Geneva 2 on Syria? On

Syrian opposition picks interim government.

Published on 11 Nov 2013 | Members of the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition group to Bashar al Assad, convened in Turkey and voted in a list of ministers for its interim govenment. The group said it will take part in proposed talks in Geneva - but re-stated that conditions must be met for it to do so. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Istanbul.

AJE - highlighting potential

Arabs fight for independence in Northern Mali :

 Published on 2 Nov 2013 | Exclusive report from Northern Mali, where Al Jazeera found men willing to fight to the death for independance in a remote and desolate place.Arab fighters want self-rule over the north, what they call Azawad.As part of a series on the security challenge facing the country, Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall went to meet

Mali's Tuareg rebels ready for more fighting

Published on 1 Nov 2013 | Politicians in Mali's capital, Bamako, are beginning talks on how to stabilise the North. But that may be a vain hope.Tuareg rebels tell Al Jazeera they will resume attacks on the army if it continues what the rebels call ethnic cleansing in Azawad - an area they had hoped to turn into an independent Tuareg state.Mohamed Vall reports from Northern Mali.

Assad: no peace unless rebels lose support

Published on 30 Oct 2013 | Syria's President says that peace talks to end the civil war in his country will only succeed if foreign powers stop supporting the opposition. Bashar al Assad made the comments during a visit with the UN special envoy, Lakdhar Brahimi. Diplomatic Editor James Bays reports.

Dim peace prospects for Syria : UN-Arab League envoy heads to Damascus.

Published on 28 Oct 2013 | The UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is on his way to Damascus for talks with the Syrian government. He is due to meet president Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. Brahimi is trying to build support for peace talks planned in Geneva next month, but the main rebel groups have refused to take part.

In Moscow, It's Not Easy Being Muslim (VOA reported)

Published on 25 Oct 2013 | VOA Moscow Correspondent Jim Brooke talks to On Assignment's Alex Villarreal about his coverage of Moscow's growing Muslim population. Jim says Muslims in the Russian capital -- many of them migrant workers from Central Asia -- face persecution and religious repression.

China Considers Turkish Missile Deal As A Victory

Published on 2 Oct 2013 | Turkey's $4 billion (2.46 billion pounds) order for a Chinese missile defence system is a breakthrough for China in its bid to become a supplier of advanced weapons, even though opposition from Washington and NATO threatens to derail the deal.

The winning bid from the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) to deliver its FD-2000 air defence missile system in a joint production agreement with Turkey is the first time a Chinese supplier has won a major order for state-of-the-art equipment from a NATO member. U.S., Russian and Western European manufacturers were also in the fray.

The decision last week to award the contract to CPMIEC, a company that is under U.S. sanctions for dealings with Iran, North Korea and Syria, surprised global arms trade experts and senior NATO officials.

"It is quite significant I would say, if it materialises," said Oliver Brauner, a researcher on China's arms exports at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)."It would certainly be a landmark deal."

Turkey signalled on Monday that it could back away from its decision after Washington said it had "serious concerns" about the deal with a sanctioned company for a system that would not be compatible with NATO's other weapons and networks.

And, in a reminder that Ankara faces stiff opposition from its alliance partners in Europe, a NATO official in Brussels said it was important that equipment ordered by member countries is compatible.

"It is premature at this stage to say whether Turkey's acquisition will be able to operate with the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System," the official said.

NATO's disappointment with Turkey is heightened by the fact that the United States, Germany and the Netherlands each sent two Patriot batteries earlier this year after Ankara asked for help in beefing up its air defences against the threat of missiles from Syria.

Ankara could call off the air defence deal under pressure, but some Chinese and foreign commentators suggested it would still be a symbolic victory for Beijing.

They say Turkey's willingness to choose the FD-2000 over established rivals confirms the rapid technical improvement and competitiveness of China's missile and aerospace sector.

Chinese military experts say the system performed well in live tests for the Turkish Defence Ministry.

It also signals that China's sprawling defence industry is poised to become a low cost supplier of high technology weaponry alongside its rapidly expanding sales of basic military equipment including small arms, artillery, armoured vehicles, general purpose vehicles and older generation missiles.

CHINESE MILITARY EXPORTS SOARING

China has displaced the United Kingdom as the world's fifth biggest arms supplier in the five years to 2012, according to SIPRI.

Chinese exports of conventional weapons increased 162 per cent in the five years from 2008 to 2012 compared with the five years from 2003 to 2007, the arms trade monitor reported earlier this year.

Sales to close ally Pakistan accounted for most of this but China is also expanding its deliveries to other markets, mostly in the developing world.

While almost three decades of double digit, annual increases in military spending has accelerated Beijing's ambitious military build-up, it has also allowed China's defence factories to boost the quality and performance of home-grown weapons and military hardware.

"There are good reasons for China to succeed in Turkey," says Vasily Kashin, an arms trade expert at Moscow's Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "The key factors were price and the readiness to transfer technology."

CPMIEC, the marketing arm of China's missile manufacturing industry, outbid the Franco-Italian company Eurosam and its SAMP/T Aster 30 missile, Russia's Rosoboronexport's S-300 and Patriot air defence batteries from U.S. contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

Atilla Sandikli, the chairman of think-tank Bilgesam and a former high-level officer in the Turkish army, said an offer of technology transfer from China was decisive.

Turkey's NATO allies were less enthusiastic about co-production and technology sharing, he added.

Syria : Major militias rejected NSC

Slim prospects for political solution in Syria

Published on 22 Oct 2013 | Al Jazeera interviews Joshua Landis, director for the Center of Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, on the different forces at play in Syria.

18 years of waiting (Ankara application) for EU membership.

EU to reopen accession talks with Turkey on November 5

Published on Oct 23, 2013 EU ministers agreed on Tuesday to resume accession talks with Turkey on November 5th after a three year break.

Originally scheduled in June, negotiations were put on hold after the EU accused Turkish police of using excessive force against anti-government protests earlier this year. 'Firstly I would like to share good news and congratulate our Turkish friends after the Commission progress report. The Council gave green light to the opening on a new negotiation chapter with Turkey. After more that three years break, negotiations are gaining a momentum and I hope to see a speedy progress. First step would be an accession conference at ministerial level agreed today scheduled on 5th November in Brussels', said Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Linas Antanas Linkevičius.

The move comes after Germany dropped its strong opposition against Turkey's EU membership following episodes of police violence in Istambul and Ankara. But earlier this month, the European Commission praised recent judicial (JUDISHAL) reforms in Turkey. 'We got the report of the EC about the situation in Turkey. Turkey had a good reaction. It is getting better and this is the right signal: the way of getting dynamic. This is really the signal to Turkish population that EU is ready to extension. Now Turkey has absolutely to work and improve on Justice and Rights', said German Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Michael Link.

Talks on Turkey's EU accession started in 2005, 18 years after Ankara applied for EU membership.

Turkey's security at risk as Syria war spills over border

Published on 21 Oct 2013 | Kilis is one of Turkey's smallest provinces but it shares a 110-kilometer border with Syria, making it a main transfer for point for Syrian escaping the war in their country.

Syria's elusive political settlement

Friends of Syrians? Don't they realized that it is not easy to dislodge the deep state, as experiences in Turkey & Egypt had shown?

Uploaded on Oct 22, 2013 | news...peace for Syria. Problems to make SNC attend Geneva 2?

Children dieing of lead poisoning in Nigeria

Published on 20 Oct 2013 | More than seven hundred people - most of them children - have been poisoned to death in Nigeria.

As usual the culprits are not named, they named only those who came to the 'rescue'! 

Syria : has no formidable alternative to the present?

Kerry to Europe for Syria Talks, he doesn't get it?

Published on 20 Oct 2013 | U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Europe for another round of talks with countries that are backing opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They are trying to get political opponents to agree to talks on a transitional government in Geneva.

Philippine Muslims ask for education boost

Published on 19 Oct 2013 | Muslims in the Philippines are asking the government to help their children learn Islam in schools. The country is predominantly Christian. Muslims make up about 15 percent of the population. Now parents are pushing for a new bill that would help boost religious education.

Behind Bars: RT goes inside Gitmo

Published on Oct 17, 2013 | Everyone may know the name of America's most-notorious prison - but few know what really happens behind the barbed wire at Guantanamo. RT has been given rare access to the facility that's been indefinitely detaining terror suspects without charge for more than a decade.

Israel's Ambassador Admits Toppling Assad a Longtime Goal

Published on 20 Sep 2013 | Pt 1. - Robert Parry: Israeli Ambassador's omission points to Israel backing Syrian jihadist, making Saudi Arabia and Israel strange bedfellows in the Syrian conflict.

Published on 20 Sep 2013 | Pt 2. - Robert Parry: Israeli Ambassador's omission points to Israel backing Syrian jihadist, making Saudi Arabia and Israel strange bedfellows in the Syrian conflict

Will Morsi gets a public trial come Nov 4?

Morsi Trial Raises Tensions in Divided Egypt

Published on 15 Oct 2013 | The trial next month of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is expected to heighten political divisions in the volatile nation and test the credibility of Egypt's judicial system. VOA's Elizabeth Arrott has more from Cairo.

SEA : a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone!

 

full agreement here >>>

Rambo styled raid foiled?

October, 2013 | The Americans are trying to barge into the Horn of Africa but they were beaten back by Al-Shabab fighters over the weekend. When a group of Navy Seals went guns blazing to attack a house in Barawe, the para-military group put up a stiff fight driving the Americans back into the sea. This, however, is not likely to deter the Americans from future mischief.

Washington DC, Crescent-online | October 7, 2013, 20:12 pm EDT

In what was billed as a gung-ho Navy Seals assault on Al Shabab safe house in the Somali town of Barawe over the weekend ended in disaster for the Americans. After a fierce gun-battle in which the lightly armed Al Shabab fighters held their ground, the Americans were beaten back and they fled the scene leaving some equipment behind.

The Pentagon admitted today (October 7) that the target of the failed raid was a Kenyan whom they accused of plotting attacks on parliament buildings and the UN headquarters in Nairobi.

Peace deal possible in Syria, at last?

Can there be hope for peace in Syria? For the first time in nearly three years, both local and international developments point to such a possibility. With realization in Western capitals that Russia and Iran are the most influential players in Syria, hopes have been aroused that movement toward a peace deal may be forthcoming. There are also no opposition demands for Bashar al-Asad to step down, at least at this stage.

Beirut, Crescent-online | October 4, 2013

Following from the US-Iran thaw, however modest, hopes have been aroused of some kind of a peace deal in Syria. Two days ago, Ahmed Jarba, head of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said his group would be willing to participate in the Geneva-2 talks if the Arab countries supporting the SNC would guarantee that the interim government would be put in place in Syria.

Significantly, Jarba did not say anything about President Bashar al-Asad’s removal from power. This demand may come up again but with recent developments, this is becoming a moot point.

There have been other developments as well that lead one to speculate that the tide might be turning in Syria. On September 30, the veteran Middle East correspondent for the Independent reported that some members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had traveled to Damascus for talks with a senior Asad advisor. They were given government guarantees of safe passage.

In areas under FSA control, such as Aleppo and Homs province, government schools and other institutions have opened. Further, there are efforts by the government to attract soldiers that had defected to the FSA to rejoin the army. There will be no reprisals or punishment.

This has the added advantage of ending fighting in rebel-held areas, and using the returning deserters to go after the foreign mercenaries that the vast majority in Syria now fears.

There have been defections from the FSA to al-Qaeda affiliated groups. There has also been fighting between the two groups with the better-armed foreign mercenaries, brutal and without loyalty to anyone, besting FSA fighters.

Rebel infighting in Syria intensifies

Terrorism has never been a successful strategy. Its only consequence is suffering for ordinary people. This is what is happening in Syria. The terrorist groups, however, are now fighting each other because they are unable to dislodge the government of Bashar al-Asad. Their foreign masters--Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, the US, France, Britain and Israel, to name a few--have also realized that these terrorists cannot deliver. Istanbul, Crescent-online

September 27, 2013, 12:17 EDT

Never united except in their subservience to their foreign masters, the rebels in Syria are now at each other’s throats and giving ultimatums for others to surrender. According to inside sources, Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists have given the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) 48 hours to disarm.

The two groups never got along because each claimed to represent all the fighters—an untenable assertion—but now they are fighting each other openly. The ultimatum went into effect at 8 pm local time on Thursday.

According to reports from Syria, al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), issued the ultimatum to the FSA to surrender in 48 hours. What these terrorists would do after 48 hours was left unclear but it is certain that fighting between the groups will intensify. Low intensity fighting has already been going on for months.

Britain’s Jane’s Defence Consultancy estimates there are at least 100,000 foreign mercenaries in Syria. They are split into myriad groups with no centralized command. The mercenaries have flooded into Syria from neighbouring countries—Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon—as well as from countries as far as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Chechnya.

British government says it has legal authority to attack Syria without UN ruling

August 30 |  ABC

The British government has published internal legal advice it says shows it is legally entitled to take military action against Syria even if the UN Security Council ruled against it.

The news comes as both Britain and Russia deploy military resources to strategic areas as tensions grow in the Syrian crisis.

Key points

Russia sends warships to the Mediterranean, but says it is nothing out of the ordinary. Britain sends six Typhoon jets to base in Cyprus. France says strike plans against Assad regime "difficult to develop". UN team investigating chemical weapons use to leave Syria on Saturday

The British government is insisting there should be a military response to the use of chemical weapons, but getting political and popular backing for intervention will not be easy.

British MPs were recalled early from their summer holidays in the hope of gaining parliamentary support for military action against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, says parliament should not have to decide whether to approve military intervention in Syria on what he calls an "artificial timetable".

"This is a very grave decision to take military action that the House of Commons is deciding," he said.

"And I didn't think that that decision should be made on an artificial timetable when the House of Commons wouldn't have even seen the evidence today from the United Nations weapons inspectors.

"I'm determined we learn the lessons of the past, including Iraq."

US report confirms Israel has at least 80 nuclear warheads

View of the Israeli nuclear facility in the Negev Desert outside Dimona

A newly released report in a US professional journal confirms that the Israeli regime possesses at least 80 operative nuclear warheads and has enough material to produce up to 190 more.

The report published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, nuclear weapon proliferation experts Robert Norris and Hans Kristensen estimate that Israel halted its production of nuclear warheads back in 2004 “once it reached around 80 munitions,” RT reports Monday.

However, the experts add, the Tel Aviv regime “can easily double its arsenal since it has enough fissile material to build at least another 115 bombs.”

• “There are rumors that Israel is equipping some of its submarines with nuclear-capable cruise missiles,” the report says, echoing the 2013 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook on Armament and International Security, which also implied that the Israeli regime may have nuclear-capable submarine-launched cruise missiles and reported the same assessment of nuclear stockpiles.

It is still not known how many nuclear warheads of the total inventory could already be deployed, as Israel continues to maintain its long-held policy of nuclear ambiguity, under which it never confirms nor denies its possession of nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

In December 2012, Tel Aviv once again dismissed the latest demand from the members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to join the accord.

The suspicions about Israeli nuclear warheads were fueled by the fact that Germany supplied Israel with five Dolphin-class submarines, which are supposedly capable of launching nuclear missiles, and signed a contract to build yet another one.

Israeli regime’s stockpiles of WMD have come under particular scrutiny following the US-Russian recent agreement for the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, which is seen as a significant step towards a WMD-free region.

This is while Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari also stated last Thursday that “The main danger of WMD is the Israeli nuclear arsenal,” stressing that the Tel Aviv regime also possesses chemical weapons but “nobody is speaking about that.”

The Syrian envoy further described his country’s chemical weapons as “a mere deterrence against the Israeli nuclear arsenal” and other WMD, referring to a declassified CIA report on Israel's chemical weapons program.

Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday: “It's well known that Syria has a certain arsenal of chemical weapons and the Syrians always viewed that as an alternative to Israel's nuclear weapons.”

This is while recently declassified CIA documents suggest that the Israeli regime secretly built up its own stockpile of chemical and biological weapons decades ago, adding more fuel to the lingering complaint of Arab states, who constantly accuse Tel Aviv of possessing nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, during a speech on Sunday before talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said that "in any case, Israel must be poised and ready to defend itself, by itself, against any threat - and this capability and readiness are more important now than ever."

MFB/SL

Public response to Obama's war drums!

Walking up to the tricks?

Published on Aug 31, 2013 | A PR problem & nightmare for the neo-liberals or the Project New America Century.

Tariq Ramadan: 'Egypt is returning to a Mubarak era' - BBC World News

Published on 20 Aug 2013 | Tariq Ramadan, a Muslim theologian whose grandfather is one of the founding members of the Muslim Brotherhood, told BBC World News that Egypt is on the verge of returning to a 'Mubarak style' era.

Professor Ramadan added that he does not believe that its members are behind the recent attacks on Coptic churches.

Saudi Prince Bandar going to great lengths to topple Assad: Report

Foreign-backed militants fighting Syrian government forces gather along a road in the eastern town of Deir Ezzor. 
(File photo)

Saudi Arabia's Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud has been striving to rally Western support to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

An article published on The Wall Street Journal Sunday said the prince has been making efforts behind the scenes to realize Riyadh’s top foreign policy goal of ousting Assad. 

“Prince Bandar has been jetting from covert command centers near the Syrian front lines to the Elysée Palace in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to undermine the Assad regime, according to Arab, American and European officials,” the article said. 

It said the prince has meanwhile commissioned Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir with persuading US Congress and the administration of President Barack Obama to expand Washington’s role in Syria. 

US officials say Prince Bandar and Jubeir have told Washington that they do not necessarily expect a victory by the Syrian militants anytime soon, but they want to gradually change the battlefield in their favor. 

The Saudi plan is to steadily strengthen moderate groups of militants in Syria with the goal of someday seeing them in control in Damascus, it noted. 

On Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal urged "firm and serious" action against Syria over an alleged chemical weapons attack which killed hundreds of people near Damascus on August 21, accusing the Assad government of having "lost its Arab identity." 

Syria has been gripped by a deadly unrest since March 2011. The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the outbreak of the violence.

source >>

Leaked Documents: U.S. Framed Syria in Chemical Weapons Attack

Published on 26 Aug 2013

Kenyataan Tuan Guru Nik Aziz

Kebenaran Itu Milik Allah, Bukan Di Barat dan Bukan Di Timur

Saya tidak terkejut apabila bekas Presiden Mesir, Hosni Mubarak dibebaskan daripada penjara oleh Mahkamah Mesir. Inilah tujuan sebenar rampasan kuasa yang dilakukan oleh tentera. Tidak perlu berlindung di sebalik alasan ekonomi dan sebagainya. Padahal kezaliman Hosni Mubarak selama 30 tahun menduduki takhta presiden satu fakta yang tidak boleh dinafikan sama sekali. Barangkali, Sheikh Al-Azhar yang kuat menyokong rampasan kuasa tentera pun sudah berpuas hati dengan pembebasan Hosni Mubarak. Saya menghormati kelilmuan yang ada pada Sheikh Al-Azhar, namun pendirian beliau dalam hal ini jelas salah seterang cahaya matahari di siang hari. Pada saya, inilah ujian berat yang sedang dihadapi oleh gerakan Islam khususnya di Mesir iaitu di saat para pemimpin mereka disumbat ke dalam penjara manakala penjenayah besar dilepas bebas.

Berpuas hatilah kerajaan Saudi yang kuat menyokong rampasan kuasa tentera. Benarlah kenyataan bahawa kebenaran itu milik Allah, tidak di Barat dan tidak Timur. Sekalipun penjaga dua tanah suci dimuliakan Allah SWT dengan tugas ini, namun belum tentu mereka memegang anak kunci kebenaran. Di samping menjaga dua tanah Suci, Saudi jugalah yang menjaga telaga minyak yang menghilangkan haus Amerika sekian lama. Inilah satu-satunya negara yang dinamakan sempena nama pemerintahnya iaitu Bani Saud.

Justeru, janganlah Saudi menyangka dengan sokongan mereka kepada tentera Mesir, mereka boleh mempengaruhi seluruh umat Islam di dunia. Jika darah Abdullah bin Zubair radhiallahuanhu pernah tertumpah akibat diperangi oleh Hajjaj bin Yusuf di Tanah Mekah, apa peliknya darah umat Islam di negara lain tertumpah angkara pemerintah Saudi hari ini? Jika kabilah Arab Jahiliyyah pun pernah bertugas untuk menjaga Tanah Suci sebelum kedatangan Islam, apakah jaminan penjaga Tanah Suci hari ini bebas dari melakukan kesilapan?

Syria refugees pour into Iraqi Kurdistan in thousands

Published on Aug 18, 2013 | Thousands of refugees from Syria are pouring over the border into Iraqi Kurdistan, the UN refugee agency says. Up to 10,000 crossed at Peshkhabour on Saturday, adding to an earlier influx of 7,000 on Thursday. The UN says the reasons are not entirely clear. Alan Paul from Save the Children told BBC News: "We don't know when the flood [of people] will stop."

Egypt's Foreign Aid - who actually benefit? THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and ....?

Published on Aug 16, 2013 | Egypt's Crisis Threatens Foreign Aid

Stratfor Vice President of Global Analysis Reva Bhalla explains the strategic interests driving foreign aid to Egypt and how ongoing unrest could affect the country's relationships with international donors.

WHERE IS MORSI NOW?

His daughter Shaimaa told a news conference in Cairo that the family was taking legal measures against the army. Mr Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location, without charge, since he was removed from power on 3 July.

BBC REPORT  HERE  :

Egypt's Ousted President Morsi Abducted By Army   Mr Morsi's son Osama spoke of his anger at his father's "kidnapping"

Hezbollah 'deeply rooted in Lebanese society'

Published on 22 Jul 2013 | EU foreign ministers have agreed to list the military wing of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

It will now become illegal for Hezbollah sympathisers in Europe to send the group money or for European diplomats to meet its militant staff.

The BBC's Jim Muir spoke to people in Beirut who told him that Hezbollah was "everything to us... It is not a terrorist organisation".

He also suggested that Hezbollah would dismiss the EU move as politically motivated, given the group's controversial involvement in the war in Syria.

BBC REPORT READ HERE >>

Ex-MI6 chief threatens to expose secrets of Iraq war.

Ex-MI6 chief threatens to expose secrets of Iraq war if he faces censure from the Chilcot inquiry.

Former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove has threatened to expose secrets of Iraq war if he faces censure from the Chilcot inquiry into British involvement in the Iraq war.

Sir Richard told the Daily Mail that he wrote a detailed account of events leading up to Iraq invasion that he intended to make available to historians after his death. 

Sir Richard, who provided intelligence about former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) said he might release his memoir “sooner” depending on the finding of the long-awaited Chilcot inquiry. 

“What I have written (am writing) is a record of events surrounding the invasion of Iraq from my then professional perspective,” he said in an email to the newspaper. 

“My intention is that this should be a resource available to scholars, but after my decease (may be sooner depending on what Chilcot publishes). I have no intention, however, of violating my vows of official secrecy by publishing any memoir,” he added. 

According to the Daily Mail, sources close to Sir Richard say he accepts the inaccuracy of some MI6’s information on Iraq WMDs and that he believes the inquiry’s chairman Sir John Chilcot should investigate misleading statements by former British PM Tony Blair and his chief spokesperson and strategist Alastair Campbell about WMDs. 

The US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law in 2003 under the pretext of finding WMDs allegedly stockpiled by Saddam Hussein. No WMDs, however, were ever discovered in Iraq. 

The Chilcot Inquiry was established by former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who succeeded Blair in 2007. 

Those appearing before the inquiry included Blair, other leading figures within the 1997-2010 Labour government, former cabinet secretaries and the military high command. 

source : MOS/HE

Syria government is stronger now, British PM admits

British Prime Minister David Cameron 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has strengthened his position in recent months, British Prime Minister David Cameron admits.

Speaking on the state-run BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Cameron said the Syrian government is stronger now than few months ago. 

"I think he [Assad] may be stronger than he was a few months ago but I'd still describe the situation as a stalemate,” Cameron said. 

He also said London is still committed to help the insurgents in Syria despite dorpping plans to arm them in the Arab country. 

Britain pushed to lift an European Union (EU) arms embargo on Syria militants to open up the possibility for the West to arm the insurgents fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Cameron, however, held off after military chiefs warned over the risks of arming the insurgents. 

According to reports, British public is largely against sending arms to the militats in Syria. There are also fears that any weapons Britain supply could fall into the hands of extremists. 

Syrian government forces recaptured the strategically important town of al-Qusayr in Western Syria in June. Most of the much bigger city of Homs also has been retaken by the government troops. 

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 90,000 people have died and millions of others displaced in the violence. 

The Western countries, including Britain, and their other regional allies, have been supporting over two years of militancy in Syria. 

source : MOS/HE

Pakatan sues EC members to force re-election?

Published on 14 Jul 2013 : Pakatan Rakyat has filed a lawsuit against all seven members of the Election Commission (EC) in a bid to seek a declaration that the results of the 13th general election are null and void.

Pakatan’s uphill GE13 battle in the courts

The Malaysian Insider | July 15, 2013

The simple summary of Pakatan Rakyat’s suit in court today is that it did not get a fair election. The question now is, what can and will the courts do?

No matter how you slice or dice it, it is tough for Pakatan to win its suit against the Election Commission (EC) because courts here are loath to disturb anything to do with elections. It is even rare for election courts to overturn polls results.

What more nullifying the whole Election 2013.

Also, Malaysian courts have in recent years not demonstrated a willingness to confront the government of the day on various issues – be it conversions of minors to land matters.

That said, it is remains important for Pakatan to thoroughly detail its cases in which it believed fraud prevented it from winning on May 5, 2013. In dispute are at least 43 seats before the courts.

But what is quite clear is that the EC’s handling of the indelible ink over the past five years would have made the Keystone Kops proud. Never have we seen a commission blunder and make a hash of things the way it has.

All these years under the Prime Minister’s Department has insulated it so much so that it has fallen out of touch with the people and the need to be independent.

One hopes having parliamentary oversight will at least improve the commission because more is needed than a change of staff, and that is a change of mindset.

The commission has one job only, conduct free and fair elections. But Pakatan and other civil societies have complained that they have done the reverse.

So, the courts now have to decide whether Pakatan’s lawsuit has merits or the EC did conduct free and fair elections on May 5. – July 15, 2013.

source :

Military Coup in Egypt

BBC News Egypt unrest Morsi marchers die as army fires | Published on 5 Jul 2013

International reactions to Morsi's removal.

World leaders weigh in after Egypt's army commander announces that president had been removed.  Last Modified: 04 Jul 2013 18:28

The Egyptian army's suspension of the constitution and removal of President Mohamed Morsi has drawn mixed responses from world leaders:

European Union

The EU has called for a rapid return to democracy in Egypt.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "I urge all sides to rapidly return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections and the approval of a constitution, to be done in a fully inclusive manner, so as to permit the country to resume and complete its democratic transition,"

"I strongly condemn all violent acts, offer my condolences to the families of the victims, and urge the security forces to do everything in their power to protect the lives and well-being of Egyptian citizens."

France

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris took note that elections had been announced in Egypt following a transition period after the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

"In a situation that has worsened seriously and with extreme tension in Egypt, new elections have finally been announced, after a transition period."

France hoped a timetable would be drawn up respecting "civil peace, pluralism, individual liberties and the achievements of the democratic transition, so that the Egyptian people can freely choose their leaders and their future", he added.

Qatar

Qatar's new emir congratulated Egypt's Adli Mansour after he was sworn in as an interim leader.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, "sent a cable of congratulations" following the swearing in.

The foreign ministry said: "Qatar will continue to respect the will of Egypt and its people across the spectrum," the source said.

Qatar was alone among Gulf Arab states in celebrating the 2011 Arab Spring revolt that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Abdullah sent a message of congratulations to Adly Mansour ahead of his appointment as interim president.

"In the name of the people of Saudi Arabia and on my behalf, we congratulate your leadership of Egypt in this critical period of its history. We pray for God to help you bear the responsibility laid upon you to achieve the ambitions of our brotherly people of Egypt," the message said.

Syria

Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday praised Egypt's protests against their leader and said his overthrow by the military means the end of "political Islam".

Assad, who is seeking to crush a revolt against his own rule, said Egyptians have discovered the "lies" of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He spoke in an interview with the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper.

"What is happening in Egypt is the fall of so-called political Islam," Assad said. "This is the fate of anyone in the world who tries to use religion for political or factional interests."

United Arab Emirates

The UAE welcomed the change in Egypt, according to state news agency WAM, and praised the Egyptian armed forces.

"His Highness Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the foreign minister of the UAE, expressed his full confidence that the great people of Egypt are able to cross these difficult moments that Egypt is going through," WAM said in a statement.

"Sheikh Abdullah said that the great Egyptian army was able to prove again that they are the fence of Egypt and that they are the protector and strong shield that guarantee Egypt will remain a state of institutions and law," it added.

United Kingdom

The UK urged for calm in Egypt, but stopped short of calling the military intervention a coup.

"The situation is clearly dangerous and we call on all sides to show restraint and avoid violence," said Foreign Secretary William Hague. "The United Kingdom does not support military intervention as a way to resolve disputes in a democratic system."

The UK called on all parties to move forward and "show the leadership and vision needed to restore and renew Egypt's democratic transition".

"It is vital for them to respond to the strong desire of the Egyptian people for faster economic and political progress for their country," stressed Hague.

This must involve early and fair elections and civilian-led government, he said.

United States

The US State Department expressed concern over the military intervention.

The US ordered the mandatory evacuation of its embassy in Cairo, just hours after the army deposed Morsi. A later travel advisory confirmed that "the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members from Egypt due to the ongoing political and social unrest."

US President Barack Obama released a statement saying he was deeply concerned by the decision by Egyptian military to depose Morsi, and called for a swift return to civilian government.

"No transition to democracy comes without difficulty, but in the end it must stay true to the will of the people. An honest, capable and representative government is what ordinary Egyptians seek and what they deserve," Obama said.

"The long-standing partnership between the United States and Egypt is based on shared interests and values, and we will continue to work with the Egyptian people to ensure that Egypt’s transition to democracy succeeds.”

However, the US also stopped short of calling the military intervention a coup.

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, noted that any country involved in a coup was not entitled to aid from the US.

Germany

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the military intervention was "a major setback for democracy in Egypt" and called for "dialogue and political compromise".

"This is a major setback for democracy in Egypt," Westerwelle said during a visit to Athens. "It is urgent that Egypt return as quickly as possible to the constitutional order... there is a real danger that the democratic transition in Egypt will be seriously damaged."

"We call on all sides to renounce violence. We will watch developments in Egypt very closely. And then make our political decisions.

"Political detentions and a political wave of repression must be avoided at all cost. Now this is about returning to the path of democratic order."

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