Archive for Mid-East News

| November 12, 2013
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Arafat widow & P.A. paid for polonium tests

The Washington Free Beacon reported Friday that Suha Arafat & the P.A. paid for the poisoning tests.

By JTA

 

 

The widow of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority paid for the Swiss medical tests on the late Palestinian leader’s body that showed he did not die of natural causes.

Yasser Arafat and his wife Suha hold hands prior to Arafat's departure from Ramallah, Oct. 29, 2004.

Yasser Arafat and his wife Suha hold hands prior to Arafat’s departure from Ramallah, Oct. 29, 2004. –     Photo: AP

The Washington Free Beacon reported Friday that a spokesperson for the University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne told the newspaper that Suha Arafat and the P.A. paid for the tests.

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| November 12, 2013
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Hezbollah Upset: Lebanese TV station won’t apologize for Nasrallah sketch

 

TV show that had sparked riots, featured impersonation of Hezbollah leader.

The director rejects Hezbollah’s hint that some people can’t be criticized.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON


 

 

The Lebanese TV station and the director of a comedy show, which made fun of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, refused to apologize despite riots by his supporters against the show.

Nasrallah impersonator on Lebanese television - Photo: YouTube Screenshot

Nasrallah impersonator on Lebanese television – Photo: YouTube Screenshot

Lebanese director Charbel Khalil told the Lebanese Daily Star on Sunday that he would not apologize.

“I will not apologize. We are continuing with our work, and this issue is behind us now,” he said.

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| November 11, 2013
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Israel has returned 90 stolen antiquities to Cairo

Returned Home: The Egyptian authorities noticed online that the stolen collection had been originally put on the auction block by a Jerusalem based auction house.

By

 

Israel has returned a collection of 90 antiquities after discovering that the artifacts – presented for sale at auction – had been stolen, Egyptian authorities said on Monday.

An archive photo of an Egyptian mummy covering.

An archive photo of an Egyptian mummy covering. – Photo: Reuters

The collection reportedly included clay vessels and vases, stelae and cultic figurines.

Antiquities theft is a huge problem for archaeologists. Not only are precious and irreplaceable remains of ancient cultures lost to science and humanity at large: often the timeline of digs are destroyed by robbers plowing through the layers with disregard for the historic record. Continue Reading »

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| November 11, 2013
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Minister Naftali Bennett: U.S. must prevent potential nuclear 9/11 now

 

Watch Bennett tells Fox News: Deal must force Iran to dismantle its nuclear production program

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday called on the world to maintain economic pressure on Iran in the hopes that it would force the Islamic Republic to dismantle its entire nuclear program.

 

“Today is the time to stop a potential nuclear 9/11,” Bennett said in an interview with Fox News, responding to the stalemate in nuclear talks over the weekend in Geneva between Iran and the P5+1 world powers.

Bennett, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, condemned a deal on the table in Geneva that supposedly calls for only a partial halt of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

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| November 11, 2013
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Analysis: White House Pushing Bad Iran Deal, Abandoning Allies

US-based analysts from the Washington Institute commented that the White House is rushing a non-demanding Iran nuclear deal and turning its back on its closest allies.

Analyst also notes nuclear arms race danger.

By Ari Yashar

 

According to US-based analysts, America is ignoring its allies to rush a deal and ease sanctions on Iran at the Geneva nuclear talks, in doing so turning its back on its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia. Analysts note the move raises the specter of a Middle East nuclear arms race.

US President Barack Obama – Reuters

Speaking to AFP Sunday, Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, said of Iran nuclear talks in Geneva that the US was “maybe trying to go a little too far, too fast…induced by the Iranian enthusiasm.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| November 10, 2013
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Iran Reports: Lebanon threatening to sue Israel over spying

 

Press TV quoted Lebanese FM saying Israel stationed “very sophisticated espionage devices” along its border with Lebanon, a ‘blatant violation of our sovereignty’

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

Lebanon plans to file a lawsuit against Israel over its alleged spying activities, Iran’s  Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour as saying on Sunday.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour - Photo Courtesy

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour – Photo Courtesy

“Lebanon is conducting serious investigations regarding the blatant Israeli violations of our sovereignty,” Mansour told Press TV.

Mansour accuses Israel of stationing “very sophisticated espionage devices” that enable it to “tap into both wired and wireless communication networks.”

The Lebanese foreign minister said lawmakers in his country are planning to draft a complaint against Israel to the UN Security Council for breaking international norms. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| November 10, 2013
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Israeli Knesset Member to Kerry: You are not an ‘honest broker’

 

MK Orit Struck says U.S. Secretary of State Kelly echoes the Palestinian stance.

By LAHAV HARKOV
 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry is not a fair negotiator, MK Orit Struck (Bayit Yehudi) wrote Friday, in what appears to be a trend of lawmakers from her party penning angry letters to Kerry.

Secretary of State John Kerry hold press conference with Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erekat, July 30, 2013.

Secretary of State John Kerry with Tzipi Livni & Saeb Erekat Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Struck’s letter came after Channel 2 News interviewed Kerry Thursday, and the lawmaker summarized his comments as “threatening Israel with a third Intifada if it refuses to capitulate to [his] demands and those of the Palestinians and remove its soldiers from the areas of Judea and Samaria.” Continue Reading »

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| November 9, 2013
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Iran Talks: Since Kerry Didn’t, France Stood up for Israel

Iranian Ministers accuse French Foreign Minister Fabius of ‘defending Israel’.

French FM expressed the concerns Israel has raising to no avail, ‘no certainty’ a deal will be reached.

By Ari Yashar

 

Amid the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, two senior Iranian MPs Saturday claimed French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is defending Israel. The French FM has expressed concerns that Israel has raised over the proposals.

Fabius traveled to Geneva Friday where the talks between Iran and six world powers (P5+1) are being held.

He arrived the same day as US Secretary of State John Kerry, who made the trip to Geneva for three-way meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 9, 2013
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Hezbollah invited to set up attack base in South American country

Suriname president’s son, Dino Bouterse, allegedly attempted to invite Hezbollah to set up an attack base in his South American nation, in exchange for $2 million, says U.S. prosecutors.

By Reuters 

 

 

A son of Suriname’s president invited people he thought were from the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah to set up a base in his country to attack Americans in exchange for millions of U.S. dollars, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

Dino Bouterse, son of Suriname President Desi Bouterse

Dino Bouterse, son of Suriname President Desi Bouterse – Photo: AP

Federal prosecutors who already were pursuing drug charges against Dino Bouterse, a son of President Desi Bouterse, filed the latest allegation in U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| November 9, 2013
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Lebanon rejects rumors that imported Israeli tomatoes cause cancer

 

Lebanon’s newspaper, ‘Daily Star’: Media reports tomatoes  causing vomiting and fatigue

The report came after similar reports disparaging Israeli tomatoes in the Egyptian press earlier this week.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Lebanon’s Agriculture Ministry on Friday denied media reports that Israeli tomatoes on the Lebanese market were causing sickness and harm to local residents, The Daily Star reported.

Tomatoes illustrative – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The Star quoted the Ministry as saying it was responding to reports that Israeli tomatoes were causing vomiting and fatigue, and were injected with cancerous cells.

“Shipments of imported tomatoes haven’t entered the Lebanese market for one month and only local production is being consumed,” the ministry said in a statement.

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| November 8, 2013
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Cyprus edges into the Middle East frying pan

 

Turkey’s population outnumbers that of Cyprus by nearly 100 times. But Nicosia can create alliances, especially with Israel, to enhance its security. Israel in turn gains, by combined gas operations, strategic depth for its air force, and a diplomatic friend in the European Union.

By Daniel Pipes

The Republic of Cyprus has entered the maelstrom of the world’s most volatile region, thanks to new-found gas and oil reserves combined with an erratic Turkish foreign policy and a civil war in Syria. Even as leaders of this Mediterranean island show skill dealing with these novel threats and opportunities, they need support from a strong U.S.

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| November 8, 2013
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Palestinian investigation concludes: Israel assassinated Arafat

Acknowledging insufficient evidence to support theory that PA president died of polonium poisoning, the Palestinian investigators say Israel is only suspect in Arafat’s murder.

By

 

 

The commission set up to investigate the circumstances of former Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s death presented their findings in a press conference in Ramallah on Friday.

Yasser Arafat with his doctors in Ramallah - AP - 2004

Yasser Arafat with his doctors in his compound in Ramallah in 2004.- Photo: AP

The two teams of investigators, Swiss and Russian, did not find any conclusive evidence, Dr. Abdullah Bashir, the chairman of the medical committee, said.

“The outcome of the comprehensive report on the levels of Polonium-210 and the development of his illness does not give sufficient evidence to support the decision that Polonium-210 caused acute radiation syndrome leading to death,” he said, quoting conclusions of the Russian report. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 8, 2013
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Seeing spies everywhere: Beirut furious with alleged Israeli spying

 

In the Lebanese capital, parliamentary committee convenes to discuss internal reports from security sources, claiming Israeli spy stations cover then entire country.

By Roi Kais

In an attempt to minimize the fallout from activities attributed to Israel, a committee working on behalf of the Lebanese parliament will convene next week to handle the matter of alleged acts of spying by Israel.

Telecommunications Towers – Photo: Dreamstime

According to a report in the Thursday edition of the Lebanese paper As-Safir, the committee spent the last few days touring southern Lebanon to expose Israeli spying technologies from afar. They were equipped with instruments manufactured in Japan that could flood Israeli equipment with light from a distance of approximately 980 feet. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 7, 2013
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Israeli source: Pakistan ready to give Saudi Arabia a nuclear bomb it bought

Nukes for the Saudis are ready for delivery, Israeli intel chief tell the BBC; if so, a Middle East nuclear arms race may have begun.

By

 

 

Saudi Arabia helped finance the Pakistani nuclear weapons program and is confident Islamabad will give it atomic bombs – which could trigger a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race, the BBC reported on Wednesday. According to a NATO source, Pakistan actually has made bombs for Saudi Arabia and they are ready to go, the report said.

A Sajjil missile is displayed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, September 21, 2012.

A Sajjil missile is displayed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, in front of a portrait of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a military parade near Tehran, September 21, 2012.-

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| November 7, 2013
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Kerry tells Abbas: US considers Israeli settlements as ‘illegitimate’

 

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry says despite difficulties, both Abbas & PM Netanyahu committed to work toward peace deal.

By REUTERS, KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

BETHLEHEM – US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Wednesday to limit settlement building, an issue that is weighing on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - Photo: AP

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: AP

Friction over the talks has risen this past week on the back of Israeli plans, announced in tandem with its release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, for some 3,500 new homes for settlers in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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