Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was “a bomb” certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government’s violent crackdown on the country’s uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council’s attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet’s Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency.

The Iman replaced another Russian ship “which had been sent to Syria for demonstrating (sic) the Russian presence in the turbulent region and possible evaluation of Russian citizens,” the Black Sea Fleet told Interfax.

RIA Novosti, a news outlet with strong ties to the Kremlin, trumpeted the news in a banner headline that appeared only on its Arabic language website. The Russian embassy to the US and to the UN had no comment, saying they have “no particular information on” the arrival of a Russian anti-terrorism squad to Syria.

Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean.

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By KIRIT RADIA and RYM MOMTAZ | ABC News

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Israel using Gaza as trial run for Iran strike: Hamas

Israel is using the the Gaza Strip as a testing ground for a possible military strike on its arch foe Iran, the head of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas said on Monday.

“Israel is warming up the region for a possible war against Iran,” Khaled Meshaal said in an interview with Turkey’s Anatolia news agency.

Accusing Israel of pursuing “state terrorism” in Gaza, Meshaal defended the Islamist group’s firing of rockets into southern Israel from the impoverished coastal strip which is run by Hamas.

“The only purpose of these rockets is to defend ourselves. Israel is attacking us and naturally our brothers in Gaza are exercising their right to self-defence,” said Meshaal, who is the head of the powerful Hamas politburo.

Militants in Gaza reached a truce with Israel last week after four days of violence in which 25 Gazans died and 200 rockets were fired at the Jewish state.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently warned that he will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, saying the country had a “duty to defend” itself from any existential threat.

During an unannounced visit to Turkey, Meshaal met on Friday with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Although Turkey was once seen as Israel’s closest ally in the Muslim world, relations have chilled under Erdogan who has been particularly outspoken in his criticism of Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and many Western countries, but not by Turkey.

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, received an enthusiastic welcome on a visit to Turkey in January as part of his first regional tour.

AFP

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Sexy photo in hacked Assad emails causes comment

LONDON (Reuters) – A provocative photograph of a near-naked young woman appears among e-mails apparently sent to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and hacked by opposition activists who shared them with Western media.

On Saturday, London’s Daily Telegraph published an edited version of the photograph, which has been seen by Reuters among the original e-mails. It speculated on the state of his 11-year marriage to British-born Asma al-Assad, who has stood by her husband during a year of protests that come close to civil war.

The cache of some 3,000 e-mails dated for about nine months until early February has not been repudiated by the Assads or the small circle of aides and contacts who sent them since details were first published by Britain’s Guardian on Thursday.

There is no way to be certain, however, that all the content is genuine, nor to be sure that Assad’s enemies, at home and abroad, are not seeking to use material to their advantage.

E-mails seen by Reuters indicate a generally affectionate and light-hearted tone between Syria’s first couple and among the mostly English-speaking advisers sending messages to these private e-mail accounts. Some comments sent by female aides to the president gush with admiration: “miss uuu” writes one.

“So cute,” says another young woman when sending the 46-year-old Assad a photograph showing him in his younger days.

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By Alastair Macdonald | Reuters

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Oman warns on military confrontation with Iran

MUSCAT (Reuters) – Oman, located strategically on the opposite side of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, said the risk of military conflict between Tehran and the West was rising but there was still plenty of opportunity to negotiate peace.

Iran has repeatedly denied charges by Western nations it is developing the capability to build nuclear weapons, but the United States and European Union have recently imposed tougher sanctions in an effort to convince Tehran to curb its nuclear program.

“It is in the interest of both sides to come to the middle road,” Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the sultanate’s minister responsible for foreign affairs, told Reuters at the Foreign Ministry in Muscat.

“We can see that the threat of an unfortunate flash of military confrontation is more possible rather than it is remote.”

Oman on several occasions has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the West.

Last year, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said facilitated the release of two U.S. hikers held by Tehran for spying, and three French aid workers held hostage by Yemeni tribesmen were freed in November after Oman negotiated their release.

Speculation has grown in recent months that Israel, with or without U.S. support, may launch some form of pre-emptive military strike against Iranian nuclear installations, which the Jewish state sees as a threat to its existence.

Talks over its nuclear program have been on and off over the years, but last week Iran said it would welcome a new round of nuclear negotiations with six world powers.

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By Martina Fuchs | Reuters

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More aid needed to avoid Palestinian cuts: IMF

The International Monetary Fund urged donor countries Saturday to honor their promises to the Palestinian Authority, whose economy is entering a “difficult phase” and could further deteriorate.

The Palestinian economy is experiencing a serious drop in liquid assets that has worsened since last year due to a reduction in aid from Western and Gulf countries, as well as trade and movement restrictions imposed by Israel, an IMF report said.

The report, prepared for a meeting of donor countries in Brussels next week, estimated a financing gap of about $500 million.

It said only $800 million of donor aid was disbursed to finance the 2011 recurrent budget, compared to $1 billion anticipated. And development budgetary aid stood at just $169 million, compared to a budgeted $500 million.

“These shortfalls, in addition to lower-than-expected tax revenue in the context of a slowdown in economic growth, led to the accumulation of $0.5 billion in domestic payment arrears to the private sector and to the public pension fund,” the report said.

It pointed to an increase in domestic bank borrowing by some $140 million, which raised government debt to the banking system to $1.1 billion, or 11 percent of GDP.

And while the 2012 draft budget plans to reduce the recurrent deficit by three percentage points of GDP, “there remains a substantial financing gap, projected at $0.5 billion,” the IMF warned.

“There is little scope to cover that gap through further arrears accumulation to the private sector or borrowing from commercial banks, given the existing large stock of debt to businesses and banks.”

It said there was a “high risk” that the gap would trigger cuts in wages, social transfers and other essential spending. The IMF called for “concerted efforts” from the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government and donor countries to bridge the financing gap.

“It will be very difficult for the PA to cover the 2012 financing gap through austerity alone, without the prompt pledging and disbursement of additional aid,” the report added.

AFP

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Bahrain to retry 20 medics in uprising case

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – Twenty Bahraini medical professionals convicted on uprising-linked charges and sentenced to prison terms face retrial in civilian courts, a lawyer said Thursday.

Lawyer Jalila al-Sayed said a judge revoked last week’s decision to proceed with only five cases and refer the other 15 doctors and nurses to a medical disciplinary board. All were convicted of anti-state crimes during last year’s unrest.

Even so, Bahraini authorities insisted the prosecutors will pursue charges only against five of the 20 health professionals. The discrepancy could not immediately be clarified.

The 20 doctors and nurses treated wounded protesters during the Gulf kingdom’s uprising. Last year a special security court, set up during eight weeks of emergency rule in the Gulf kingdom, sentenced them to five to 15 years in prison.

That court has been disbanded. Al-Sayed said the judge did not mention dropping charges against 15 medics during Thursday’s proceedings in a civilian court.

The next hearing has been set for March 20. The case has drawn stiff criticism from human rights groups.

Also Thursday, clashes between security forces and opposition supporters flared across the tiny but strategically important Gulf island that is the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Riot police fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets at protesters, who were marking the first anniversary of the deployment of a Saudi-led military force in Bahrain.

Some protesters threw firebombs at the riot police. There were no reports of injuries.

The troops from the Sunni-ruled neighboring states were sent to Bahrain to help the Sunni monarchy quell dissent among the island nation’s majority Shiites.

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Heavy fighting in Syrian capital: residents

AMMAN (Reuters) – A heavy firefight broke out on Monday between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in a main district of the Syrian capital Damascus that is home to several security installations, witnesses said.

They said the sound of heavy machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) echoed through the heavily guarded al-Mezze district. There was no immediate word on casualties but residents said by telephone the fighting was intense.

“There is fighting near Hamada supermarket and the sound of explosions there and elsewhere in the neighborhood. Security police have blocked several side streets and the street lighting has been cut off,” a housewife who lives in the area said.

The fighting in the capital came after a car bomb ripped through a residential area of Syria’s second city Aleppo on Sunday, and as activists reported heavy clashes across the country between state forces and rebels fighting to overthrow Assad.

As hundreds gathered on Sunday in Damascus to mourn victims of car bombings the previous day, activists said security forces beat and arrested people at a march of more than 200 when protesters began shouting “the people want to topple the regime”.

Among those arrested and beaten was Mohammed Sayyed Rassas, a leader of the National Coordinating Body for Democratic Change (NCB), an opposition group which had visited China and Russia in attempts to promote dialogue between Assad and the opposition.

Most opposition groups have rejected the NCB over its insistence on non-violence and its stance against foreign intervention.

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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis | Reuters

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Explosion near Syrian security building in Aleppo

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An explosion ripped through a residential neighborhood in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday and the state news agency said it was a “terrorist bombing.”

Reports by SANA said two were killed and 30 wounded in what appeared to be the second attack in two days on cities where President Bashar Assad’s regime enjoys strong support. Three suicide bombings in the capital Damascus on Saturday killed 27 people. The government blamed those on the opposition, which it claims is made up of “terrorist” groups carrying out a foreign conspiracy.

No one claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Mohammed Saeed, an Aleppo resident, said a car bomb exploded near the Political Security Directorate in the city’s central neighborhood of Suleimaniyeh. He said the neighborhood has a large Christian population. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on an activist network in Syria, also said it was a car bomb. It said it had reports of dead and injured, but gave no numbers.

Saeed said the explosion went off around 1 p.m. and security forces started shooting in the air and cordoned off the area to prevent people from approaching. At that time of day, the area is usually crowded with people, especially on a Sunday, the first day of Syria’s workweek, he added.

“It was a strong explosion. It shook parts of the city,” Saeed said, citing nearby residents. “White smoke was billowing from the area.”

Some opposition leaders accused the regime of orchestrating the attacks to tarnish the anti-government movement behind the year-old uprising against Assad.

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US should assume Iran seeks nukes: Kissinger

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said in an interview Sunday that the United States should assume that Iran is actively preparing to build nuclear weapons.

Kissinger, 88, was asked on the CNN show “GPS” if the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon was so dire that Israel would need to launch a military strike in the near future.

“I am very uneasy with the so-called intelligence report that say we don’t know whether they are actually working on nuclear weapons,” Kissinger told CNN.

“I think we should start from the premise that they are undergoing all this in order to achieve a military capability. I don’t think that is a disputable point.”

US intelligence analysts believe there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb – an assessment broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program, The New York Times reported in February, citing unnamed US officials.

The assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America’s 16 intelligence agencies, the Times reported.

The US administration maintains that tough sanctions on Iran and diplomatic efforts need to be given more time before any resort to bombing raids.

Israeli leaders however say time is running out for any pre-emptive strike. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that sanctions against Iran have not worked, and “none of us can afford to wait much longer.”

US President Barack Obama has cautioned against “bluster” in talking about possible war with Iran, saying there still exists a window of diplomacy.

AFP

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Ahmadinejad grilled by hostile Iran parliament

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was summoned to parliament on Wednesday for an unprecedented grilling by lawmakers who accused him of economic mismanagement and making “illegal” appointments.

Less than two weeks after a drubbing in parliamentary elections, Ahmadinejad became the first president in the Islamic Republic’s history to be called before the legislature which has the power to impeach him if unsatisfied with his answers.

Factions who express complete loyalty to Iran’s most powerful figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been trying to summon the president for months over what they say are repeated challenges to the supreme leader’s authority.

Emboldened by their success over Ahmadinejad supporters at parliamentary elections this month, they finally had the chance to interrogate him about the near-stagnant, high-inflation economy and concerns over his allegiance to Khamenei.

Asking the questions, lawmaker Ali Motahari asked why Ahmadinejad had stayed at home for several days last April after Khamenei overturned the president’s decision to sack his intelligence minister – an absence seen by some as a protest against the supreme leader’s decision.

Belying his weakened standing, Ahmadinejad responded in a confident and, at times, flippant tone that did little to calm the excitement of the hearing, broadcast live on state radio.

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By Marcus George | Reuters

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