader,
who has described himself as a centrist
politicians, might be again switching
alliances.
“I do not stand neutral. I am committed to
this government. There is a coalition
between myself, Prime Minister Najib
Mikati along with the Free Patriotic
Movement and the resistance
*Hezbollah+.”
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/12/12/ju
mblatt-advises-hezbollah-to-distance-
itself-from-syria/
Rocket fired from and landed in south Lebanon
A rocket was fired from Wadi el Qaiseyah
in south Lebanon on Sunday evening and
reportedly landed by mistake in Hula area
of south Lebanon near the Israeli border
According to media reports the rocket
landed on the house of Abdullah
Mahmoud and resulted in the wounding
of Lebanese citizen Nazira Abbas who was
taken to a nearby hospital in Mays al Jabal
for treatment
According to the reports the Army and
UNIFIL are investigating the incident
A similar incident took place nearly 2
weeks ago.
A rocket was launched on November 29
towards Israel . Israel retaliated by firing 4
rockets toward Ayta ash Shaab outskirts ,
a border village in south Lebanon .
Initially Abdullah Azzam Brigades an
affiliate of al Qaeda claimed responsibility
for the rocket launched last November but
later denied any responsibility and
accused Hezbollah and Syria of being
behind the attack
“This operation was carried out in favor of
the tyrant, Syrian President Bashar [al-
Assad , by his ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah,”
Sayfa 39
Abdullah Azzam Brigades said in a
statement on Dec 5, 2011
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/12/12/ro
cket-fired-from-and-landed-in-south-
lebanon/
Syrians in Jordan attack their Embassy in Amman
The Syrian Embassy in Jordan says a dozen
of its nationals have attacked consulate
employees, wounding at least two
diplomats and four other people.
An Embassy statement says its guards
arrested one of the attackers, identified as
Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Shureiqi.
It says Jordanian police arrested eight
others – all Syrians allegedly involved in
the Sunday morning attack.
The attack was linked to the uprising
against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Police spokespeople did not answer
repeated calls to confirm the arrest.
The group entered the embassy claiming
they had paperwork to finish. They then
beat up a security guard, the consul and
another diplomat and several others.
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/12/11/sy
rians-in-jordan-attack-their-embassy-in-
amman/
6. SYRIA / SURİYE
Syrian troops battle defectors as protest strike shuts businesses in several cities
By Al Arabiya with Agencies
Syrian troops and army defectors have
fought one of the biggest battles in Syria’s
nine-month uprising while a protest strike
shut businesses in a new gesture of civil
disobedience, residents and activists said.
The general strike took place in several
Syrian cities and has terrified the regime
as the Hama governor threatened to seal
Sayfa 40
off the stores in the city and forces
threatened to set these stores on fire, Ali
Hassan, spokesman for the Syrian
Revolution Council, an opposition group,
told Al Arabiya in an interview.
In Sunday’s fighting, Syrian troops mainly
from the 12th Armored Brigade based in
Isra, 40 km (25 miles) from the southern
border with Jordan, stormed the nearby
town of Busra al-Harir.
A housewife in Busra, who did not want to
be named, told Reuters by telephone that
the town was being hit by machinegun fire
from tanks. Her children were crying.
The sound of explosions and heavy
machineguns was heard there and in
Lujah, an area of rocky hills north of the
town, where defectors from the army
have been hiding and attacking military
supply lines, residents and activists said.
“Lujah has been the safest area for
defectors to hide because it is difficult for
tanks and infantry to infiltrate. The region
has caves and secret passageways and
extends all the way to Damascus
countryside,” said an activist, who gave his
name as Abu Omar.
Opposition activists said they had shut
down much of the capital and other towns
with a strike, the biggest walkout by
workers since the protest movement
demanding Assad’s removal erupted in
March.
Syria has barred most independent
journalists, making it difficult to gauge the
extent of participation in the strike.
Official state media made no mention of
it.
“For the first time we have seen business
close in multiple districts in Damascus and
spread to most of the suburbs and
provinces. The aim is to reach civil
disobedience that encompasses all sectors
and forces the regime down,” said Rima
Fleihan, a member of the opposition
Syrian National Council.
Sayfa 41
“The cost will be more human lives but I
am afraid it is less costly than an armed
uprising and the regime dragging the
country into a Libya-type scenario,” she
said.
Assad has been widely condemned abroad
for what Western and Arab countries
describe as a crackdown on peaceful
protests. His government says it is
defending Syria from a foreign-backed
insurgency by armed militants.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the
Organization of Islamic Conference
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed his grave
concern over the reports of security
deterioration in Homs, Al Arabiya
reported.
Ihsanoglu called on the Syrian authorities
to stop the bloodshed. He reminded the
Syrian government of the vows it gave
during the organization’s executive
committee meeting in early December.
The United Nations says more than 4,000
Syrians have been killed since March.
Assad says the number of dead is far
lower and most of them have been from
the state security forces.
The official news agency SANA said 13
soldiers killed by “armed terrorist groups”
were buried on Sunday.
Arab foreign ministers will meet on
Saturday to discuss a response to Syria’s
conditional acceptance of an Arab peace
plan aimed at ending its crackdown on
pro-democracy protesters, Egypt’s MENA
news agency said, citing an Arab diplomat.
Syria faces sanctions from Arab nations in
response to its violent crackdown on
protests against President Assad.
The Arab League repeatedly has extended
deadlines for Syria to agree to a plan that
would see Arab monitors oversee its
withdrawal of troops from towns. The
latest expired on Dec. 4.
MENA said that a small group of ministers
would meet first on Saturday, followed by
a broader meeting of ministers led by
Qatar from the 22-member League the
same day. Syria has been suspended from
the League.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem
wrote to the League saying Damascus was
Sayfa 42
prepared to sign an agreement that would
allow League monitors into Syria, on
certain conditions
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/12/182081.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Syrians hold strikes amid battles in south
Hundreds of army defectors in southern
Syria have fought with loyalist forces in
one of the biggest armed confrontations
in the nine-month uprising, and a strike
shut businesses in a new gesture of civil
disobedience, residents and activists said.
In another development likely to raise
international pressure on President Bashar
al-Assad, French Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe said on Sunday that Paris
believed Syria was behind attacks that
wounded French peacekeepers in
neighbouring Lebanon on Friday.
Syrians are casting ballots in local
elections on Monday, but turnout is
expected to be low as activists have called
for a boycott of the polls.
Earlier on Sunday, troops from the 12th
Armoured Brigade, based in Isra, 40km
from the border with Jordan, stormed the
nearby town of Busra al-Harir, the Reuters
news agency reported.
Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh,
reporting from near the Jordan-Syria
border, said that the clash started when
"tens of tanks mounted with machine
guns opened fire in that area earlier on
Sunday morning to try to put an end to a
general strike" called for by the
opposition.
The sound of explosions and heavy
machine guns was heard in Busra al-Harir
and in Lujah, an area of rocky hills north of
the town, where defectors have been
hiding and attacking military supply lines.
At least 26 people were killed by
government troops on Sunday, including a
woman and four children, activists said.
Nine of them were killed in the city of
Homs, six in Hama, three in Deraa, two in
Idlib and another two outside of
Damascus.
Sayfa 43
At least five Syrian soldiers, including a
military officer, were also reportedly
killed.
General strikes
Opposition activists said they had shut
down much of the capital and other towns
with a strike, the biggest walkout by
workers since the protest movement
demanding Assad's removal erupted in
March.
The Local Co-ordination Committees
(LCC), a Syrian rights group, organised the
civil disobedience campaign, including the
closure of shops and universities in
protest, as well as sit-in demonstrations
across the country.
"This strike is really a desperate action, a
desperate cry from the Syrian people, the
last civilian action we could do," Ashraf al-
Moqdad, a member of the Syrian
opposition calling for civil disobedience,
told Al Jazeera.
"We've been demonstrating peacefully for
nine months. Thousands of us have been
murdered by Assad and his thugs. We've
been waiting for real concrete action from
the international community ... What else
can we do?
"This is part of our desperate action to get
the attention of the international
community to look at us. Please look at
our situation. We are desperate now."
Security forces in Syria told striking
shopkeepers on Sunday to open up their
stores or they would be smashed.
"We heard reports that troops burned
down at least 178 stores and shops in
Deraa to try and take revenge against
civillians who have shut down their stores
and shops and are basically observing this
general strike," our correspondent said.
Syria has barred most independent
journalists from the country, making it
difficult to gauge the extent of
participation in the strike.
A witness who toured Damascus said most
shops were closed in the main shopping
street of the old Medan quarter in the
centre of the capital where there has been
a heavy security presence. The main souq
in Old Damascus remained open.
Sayfa 44
Central parts of the capital and the
business hub Aleppo seemed calm, though
there are reports of strikes taking hold in
some areas on the outskirts of both cities.
"There is nothing going on," said Rula, a
schoolteacher in Damascus. "Nothing
seems out of the ordinary."
The opposition used Facebook and online
videos to call for an open-ended "Strike
for Dignity" to begin on Sunday.
The LCC has termed the strike "the first
step in an overall civil disobedience"
campaign to overthrow the government.
Navi Pillay, the UN human rights
commissioner, has said that "more than
4,000 people" have been killed in the
government crackdown on dissent in Syria
since protests broke out in March.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middlee
ast/2011/12/201112119332270503.html
Defectors fight loyalist forces in southern Syria
AMMAN, (Reuters) - Hundreds of army
defectors in southernSyria fought loyalist
forces backed by tanks on Sunday in one
of the biggest armed confrontations in a
nine-month uprising against President
Bashar al-Assad, residents and activists
said.
Troops, mainly from the 12th Armoured
Brigade, based in Isra, 40-km (25 miles)
from the border with Jordan, stormed the
nearby town of Busra al-Harir.
The sound of explosions and heavy
machineguns was heard in Busra al-Harir
and in Lujah, an area of rocky hills north of
the town, where defectors have been
hiding and attacking military supply lines,
they said.
"Lujah has been the safest area for
defectors to hide because it is difficult for
tanks and infantry to infiltrate. The region
has caves and secret passage ways and
extends all the way to Damascus
countryside," one of the activists, who
gave his name as Abu Omar, said from the
town of Isra.
http://www.asharq-
e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=27642
Sayfa 45
Government Completes measures for Local Administration Elections due on Monday
PROVINCES, (SANA)- In the framework of
completing the process of building
institutions, promoting democracy and
achieving the comprehensive reform
process led by President Bashar al-Assad,
the Syrian provinces on Sunday completed
all procedures for local administration
elections due on Monday.
42889 candidates compete for 17588
seats at 1337 administrative units,
including 154 cities, 502 towns and 681
municipalities.
The number of the electoral centers is
9849, two ballot boxes in each, where
electors vote for their candidates for the
administrative unit, and an election
committee consisting of a head and two
members supervises the process.
The Interior Ministry distributed bottles of
invisible ink to prevent fraud and ensure
the honesty of elections.
Assistant Interior Minister for Civil Affairs,
Hassan Jalali, said in a statement to SANA
that the electors will be using the identity
card for voting, according to Decree No.
125 for 2011 for those who are 18 years of
age and above.
Jalali said that the ministry has provided
all required equipment to the Local
Administration Ministry in order to make
the election process a success.
He added that the ministry also provided
7340 ballot boxes and invisible ink, which
is used for the first time in the elections to
ensure the creditability of the process.
Jalali underscored that the number of the
IDs granted in Syria is about 15 millions,
adding that the number of the population
who are more than 18 years old reached
14.5 millions on Sunday.
The candidates' personal data indicates an
increase in the number of the holders of
university and higher education
certificates among the candidates in all
provinces compared to former elections.
In Damascus Countryside, the number of
candidates reached 4138 competing for
1927 seats, and the electoral centers are
703.
Sayfa 46
The number of candidates in Damascus is
425 competing for 100 seats, while the
number of electoral centers is 585.
In Aleppo, the number of candidates
reached 7805 competing for 2283 seats.
The number of electoral centers is 818 in
the city of Aleppo and 1202 in its
countryside.
The province's data indicate that 1286
candidates hold university certificates,
MAs and PhDs.
In Quneitra Province, 812 candidates, 262
holding university certificates, are running
the elections to win 330 seats.
In Hama, 3667 candidates are to compete
for 1997 seats, more than 55% of whom
are holders of university or intermediate
institutes certificates.
In Tartous, the number of candidates are
3107 competing for 950 seats.
In Sweida, 1603 candidates, half of them
hold university certificates, are
participating through 302 electoral
centers to win 645 seats.
In Lattakia, 3440 candidates are
participating in the elections through 846
electoral centers.
In Daraa, the number of candidates
reached 1873, with 410 electoral centers
and 1043 seats.
In Homs, 3500 candidates are running the
elections through 611 electoral centers to
win the 1496 seats allocated to the
province.
In Raqqa, 2500 candidates are to compete
for 487 seats through 459 electoral
centers.
Deir Ezzor has 3314 candidates, 1362
seats and 599 electoral centers.
Candidates in Idleb are 2468 competing
for 1907 seats, and the number of
electoral centers is 898.
In Hasaka, elections at 850 electoral
centers will decide who, out of 4353
candidates, will occupy the 1742 seats.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2011/12/12/
387431.htm
Sayfa 47
Seferberlik İlan Edilsin… Sözde İstanbul Meclisi Haindir…
ŞAM - Suriye Değişim ve Kurtuluş Halk
Cephesi Merkez Komitesi, boykot
çağrılarını reddettiğini vurgulayarak, sözde
İstanbul Meclisi’nin tutumlarını şüpheli
olarak nitelendirdi.
Suriye Değişim ve Kurtuluş Halk Cephesi
Merkez Komitesi bugün Suriye’nin içinde
bulunduğu krize yönelik gelişmeleri ve
Suriye’nin toprak bütünlüğünü, halkını ve
bağımsızlığını hedef alan emperyalist-
siyonist ve Arap gerici komployu ele aldı.
Düzenlediği toplantıdan sonra yayımladığı
bildiride Merkez Komite, emperyalistlerin
Suriye’ye doğrudan askeri müdahaleyi
engelleyenin, uluslararası gelişmelerle
birlikte Rusya ve Çin’in Suriye’ye karşı
askeri müdahale seçeneğini reddetmesi
olduğu belirtildi.
Emperyalist projenin dışarıda yapmaya
başaramadığını içerideki silahlıları
destekleyerek gerçekleştirme çabası
olduğuna işaret eden komite, aralarında
toplumsal güçleri vatan savunması için
seferberliğe hazırlayacak ulusal birlik
hükümeti kurulması seçeneği de başta
olmak üzere krizin aşılmasını engelleyecek
icraatlar alınması çağrısında bulundu.
Ulusal muhalefet güçlerinin bu seçeneği
öne çıkarmaya çağıran komite, vatan
savunması için halk seferberliğinin bir
seçenek olduğunu vurgulayarak, barışçıl
halk gösteri hareketlerine beklenen
vatansever rolünü üstlenme çağrısında
bulundu.
Krize Pozitif Yaklaşanlar Gözlemci
Göndersin
Merkez Komite Üyesi Kadri Cemil bugün
düzenlediği basın toplantısında, Arap
Ligi’ne girişimini uygulama çağrısında
bulunarak, girişimi engelleyenin ligin
kendisi olduğunu vurguladı.
Hükümete, Suriye krizine pozitif yaklaşan
ve dış müdahaleleri reddeden tüm
uluslararası mercilerden gözlemcilerini
göndererek Suriye’de durumları
Sayfa 48
incelemelerini isteme çağrısında bulunan
Cemil, “Suriye halkı her türlü düşmanlığa
göğüs gerecek güçtedir” dedi.
İşbirlikçi Sözde İstanbul Meclisi’nin Başkanı
Burhan Galyun’un Hizbullah ve İran ile
ilişkilerin kesileceği yönündeki
açıklamalarını kınayan Cemil, “İşte o, bu
şekilde kendilerini dünyanın efendisi
olarak görenlere bir senet vermiş oluyor
ama, uluslararası levhadaki derin
değişimleri göremiyor” dedi.
“Galyun ve benzerleri bilmelidir ki,
Suriye’de sadece Suriye halkının
tutumlarını, kahramanlık rolü ve tarihini
yansıtan vatansever tutumlar hakim
olabilir” diyen Cemil, halkın halihazırdaki
koşullarla mücadele için seçeneklerini
belirlediğine ve ulusal birliği ile
egemenliğinin sarsılmasına izin
vermeyeceğini kaydetti.
İstanbul Meclisi Vatana İhanet Ediyor
Diğer taraftan komite üyesi Ali Haydar da,
cephenin, halkın çıkarlarını zedeleyecek
boykot çağrılarını reddettiğini
vurgulayarak, sözde İstanbul Meclisi’nin
tüm vatansever sınırların dışına çıktığını ve
dış müdahale çağrısında bulunarak ihanet
boyutuna geldiğini dile getirdi.
Vatana karşı açık ve şüpheli düşmanlıkların
önünü açmaya çalışan Sözde İstanbul
Meclisi ile muamele edenlerin kırmızı
çizgiyi aşmış olacağını vurgulayan Merkez
Komite Üyesi Adil Naise de, “bu sözde
meclis, kendisinden istenen rolü
üstlenmek ve dış ajandaları uygulamak için
oluşturularak finanse edilmiştir” dedi.
http://www.sana.sy/tur/236/2011/12/11/
387611.htm
7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA / ARAP YARIMADASI VE BASRA KÖRFEZİ
Egypt has good chances of joining GCC as a member state: official
Head of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s
directorate in Kuwait’s foreign ministry
said that it is considering allowing Egypt
entry into the Gulf block as it has the most
advantage over new candidates Morocco
and Jordan.
The Kuwaiti daily al-Anba reported on
Sunday that Humood al-Radhwan said his
country fully supports Morocco and
Sayfa 49
Jordan joining the GCC but after two
years.
“A somewhat disorganized joining of both
Jordan and Morocco cannot happen,” he
said, adding that “the GCC states have
similar features such as one language and
religion and its society is more cohesive;
there is no difference between a Kuwait
and an Emirati for instance.”
There are 21 Arabic speaking countries,
but the GCC bloc views itself as more
culturally cohesive.
He said that does not mean there is no
commonality between the GCC and Jordan
and Morocco, but “we need two years of
partnership with them and then we can
look into them joining the two years after
two years during the GCC summit.”
The GCC head said that there is a slight
difference in point of views on how to
deal with Jordan and Morocco.
“Of course we fully agree to aid Jordan
and Morocco, but the amount of money
has not been fixed yet or how it will be
spent,” he said. Some countries want the
aid to go through a direct fund while
others want to give the aid through
development funds via spurring projects
to help the two countries’ economies, he
said.
Early in October, an Egyptian official
denied that his county had received any
offer for Egypt to join the GCC.
But earlier in September Egyptian officials
had said that the GCC states were
enthusiastic about Cairo joining, as the
country had the capabilities and shared
mutual strategic interests with the Gulf
states.
The sources said that an Egyptian role is
increasingly necessary to the stability of
the region, especially after the change of
regime in Iraq and the increasing Iranian
interference in the Iraqi political sphere.
Sayfa 50
Egypt which boasts the largest army in the
Arab world has its security historically
linked to the security of the Gulf, various
sources said.
On September 11, Morocco and Jordan
attended their first GCC ministerial
meeting, in Jeddah.
Egypt and Morocco are the only Arab
economies classified as emerging markets.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/
12/11/182018.html?PHPSESSID=mhioti9td
3tngoa8marfd2i7t4
Yemen transition government starts work
Prime Minister Mohammed Baswinder
heads the new government to pave way
for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step
down.
Yemen's national unity government was
sworn in on Saturday in the presence of
Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, an
official statement said.
The statement, carried by the official Saba
news agency, said the swearing-in
ceremony took place at the Republican
Palace in the capital Sanaa.
The new 34-member cabinet, headed by
Prime Minister Mohammed Baswinder will
now lead Yemen for a three-month
transition period, after which President Ali
Abdullah Saleh is expected to formally
step down after 33 years in power.
The unity government will carry out its
duties until early elections are held in
February, after which Hadi will take over
the presidency for an interim two-year
period as stipulated by the Gulf-sponsored
deal to resolve Yemen's political crisis.
Half of the new cabinet posts were given
to members of the opposition Common
Forum, while Saleh loyalists were
appointed to the other half, under the gulf
plan.
Immunity plans
Sayfa 51
The Gulf plan also gave Saleh and his close
relatives immunity from prosecution for
crimes committed in the uprising against
his rule that has left hundreds of people
dead and thousands more wounded since
it began in January.
However, the protesters who have
thronged the streets of the capital and
other Yemeni cities have rejected the
immunity clause and continue to demand
Saleh goes on trial.
For more on Yemen, visit our Spotlight
page
The government faces a host of challenges
including sporadic fighting with anti-Saleh
tribesmen, a southern separatist
movement, a Shia Muslim rebellion in the
north and a regional wing of al Qaeda that
has exploited the upheaval to strengthen
its foothold in the poor Arabian peninsula
country.
On Friday, a soldier was killed in fighting
between government forces and
opponents of Saleh on the streets of
Sanaa.
The violence near government buildings
and the compound of Sadeq al-Ahmar, a
foe of Saleh who commands significant
forces, was the latest challenge to the
transition plan after 10 months of anti-
Saleh protests.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middlee
ast/2011/12/20111210111427972141.ht
ml
Bahrain security forces break up Shiite demo
DUBAI — Bahraini security forces on
Friday fired tear gas, rubber bullets and
stun grenades to disperse hundreds of
demonstrators in a Shiite neighbourhood
of the capital Manama, the opposition
said.
The protesters were heading towards
Manama's Pearl Square, epicentre of an
anti-government movement, from the
western neighbourhood of Jad Hafs when
they were set upon by the security forces,
according to Matar Matar, an MP for the
Shiite Al-Wefaq opposition.
"Some demonstrators were brutally
beaten while others suffered breathing
problems due to the tear gas," he said.
Sayfa 52
Matar said he was not able to elaborate
further on the extent of the injuries as
"the wounded prefer not to go to hospital,
fearing arrest."
The demonstration was the second in
three days by Shiites in Manama.
On Wednesday, an attempt to march on
Pearl Square by protesters from the
outlying Shiite village of Al-Daih was
similarly broken up by the security forces.
Sunni-ruled Bahrain was rocked by Shiite-
led democracy protests between mid-
February and mid-March, which were
crushed by security forces backed by its
Gulf neighbours.
Matar condemned police for continuing to
press a violent repression of "peaceful"
protests despite criticisms by an
independent inquiry of what it found to be
human rights abuses perpetrated by
Bahrain's security forces.
The inquiry appointed by King Hamad
found that police had used "excessive
force" against the Shiite-led
demonstrators and had tortured activists.
In the wake of the report, the king last
month issued several decrees, including
one naming a panel to implement the
recommendations of the probe.
The panel held its first meeting on
Thursday and adopted a "clear
mechanism... in order to expedite the
process" of reform, a statement said.
Meanwhile Bahrain's Information
Authority said in a statement Friday that
the country has decided to open up its
prisons to the International Committee of
the Red Cross as part of reforms pledged
by the interior ministry.
And Interior Minister Rashed bin Abdullah
Al-Khalifa "issued an order to refer all
cases related to deaths, torture and
inhumane treatment implicating police to
the public prosecution," said the
statement.
http://www.vob.org/en/index.php?show=
news&action=article&id=1000
Pro-govt Bahrain marchers target opposition group HQ
Sayfa 53
A girl waves Bahraini flag as she
participates in an anti-government
gathering organised by al-Wafeq, in
Budaiya west of Manama, December 9,
2011. Thousands of mainly shi'ites
attended the gathering shouting shouting
anti-government slogans and askin
Reuters) - Dozens of pro-government
demonstrators marched to the offices of a
Bahraini opposition party on Saturday and
daubed the building with grafitti against
majority Shi'ites and Iran, residents said.
They said "Down with Iran" and "Shi'ites
get out" were among the slogans written
on the offices of Waad, a secular party
aligned with the largest Shi'ite opposition
group Wefaq which was at the forefront
of protests against the Sunni-led
government this year.
U.S.-allied Bahrain has accused Shi'ite
power Iran of instigating unrest among
Shi'ites in the Gulf Arab kingdom, an
allegation Tehran denies.
"Police stopped them from entering. They
dispersed after leaving pictures of King
Hamad and the prime minister outside the
Waad headquarters," a resident said.
"This building had been burned down
twice, and we had just repaired it. So we
were afraid that may be repeated. But
police were there and nothing happened,"
Radhi al-Musawi, Waad's deputy
secretary-general, told Reuters by
telephone.
Inspired by "Arab Spring" revolts in Tunisia
and Egypt, thousands of mainly Shi'ite
Bahrainis took to the streets in February
and March demanding curbs on the power
of the ruling Sunni Muslim Al-Khalifa
family.
The protest wave was suppressed with the
help of military forces brought in from
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth
Fleet.
Sayfa 54
A government-appointed commission of
international jurists found evidence of
systematic abuses against detained
protesters.
Bahrain has hired U.S. and British police
chiefs to lead the reform of security
agencies.
There has been no progress in talks
between the government and opposition
groups on political reform and the Gulf
Arab island state remains tense, with daily
clashes between riot police and Shi'ite
protesters.
http://www.vob.org/en/index.php?show=
news&action=article&id=1001
8. AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN / AFGANİSTAN - PAKİSTAN
Karzai: Death Toll in Attacks on Afghan Shi’ites Rises to 80
VOA News
December 11, 2011
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says
Tuesday's rare sectarian attacks on
minority Shi'ites in the country killed at
least 80 people, significantly higher than
the previously reported figure of 59.
In a speech Sunday in Kabul, Mr. Karzai
said he learned of the updated death toll
earlier in the day and blamed the
bombings on people trying to undermine
peace in Afghanistan. In the deadliest
December 6 attack, a suicide bomber blew
himself up near a Kabul shrine where
Shi'ites were marking the holy day of
Ashura, while a smaller blast happened
near a Shi'ite shrine in the northern city of
Mazar-e-Sharif.
Authorities initially put the death toll at 55
in Kabul and four in Mazar-e-Sharif. It was
not clear if the 80 deaths reported by Mr.
Karzai included people killed only at the
Kabul shrine or in both cities.
Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-
Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the
Kabul attack, which raised fears that
Afghanistan could see an eruption of
Sunni – Shi'ite violence of the kind that is
common in Pakistan and Iraq.
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan
Crocker said Saturday he does not expect
the Ashura bombings to ignite a sectarian
Sayfa 55
conflict, in part because Afghan Shi'ite
leaders have called for calm.
Afghanistan's Sunni militant Taliban
movement issued another statement
Sunday condemning the attacks.
In other violence, NATO says a bomb
attack killed two of its service members in
eastern Afghanistan on Sunday. It did not
disclose their nationalities.
President Karzai also used his speech to
urge the international community to do
more to help Afghanistan fight corruption.
Berlin-based group Transparency
International ranked the country as one of
the world's most corrupt in a survey
released this month.
In his speech marking International Anti-
Corruption Day, Mr. Karzai said foreign
donors and companies contribute to the
corruption problem by awarding
development contracts to high-ranking
Afghan officials and their relatives. He
called for the practice to stop.
Speaking at the same event, the head of
Afghanistan's High Office of Oversight and
Anti-Corruption said his agency is like a
“toothless lion” and needs more power to
deal with the problem. Azizullah Ludin
said Afghanistan's more than 10 anti-
corruption bodies should be merged into a
single unit to fight corruption effectively.
Mr. Karzai also called on the United States
to extradite former Afghan central bank
chief Abdul Qadir Fitrat to face questions
about a corruption scandal at Kabul Bank,
Afghanistan's biggest commercial lender.
Fitrat fled to the United States in June,
saying his life was in danger because of
the scandal.
Critics accuse Fitrat and other central bank
officials of failing to act on warnings of
corruption inside the private bank, whose
near-collapse last year triggered an
economic crisis.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
Afghan president vows to fight corruption
KABUL, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan
President Hamid Karzai on Sunday vowed
to fight corruption in his cash-strapped
and militancy-plagued country.
Sayfa 56
"We are determined to fight corruption
and implement the law to curb this social
evil," President Karzai said in his remarks
to observe the International Anti-
Corruption Day.
The militancy-hit Afghanistan has ranked
the second most corrupted nations after
Somalia and Democratic People Republic
of Korea, according to a recent report by
Transparency International.
To root out corruption, Karzai pointed out
that implementation of the law is
essential, adding the government should
push the reforms and end nepotism.
He also noted that Afghanistan would
overcome the menace of corruption
through its long-term fight.
However, the Afghan president pointed
finger at foreign countries present in
Afghanistan, saying "Our foreign friends
should not give huge contracts to high
ranking government functionaries as
signing such contracts would pave the way
for corruption." Nevertheless, the
president did not mention any name.
Certain countries contributing troops to
Afghanistan particularly the United States,
according to officials have inked contracts
worth millions of U.S. dollars with private
firms.
"The worth of these contracts is billions of
U.S. dollars and inked without our
information. If such contracts are inked in
a proper way and Afghan government
takes tax it would benefit our economy,"
President Karzai said, adding "we want our
foreign friends to assist us in this field".
In parts of his speech, the Afghan leader
also hinted that " BBC and certain media
outlets have making propaganda that
Afghanistan would plunge into civil war
after NATO-led forces pull out from the
war-torn country", saying these media
outlets should stop such propaganda
against Afghanistan.
Meantime, the Afghan President said
education is very important for taking his
country out from the current problems, as
educating Afghans would help the country
to stand on its feet.
Earlier, Azizullah Ludin, the head of Anti-
Corruption Directorate of Afghanistan in
Sayfa 57
his speech described corruption as a major
challenge in government administration.
"My administration is like a toothless lion
that captures a prey but cannot eat,"
Ludin told the audience while referring to
the weakness of administration.
He also admitted that the law is
implemented against the weak citizens
while the big fishes and influential figures
enjoy immunity and emphasized that the
culture of impunity should be ended in
Afghanistan.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
Berlin plans Afghanistan troop pull-out
Press TV
December 11, 2011
German officials have announced the
country's decision to begin its troop
withdrawal from Afghanistan in February.
Berlin plans to withdraw some 200
soldiers from the war-torn country in
February and to reduce its forces to 4,900
next year, AFP reported.
There are currently about 5,350 German
troops in Afghanistan.
Earlier, German Defense Minister Thomas
de Maiziere announced that the presence
of German troops in Afghanistan would
continue after the 2014 deadline.
Germany has the third largest force in
Afghanistan following the United States
and Britain, with some 5,350 soldiers.
Germany is expected to cut its combat
force contingent to 4,900 soldiers within a
year.
Insecurity continues to rise across
Afghanistan despite the presence of
nearly 150,000 US-led forces in the Asian
country.
According to official figures released by
the website icasualties.org, a total of 53
German soldiers have been killed in
Afghanistan since October 2001, when the
US-led invasion of the country began.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
Two US-led troops killed in Afghan war
Press TV
Sayfa 58
December 11, 2011
Two US-led foreign soldiers have been
killed in a massive bomb explosion in
eastern Afghanistan, Press TV has learned.
Further information regarding the
identities and nationalities of the soldiers
has not yet been released.
Parts of eastern Afghanistan are among
the most volatile regions in the war-torn
nation.
The recent deaths put the total NATO-led
troop deaths in Afghanistan at 546.
Last year, nonetheless, remains the
deadliest year for foreign military
casualties with a death toll of 711. The
number eclipsed the previous record of
521 set in 2009.
Insecurity continues to rise across
Afghanistan despite the presence of
nearly 150,000 US-led forces in the Asian
country.
The increasing number of military
casualties in Afghanistan has caused
widespread anger in the US and other
NATO member states, undermining public
support for the Afghan war.
Around 130,000 people were displaced by
the conflict in the first seven months of
the year, up to nearly two-thirds from the
same period a year earlier.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
Pakistan: US Military Vacates Pakistani Air Base by Deadline
VOA News
December 11, 2011
Pakistan says the U.S. military has vacated
an air base in the country's southwest,
meeting a deadline set by the Pakistani
government in response to a NATO air
strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last
month.
The Pakistani military says it took over the
Shamsi base in Baluchistan province on
Sunday, as the last flight carrying U.S.
personnel and equipment departed. U.S.
media say the U.S. military had used the
base as part of a years-long drone
offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban
militants along the Pakistani-Afghan
border. There was no immediate
Sayfa 59
confirmation of the base withdrawal from
U.S. officials.
The Pakistani government ordered the
United States to vacate the base by
December 11 as part of several punitive
measures reflecting Pakistani anger about
the November 26 NATO strikes that killed
the soldiers. Islamabad also closed its
border crossings to trucks delivering
supplies to NATO forces in land-locked
Afghanistan and boycotted a December 5
international conference on stabilizing its
western neighbor.
U.S. officials have denied Pakistani
accusations that NATO warplanes
deliberately targeted the Pakistani soldiers
during an operation against militants on
the border of Afghanistan's Kunar
province and Pakistan's Mohmand tribal
region. The U.S. military and NATO have
launched investigations of the incident
and U.S. President Barack Obama has
offered condolences to Pakistan for the
soldiers' deaths.
U.S. intelligence experts say the
withdrawal from the Shamsi air base is not
likely to have a major impact on the drone
war in the border region because the U.S.
military still can fly the unmanned planes
out of air fields in Afghanistan.
In another development, two prominent
Pakistani Taliban members have denied a
claim by one of the group's commanders
that the militant group is engaged in
peace talks with the Pakistani
government.
The Associated Press reported Sunday
that Pakistani Taliban spokesman
Ehsansullah Ehsan and commander
Mullah Dadullah told the agency that no
such talks are under way.
The Pakistani Taliban's deputy chief
Maulvi Faqir Mohammad had announced
Saturday that negotiations with the
government were progressing well and
could soon lead to an agreement.
Mohammad's fighters operate in
Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region.
Pakistani Taliban members' conflicting
statements about peace talks appeared to
reflect a split within the group, whose
command structure is unclear. The
Pakistani government has not confirmed
any negotiations with the militants
blamed for much of the country's deadly
Sayfa 60
violence in recent years, but officials have
spoken of a need for dialogue.
The United States has long pressured
Pakistan, a major U.S. aid recipient, to
fight the Islamist militants who use bases
in Pakistani tribal regions to attack U.S.-
led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
http://www.aopnews.com/today.html
*This media summary is prepared by ORSAM
Middle East Research Assistants Nebahat
Tanrıverdi O and Sercan Doğan. It covers news
and commentaries as reported by the national
media sources publishing in the Middle
Eastern countries. The views expressed are not
those of ORSAM and their inclusion does not
imply factual accuracy.
*Bu bülten ORSAM Ortadoğu Uzman
Yardımcıları Nebahat Tanrıverdi O ve Sercan
Doğan tarafından hazırlanmaktadır. Bülten
Ortadoğu ülkelerinin yerel haber
kaynaklarından derlenmektedir. Belirtilen
görüşler bölge ülkelerinin haber kaynaklarına
ve ismi geçen yazarlara ait olup ORSAM’ın
görüşünü yansıtmamaktadır.