DAKAR- The United States and its allies are clamping down on suspected Hezbollah activity in West Africa, which Washington says is a major source of cash for the Lebanese group as its patron Iran feels the pinch of sanctions.
Hezbollah youth stomp on Israeli flag – Photo: Reuters
The push coincides with Hezbollah’s deepening role in Syria, where it has dispatched thousands of fighters to back President Bashar Assad.
By Reuters
Arab states will push ahead with a bid to single out Israel for criticism over its assumed atomic arsenal at this week’s UN nuclear agency meeting, despite Western pressure to refrain, a senior representative said on Friday.
The Arab countries foreign ministers summit at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013. – Photo: AP
Frustrated over the indefinite postponement last year of an international conference on banning atomic arms in the region, Arab states have proposed a non-binding resolution expressing concern about “Israeli nuclear capabilities.” Continue Reading »
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reacted Thursday to Iranian President Hasan Rouhani’s latest interview, in which he sounded a moderate tone, and said – “Let us not be fooled by the Iranian president’s words of deception.”
PM Netanyahu – From PMO vide
“The Iranians are creating media spin in order to keep the centrifuges spinning,” a statement from Netanyahu’s bureau said. “The test is not in Rouhani’s words, but in the deeds of the Iranian regime, which continues to vigorously pursue its nuclear program at the same time that Rouhani grants interviews.” Continue Reading »
By News agencies
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday echoed comments by Syrian President Bashar Assad suggesting that Damascus’ chemical weapons arsenal is in fact a response to Israel’s alleged nuclear project.
Russian President Vladimir Putin – Screenshot
Speaking to journalists in Russia, Putin remarked that Syria’s chemical weapons were created as an “alternative” to Israel’s nuclear weapons. “Israel has technological supremacy and does not require nuclear arms,” he said.
He expressed optimism when asked whether he trusts Assad to fulfill Russia’s plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons and avoid a US strike. Continue Reading »
Iranian President Hassan Rohani, in a television interview, said his country is not seeking war but harshly criticized Israel for bringing “instability” to the Middle East and for questioning his government’s intentions toward nuclear arms.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani speaks to NBC’s Ann Curry in Tehran, September 18, 2013. – Photo: Reuters
The comments from the new Iranian president came during the second part of an interview with NBC News that aired on Thursday, just days before he travels to New York for an appearance at the United Nations. Continue Reading »
An Egyptian military court on Wednesday sentenced five Palestinian fishermen to a year in jail for illegally crossing into Egypt’s territorial waters, Egyptian security sources said.
Palestinian fisherman prepares his boat on the border with Egypt in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013 – Photo: AP
“The court had arrested five Palestinians recently for crossing without permits to the Egyptian waters in North Sinai (that borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza enclave),” one security source said. The source said each of the fishermen was also fined 500 Egyptian pounds ($730). Continue Reading »
A senior Russian official Wednesday said that Syria had handed over new evidence showing that rebels had used chemical weapons in a deadly attack near Damascus last month.
Members of the UN investigation team take samples from the ground in the Damascus countryside of Zamalka, Syria. – Photo: AP
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said details provided by the Syrian government would bolster claims supported by Moscow that President Bashar Assad was not responsible for the August 21 attack, which the United States says killed more than 1,400 people. Continue Reading »
By Roi Kais
Israel is close to officially approving the release of an additional 250 Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian sources defined as “credible” told the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat.
Ramallah celebrates prisoners’ release in August – Photo: AP
Israel has already agreed to release 104 prisoners as part of the resumption of peace negotiations. Twenty-six of those prisoners were freed last month. The second phase of the prisoners’ release is scheduled for the end of October. Continue Reading »
A Saudi newspaper has claimed Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is using tunnels to smuggle chemical weapons to Hizbullah.
Hezbollah flag – AFP photo
The report by the Al-Watan daily said the regime had made the move to avoid being spotted, moving the deadly weapons before the arrival of int’l inspectors.
Last week, the Syrian regime agreed to a Russian brokered deal to hand over its chemical weapons stock to the international community amid the threat of a U.S. strike on the country. Continue Reading »
JERUSALEM – Syrian President Bashar Assad could cling to power for years despite having lost overall control of his country, according to Israel’s top commander on the frontier with Syria.
Yair Golan – Photo: Meshulam Levy/BESA Center
Major-General Yair Golan’s remarks, published on Wednesday in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, reflected debate in Israel over Assad’s fate, 2-1/2 years into Syria’s civil war, after a US-Russian agreement to force him to give up his chemical weapons.
The Bangkok apartment where the bomb exploded. Feb 2012 – Photo: Reuters
Atris Hussein, who also holds Swedish nationality, was arrested Jan 12, 2012, at Bangkok’s main airport after a tip-off from Israeli police, who claimed he was going to stage a terrorist attack in Thailand.
Now that the attacks on Egypt’s Christian churches have subsided, stage two of the jihad — profiting from the fear and terror caused by stage one — is setting in: reports are arriving that the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters are forcing the roughly 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village in south Minya province to pay jizya — the money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims historically had to pay to their Islamic overlords “with willing submission and while feeling themselves subdued” to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29. Continue Reading »
BAKU, Azerbaijan (JTA) — With less than a month to go until presidential elections, the moustachioed smile of Ilham Aliyev stares down at his countrymen from giant posters scattered around this bustling metropolis on the Caspian Sea.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, left, meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the presidential palace in Baku, June 28, 2009. – Amos Ben Gershom/GPO via Getty Images
The Azerbaijani president has been in office since 2003 and is widely expected to be re-elected, extending the leadership of the Aliyev clan into its third decade.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, says Israel has wanted to see Syrian President Bashar Assad removed from power since before the outbreak of war there – a shift from its publicly-stated position.
Michael Oren – Photo: Bloomberg
It sees his defeat by rebels who include Al Qaida-linked Islamists as preferable to his current alliance with Iran, Oren said.
His comments in an interview with the Jerusalem Post marked a move in Israel’s public position on the civil war in Syria. Continue Reading »
A woman turned herself in to Palestinian Authority police on Sunday and confessed to brutally murdering her mentally-challenged daughter in an apparent “honor killing.”
(Illustration) The 20th Murder this year – Photo: Reuters
Gulf News reported that the woman admitted to beating her unmarried daughter, and then hanging her, after finding out that she was pregnant.
The shocking crime occurred in the Arab town of Yata, near Hevron. Continue Reading »
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