At least 14 people were killed and 31 injured in twin blasts caused by explosive devices planted in central Damascus on Tuesday, Syrian state television reported.
The TV blamed “terrorist suicide bombers” for the attack on Damascus’ Marjeh Square, AFP reported.
Official television channel Al-Ikhbariya was the first to report the blasts and screened images of badly damaged vehicles and bloodied pavements.
BEIRUT: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has warned that Syria will be “destroyed” if an international conference expected to be held in Geneva next month fails to resolve the two-year-old crisis between President Bashar Assad and rebels.
“If the Geneva conference fails, nothing but one scenario will remain: war and Syria’s complete destruction,” Bogdanov said in remarks published Tuesday.
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army’s armored units are moving towards Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, where the most intense fighting is going on.
The army started its Northern Storm military operations in Aleppo a few days ago in a bid to purge armed rebels from city and its outskirts.
Unlike al-Qusseir where the Syrian army had to fight al-Qaeda elements, the army is fighting against the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Aleppo and its outskirts.
France: Syria war at ‘turning point,’ mulls arming rebels
PARIS – France said on Tuesday the conflict in Syria had reached a “turning point” after the fall of the city of Qusair to President Bashar Assad’s forces, raising the question of whether to arm Syrian rebels.
The battlefield tilted against the rebels in Syria’s civil war last week as Lebanese Hezbollah militants helped Assad’s forces to retake the strategic town.
Putin Says Assad Should Have Gone ahead with Reforms
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he had always believed that Syrian strongman Bashar Assad should have implemented political reforms that could have averted the current bloodbath.
But Putin also stressed that he remained firmly opposed to outside intervention and implied that Russia’s position on the crisis remained unchanged.
Hermel Comes under Syrian Rocket Attack, Several Hurt
Around eight rockets and mortar rounds from Syria slammed into the northeastern region of Hermel on Tuesday — some of them hitting residential neighborhoods — leaving one person dead.
The state-run National News Agency said the rocket salvo left several people slightly injured.
One of the rockets landed in an agricultural field in the Dora area, igniting a fire, it said.
Over the past weeks, Syrian rebels have fired dozens of rockets on Hermel and the Hizbullah stronghold of Baalbek.
Netanyahu: Iran Ordered that Syria Provide Hizbullah with Advanced Arms
Iran has ordered that Syria provide Hizbullah with advanced weapons; Israel will do all in its power to stop this transfer of weapons, the Israeli prime minister said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied reports in the media on Monday of alleged Israeli forces operating in Syria.
“Any talk of undercover Israeli forces operating in Syria is nonsense,” Netanyahu said.
Three members of Iraq’s security forces, including two senior officers, were killed in renewed violence on Tuesday after a wave of attacks a day earlier stoked fears of a revival of sectarian war.
The attacks, all of which were in and around the main northern city of Mosul, came a day after bombings and shootings, most of which targeted security forces, killed 78 people and wounded more than 250.
Hundreds of riot police overran improvised barricades at Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Tuesday, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon in running battles with protesters who have been occupying the area for more than a week.
The police raid, which came on the 12th day of nationwide protests, sparked clashes with groups of protesters well into the afternoon. Many other protesters fled into the adjacent Gezi Park, where hundreds have been camping out to stop developers from cutting down trees in the park.
The Pakistani Air Force said two Indian aircraft violated Pakistan’s airspace on Tuesday, and that it scrambled two fighter jets to “challenge the intruders.”
The Indian Air Force said its planes appeared to have committed a “technical violation.”
Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed archrivals, and such airspace intrusions have happened on occasion in the past. The two countries have fought three major wars since their partition in 1947, but have taken steps to improve relations in recent years.
US official: Washington to consider arming Syrian rebels
Syrian Rebels
The United States could decide as early as this week if it will militarily support Syrian rebels, an American official told Reuters in an interview published Monday.
The question of whether to arm the opposition is on the agenda of White House meetings, the official said on condition of anonymity.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has put off his planned trip to the Middle East to attend the meetings in Washington, an administration source told Reuters.
Jordan announced Saturday the start of “Eager Lion” military exercises with the participation of 8,000 soldiers from 19 Arab and Western countries, said Major General Awni el-Edwan, the Jordan Armed Forces’ operations chief of staff.
In a press conference held at the Jordan Special Operations Command in Amman, Edwan said the military exercise will last till June 21 and will take place in Jordan’s central and southern region.
Syrian government forces are reported to be preparing for a major offensive on rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo and its surroundings.
A security source said it would start “in the coming hours or days”, echoing a pro-government newspaper article saying troops were “deploying heavily”.
Activists said there were no signs yet of a renewed push on Aleppo.
A roadside bomb apparently targeting two vehicles bound for Syria detonated on Monday near Lebanon’s main crossing with its war-torn neighbor, a security source told AFP.
“An explosive device detonated on the side of the Taanayel road leading to Masnaa border crossing with Syria,” the security official told AFP.
“It targeted a van and a BMW car, but it is unclear who was inside them,” the source added.
Saudi Arabia condemned Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah on Monday for its “flagrant” military intervention in the conflict in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
The cabinet “condemned the flagrant intervention of Lebanon’s Hezbollah” in Syria, according to a statement carried by the state SPA news agency.
Fighters from Hezbollah openly spearheaded a 17-day assault on the Syrian town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border which culminated with its recapture from the rebels last Wednesday.
Syria’s NCB calls on foreign fighters to leave the country
A Syrian opposition group urged on Monday all foreign fighters involved in the country’s conflict to leave.
“The coordination body calls on all non-Syrian parties that are taking part in the fighting on Syrian territory, no matter what party they are fighting beside, to leave the country immediately,” said the Head of the National Coordination Body, Hassan Abdul Azim, at a news conference in Damascus.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that Damascus will not abandon its national principles, stressing it will not refrain from supporting the resistance and it will not relinquish its right to retake its occupied land.
According to the Jordanian writer, Saud Qubailat, who met with the Syrian leader in Damascus, “it is clear that Assad feels his country will overcome” the current conflict and that “this evil game played by the West and its supporters has reached its final stage.”
Analysts: Hizbullah’s Intervention in Syria Risks Regional Chaos
The foray into Syria’s civil war by Hizbullah has fuelled a Sunni-Shiite polarization that threatens to feed extremism on both sides and export the conflict to the wider region, analysts warn.
The Iran-backed Shiite movement has openly said it is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces, while Shiite Iraqi fighters are also reported to be in Syria, supporting the regime against the mostly-Sunni rebels.
Suleiman Urges Iranian Embassy, Hizbullah to Cooperate in Probe into Assault on Protesters
President Michel Suleiman urged on Monday the Iranian embassy and Hizbullah to help investigators uncover the details of a deadly attack on protesters in the Hizbullah stronghold of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In a statement issued by Baabda palace, Suleiman stressed “the importance of the cooperation of citizens and the region’s parties mainly Hizbullah, and the Iranian embassy to facilitate the mission of specialized agencies in revealing the circumstances” of the incident.
Report: GCC, Lebanon Ties Heading to Further Deterioration
The Gulf Cooperation Council states are expected to take further measures to confront Hizbullah’s involvement in the war raging in the neighboring country Syria, which will have a negative impact on the ties with the Lebanese state.
A diplomatic source told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Monday that the GCC’s travel restriction advisory to Lebanon is a first step in a series of measure the Gulf states will adopt.
Khalil Warns: Number of Syrians Seeking Treatment in Lebanon Exceeds Country’s Capacity
Caretaker Health Minister Ali Hasan Khalil warned on Monday that the number of wounded Syrians looking for treatment in Lebanese hospitals exceeds the country’s potential to care for the injured.
“The number of wounded coming from (the Syrian border town of) al-Qusayr is expected to increase furthermore,” Khalil noted in phone calls with President Michel Suleiman, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Speaker Nabih Berri.
KSA Condemns Hizbullah’s ‘Blatant Interference’ in Syria
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemned on Monday the “blatant interference” of Hizbullah in the Syrian crisis, urging responding to international calls to provide “humanitarian aid to those affected by the war inside and outside the country.”
“The cabinet discussed the dangerous repercussions of the events taking place in Syria, as well as the escalation of violence and the use of military equipment to bomb and kill civilians,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.
In wake of border clashes, Assad, Netanyahu swap threats
Syrian President Bashar Assad has made a “serious decision” to open a front with Israel along the Golan Heights, he said in an interview published Monday. Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in a public statement that “any who threaten to harm, or harm, Israel will be harmed.”
In an interview with Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, Assad said his country’s military action against Israel would be substantial, sustained and effective, not a “random firing of mortars” across the border.
Moscow sets up Russian Golan brigade, warns Israel Sunnis plus al Qaeda are bigger threat than Assad
Moscow is determined to position Russian troops on the divided Golan as part of the UN force policing the separation sector because, said the Russian lawmaker Aleksey Pushkov Monday, June 10, “we cannot exclude… large-scale Syrian-Israel action.” He warned that if Assad was replaced by radical Islamists, he would seem like “an angel from heaven.” Vladimir Shamanov, Russian Airborne Troops chief, disclosed that a new brigade, dubbed “a peacekeeping unit,” had set up for the Golan and armed with MI-24 combat helicopters.
Qaida Chief Strikes Down Merger of Iraq, Syria Wings
Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has ruled that the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Nusra Front in Syria should operate as separate entities, according to a letter posted on Al-Jazeera television’s website.
ISI leader Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had “made a mistake” by announcing a merger between the two radical Islamist groups in the neighbouring Arab states“without consulting us,” he said.
Two near-simultaneous car bombs and a suicide attack killed 13 people in a wholesale market north of Baghdad on Monday, the latest in a surge in violence that authorities have struggled to control.
The blasts, which left another 53 people wounded, struck a predominantly Shiite town as fruit and vegetable stall owners were crowding the market, purchasing goods for the day’s trading, a police officer and a medic said.
Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant has suffered a malfunction in its main generator, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Moscow said on Monday.
Mahmoud Reza Sadjadi did not specify the nature of the malfunction or make clear whether it has caused the plant’s shutdown, Russia’s state Itar-TASS news agency reported.
But he stressed that this fault was not caused by the series of earthquakes that shook Iran in recent weeks.
One Turkish soldier seriously injured at Syria border
One Turkish soldier was seriously injured in incidents at the border with Syria today, after 150 Syrians attempted to enter Turkey without checks, private news station CNN Türk has reported.
Turkish soldiers intervened in a group of Syrians, who attempted to enter the country without passing through routine controls.
Turkey PM warns protesters ‘will pay’ as demos go on
Turkish protesters refused to back down Monday after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned they would “pay a price” for their unrelenting demonstrations against his Islamic-rooted government’s decade-long rule.
As riot police doused of thousands of protesters in the capital Ankara with tear gas and jets of water for a second straight night, Erdogan went on the offensive, firing up supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with combative rhetoric in rallies across the country.
Afghan officials: Taliban insurgents dead in Kabul airport attack
The seven suspected Taliban militants who launched an attack Monday on Kabul airport died in the assault after detonating themselves, a police chief has confirmed.
“There were seven assailants — two (suicide bombers) died detonating themselves and five others were killed in fighting,” Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, chief of Kabul police, told reporters, according to AFP news agency.
“There have not been any casualties to the security forces, and we have not (received) any report of civilian casualties so far.”
Six dead in NATO convoy attack in Pakistan, say officials
Militants attacked NATO supply trucks in northwest Pakistan with guns and mortars on Monday, setting vehicles ablaze and killing at least six people, officials said.
The attack took place in Khyber district, one of seven tribal areas on the Afghan border that are a haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked insurgents.
Up to 20 armed militants targeted at least three Afghanistan-bound vehicles loaded with military equipment, said senior administration official Jehangir Azam.
In an effort to show Israel and other ally states that it is capable of striking Iran’s nuclear plants, the US has recently conducted a test of its bunker buster bomb, destroying a replica of an underground nuclear facility, Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot reported on Friday.
The nuclear facility replica, that cost millions of dollars to build, was made of concrete and buried under dozens of feet of dirt and rocks, Yediot reported.
The United States is evaluating information received from France which Paris has billed as proof that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, a U.S. official said Thursday.
“I can confirm for you that we have received the information from the French,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, after French officials said they had evidence that sarin gas had been used in Syria.
US Marines deployed along Jordan border with Syria: Report
US Marines have reportedly been deployed along Jordan border with Syria as the Syrian Army continues to inflict heavy losses on foreign-backed militants.
Over 1,000 US troops, who had arrived in the Jordanian port of Aqaba via Israel earlier in the week, have headed toward the kingdom’s border area with Syria under heavy Jordanian military escort, Israeli sources reported on Friday.
Hezbollah-backed Syrian troops seize central villages
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters pressed on with their offensive Friday in the country’s opposition heartland, taking two small villages near a strategic town that was captured by the government this week.
Following Wednesday’s capture of Qusair, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces appear to have directed their efforts toward driving rebels from the country’s densely populated heartland, including the cities of Homs and Aleppo.
The leader of Syria’s main opposition group on Friday warned that the involvement of Hezbollah is transforming the war in Syria into a sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, and says peace negotiations aren’t possible as long as Hezbollah and Iran are fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s regime.
George Sabra, acting head of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, told The Associated Press that Syria was under occupation from foreign troops and urged the international community to act now or risk the Syrian conflict spreading to other parts of the Middle East.
Syrian Regime Forces Prepare to Launch Offensives in Homs, Aleppo
Syrian regime forces sought Friday to follow up on their victory in the key town of Qusayr near the Lebanon border by sending reinforcements to battle rebels in Homs and the northern province of Aleppo.
Government forces were also trying to mop up final pockets of rebel resistance north of Qusayr, the town which it retook Wednesday bolstered by Hizbullah fighters.
Political solution in Syria a must, says Russian FM
There must be a political solution to the Syrian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a joint press conference with the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
There are thousands of foreign men fighting with the rebels against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, Lavrov added.
“Distorting the facts [of what happened] in Qusayr is unacceptable,” he said, referring to “hypocritical” statements by the United States.
Russia can replace Austria in UN Golan peacekeeping force, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Friday that his country’s peacekeepers replace departing Austrian troops in the Golan Heights which monitor the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire line.
“Considering the difficult situation that is developing today in the Golan Heights, we could replace the departing Austrian contingent in this region separating Israeli forces from the Syrian army,” Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying.
Putin offers Russian troops in lieu of Austrian Golan peacekeepers
Just 24 hours after Austria decided to withdraw its UN Golan contingent, President Vladimir Putin stepped forward Friday, June 7, to offer a Russian force in its place. debkafile: Putin saw an opportunity to pluck the fruits of his support for the Syrian-Hizballah forces’ successes against rebels, notably at al Qusayr, and place Russian troops face to face with the Israeli army. They would form a barrier against anti-Assad military intervention from Israel. Israel is expected to ask the US to veto the Russian force for lack of neutrality.
Russia Deploys Permanent Naval Unit to Mediterranean Sea
TEHRAN (FNA)- Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had deployed 16 warships and three ship-based helicopters to the Mediterranean Sea.
Russian ships have been making regular visits to the Mediterranean, but the recent move marks the country’s first permanent naval deployment in the region since Soviet times.
Putin said the plan is not meant as a threat to any country and should not be seen as “saber-rattling”.
UNITED NATIONS – Russia, which had previously blocked a UN Security Council declaration of alarm about the situation in Syria’s al-Qusair, let a similar statement pass on Friday after the strategic town fell to troops loyal to President Bashar Assad.
The statement contained all of the same elements that were in a text Russia rejected last weekend, saying at the time it was “one-sided” and amounted to a demand for a unilateral ceasefire by government forces. Unlike resolutions, Security Council statements must be adopted unanimously.
BEIRUT: Syrian troops, backed by Hezbollah fighters, pressed on with their offensive Friday in the country’s opposition heartland, taking two small villages near a strategic town that was captured by the government this week.
Following Wednesday’s capture of Qusair, President Bashar Assad’s forces appear to have turned their sights to driving rebels from the country’s densely populated heartland, including the cities of Homs and Aleppo.
(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s highest religious figure praised a leading Sunni Muslim scholar on Thursday for his condemnation of Hezbollah following its intervention in Syria.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh’s words add to the growing criticism of Hezbollah by Sunni authorities, underlining the sectarian aspect of Syria’s civil war where mostly Sunni rebels are fighting President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
Lebanese army slams ‘plot’ to embroil country in Syria war
The Lebanese army warned on Friday that a plot was afoot to embroil the country in the 26-month conflict in neighboring Syria, as deadly clashes between Damascus supporters and opponents inside Lebanon multiply.
“The army command… calls on citizens to be wary of plots aimed at taking Lebanon backwards and dragging it into an absurd war,” a statement said, adding that it would give an “armed response to any armed action.”
UN: Syria refugees could reach 3.5 million this year
The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries could more than double to 3.5 million by the end of the year, the United Nations said Friday as the global body launched its biggest humanitarian appeal ever.
The UN asked donor countries for $5.2 billion to help alleviate the suffering of millions of people inside and outside Syria who are struggling with the effects of a conflict that has dragged on for more than two years.
“We expect that we might reach 3.5 million refugees by the end of the year,” UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres told a news conference in Geneva. Around 1.6 million people have already sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Another 7,000 refugees are crossing the border each day, he said.
Suicide bomber hits Iranian pilgrims in Iraq, 9 dead
BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Iranian Shi’ite pilgrims in Iraq on Friday, killing at least nine people in an attack likely carried out by Sunni insurgents trying to ignite sectarian conflict.
Al-Qaida’s local wing and other Sunni insurgents have unleashed a wave of attacks since the start of the year in an attempt to provoke the kind of Shi’ite against Sunni bloodshed that killed thousands in 2006-2007.
Leading Iranian presidential candidate Saeed Jalili said Friday” We have to move to a direction that our capacity to enrich [uranium] reaches 100 percent from 5 to 20 percent. Jalili, who is also Iran’s senior negotiator with the six powers on its nuclear program was referring to enrichment up to weapons grade.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his government opposes violence and is open to “democratic demands” raised by demonstrators whose mass protests have rocked the country.
“What we are against is terrorism, violence, vandalism and actions that threaten others for the sake of freedoms,” Erdogan said in a televised conference in Istanbul on Friday. “I’m open-hearted to anyone with democratic demands.”
Egyptians protest after anti-Mursi campaign HQ set on fire
Protesters flocked to a district in downtown Cairo after the headquarters of Tamarod, a campaign against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, was set on fire early on Friday.
They chanted slogans against Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the privately-owned Egyptian daily Youm 7 reported.
The group told Ahram Online that it had received “threats of physical harm from Islamist presidential supporters in recent days.”
Large US Marine force lands in Aqaba to deploy on Jordanian-Syrian border
Gulf of Aqaba
A large American military force disembarked Tuesday, June 4, at the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba – ready for deployment on the kingdom’s Syrian border, debkafile reports. The force headed north along the Aqaba-Jerash-Ajilon mountain road under heavy Jordanian military escort. The 1,000-strong 24th Marine Expeditionary Force unit is the largest the US has deployed in Jordan in the more than two years of the Syrian civil war. They disembarked from the USS Kearsage amphibious assault ship
Syrian army takes Qusair; General says town is key to control of whole country -
Syrian regime takes over crucial city of Qusayr; rebels say war’s not over
(CNN) — Syrian government forces seized control Wednesday of the strategically important border city of Qusayr, which had been the site of nearly seven weeks of fighting.
State-run TV credited an offensive “that led to the annihilation of a number of terrorists,” the government’s term for rebels.
“Our heroic armed forces are always determined to confront any aggression that our beloved homeland may face in the future,” an anchor on Syrian state television said.
Syria’s main opposition: Revolt will continue despite Qusayr fall
The armed uprising against the regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad will carry on despite the fall Wednesday of the strategic town of Qusayr, the war-torn country’s main opposition group said.
“The blessed revolution will continue. Victory is on the side of the righteous, who resisted in the face of oppression and injustice,” AFP quoted the National Coalition as saying in a statement.
Syrian opposition fighters withdrew overnight Wednesday from the Syrian town of Qusayr near the border with Lebanon after an onslaught by the Syrian army and Hezbollah fighters killed hundreds of people, a rebel statement said.
Iran ‘congratulates Syrian army, people’ on Qusayr victory
Iran congratulated the Syrian army and people on Wednesday for their victory over rebels after seizing the strategic town of Qusayr, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said.
Tehran ‘congratulates the victory of the Syrian army and people over the ‘takfiri’ terrorists,’ Abdollahian said, using a term for Sunni militants who comprise the majority of the country’s rebels.
Syria: Victory in Qusair is a message to the Zionist enemy
The victory achieved by the Syrian army in Qusair sends a clear message to Israel against any aggression against Syria, a statement from the General Command of the Syrian army said on Wednesday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
“The victory that was achieved at the hands of our brave soldiers sends a clear message to all those who are involved in the aggression against Syria, on top being the Zionist enemy and its agents in the region and tools on the ground,” the statement said.
“Our armed forces will remain ready to face any aggression against our dear homeland,” it continued.
Syria levels warning at Israel in wake of Qusair victory
Following its reported victory over rebel forces in the strategic town of Qusair, the Syrian Army on Wednesday warned that the Assad regime is prepared to face all of its aggressors in its efforts to defend the country — including Israel.
The General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces issued a statement declaring its success in restoring security and stability to the town by clearing it of what it called “terrorists,” the official Syrian news agency SANA reported. The army called on residents of the war-torn town to return to their homes.
The defeat of Syrian rebel forces who have now withdrawn from their positions in the town of Qusair represents a significant victory for the government and its Hezbollah allies.
Potentially it changes the dynamics of the conflict – something that will have political and diplomatic ramifications. It also increases the likelihood of a more persistent spillover of the fighting into Lebanon.
Army Vows to ‘Crush’ Rebels Across Syria after Regaining Control of Qusayr
The army vowed on Wednesday to trounce rebel fighters across Syria hours after recapturing Qusayr following a more than two-week assault on the strategic town on the border with Lebanon.
“After successive advances in the war against organised terrorists, our armed forces say they will not hesitate to crush the armed men wherever they are and in every corner of Syria,” it said in a statement.
Sweets Distributed in Dahiyeh in Celebration of ‘Qusayr’s Fall’
Social networking websites were buzzing on Wednesday with pictures of young men distributing sweets in Beirut’s southern suburbs in celebration of the “fall” of the Syrian town of Qusayr in the hands of Syrian regime forces and Hizbullah fighters.
Banners reading “Qusayr has fallen” and Hizbullah’s yellow flags were erected on trees planted in a road median, next to which supporters of the party were distributing sweets to the passengers of the passing cars.
Hizbullah: Qusayr’s Accomplishment a Blow to American-Israeli-Takfiri scheme
Hizbullah stated on Wednesday that the party’s “accomplishment” in the Syrian border town of al-Qusayr is “blow to the American-Israeli-Takfiri scheme.”
“The withdrawal of the opposition’s fighters from al-Qusayr is a knockdown to the scheme of the United States, Israel and the Takfiris,” the party’s deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem expressed after a meeting with Syrian Social National Party Vice President Toufiq Mhanna.
Horrific pictures reveal the slaughter in Syria as government forces capture key town and Britain accuses regime of attacking rebels with chemical weapons
Horrific pictures today revealed the scale of the ongoing slaughter in Syria after government troops regained control of a strategic border town from rebel fighters.
The graphic images purported to show the corpses of rebels killed during the three-week battle over the town of Qusair, which was captured by Bashar Al Assad’s forces today.
The news comes as a British official insisted there is a ‘growing body of persuasive evidence’ that the regime has been using chemical weapons against its rebel opponents.
Sabra: Syria Opposition to Fight ‘until Liberation’
Rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime will fight “until the whole country is liberated”, opposition chief George Sabra said Wednesday, after the army and Hizbullah fighters overran the strategic town of Qusayr.
“We say to the heroes in the Free Syrian Army: this is a small juncture, in which you proved your rare heroism. It will be followed by the liberation of the whole country,” Sabra said.
White House Condemns ‘Nasrallah’s Game in Syria’ as FSA Threatens of Move Battle to Lebanon
The White House on Tuesday condemned Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria’s war, expressing that the party’s leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is “playing a dangerous game,” as the Free Syrian Army threatened to move the battle to Lebanon.
“We are deeply concerned by the continued fighting in (the Syrian border town of) al-Qusayr and condemn the indiscriminate killing of civilians by Assad’s forces and his proxies, including Hizbullah fighters,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
France will not intervene unilaterally in Syria, the government said Wednesday after Paris stated there was “no doubt” that the regime in the war-torn country had used deadly sarin gas.
“France will take no unilateral and isolated decision… It is now up to the international community,” government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters in response to a question on a possible military intervention in Syria.
Idriss: Syria rebels ready to move battles into Lebanon
BEIRUT: Salim Idriss, the commander of the Syrian rebel forces, warned Wednesday that fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad could target Hezbollah in Lebanon if authorities failed to put a stop to the resistance group’s activities in Syria.
“The fighters are ready to move the battles into Lebanon to confront Hezbollah members fighting alongside the Syrian regime forces,” the Free Syrian Army commander told BBC.
Report: Russia not training Syrians to use S-300 missile
MOSCOW – Russia is training military officers from Syria in the use of anti-aircraft missile systems but has not begun instructing them to use the advanced S-300 system, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a Russian military source.
Russia has said it will not bend to Western pressure to scrap a contract to sell Syria S-300s, but President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the missiles have not yet been sent to Syria.
Syrian Air Raid Targets Arsal, Suleiman Urges Respect of Lebanon’s Sovereignty
Syrian regime forces carried out an air raid on the northeastern town of Arsal on Wednesday, with a report saying that helicopters targeted a house owned by a man from al-Hujairi family.
The attack drew the condemnation of President Michel Suleiman, who urged Syria to “respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and not to endanger its citizens.”
Army Vows Decisive Measures in Tripoli Away from Political Meddling
The Army Command issued a statement on Wednesday stressing that it will take decisive measures to address the thorny situation in Tripoli away from any political interferences, following the escalating tension in the northern city.
“In light of the escalating tension in Tripoli and taking into consideration the number of casualties and injuries reported, the Army saw it better to address the issue wisely with patience and precision,” the statement said.
Syrian, 2 Lebanese Charged with Deadly Assault on Army
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged three people on Wednesday for killing Lebanese soldiers in the northeastern town of Arsal last month.
Saqr charged in absentia Mashhour Abdul Mawla al-Rifahi al-Wazir, a Syrian, for the premeditated attack on an army checkpoint in Arsal and for the murder of three soldiers on May 28.
The judge also charged two Lebanese, Ahmed Hussein Mohammed and Iman Shmaytiyeh, who are in detention, for taking part in the assault.
New June 25 meeting set to prepare Syria peace conference
The UN peace envoy to Syria said Wednesday a diplomatic meeting in Geneva had not set a date for an international peace conference on the conflict but had decided to hold a new preparatory meeting on June 25.
“We will work intensively over the next few weeks and we will meet again in Geneva on June 25,” Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters.
Russia: Still no agreement on Syria conference participants
A peace conference to negotiate an end to the bloodshed in Syria will not be held in June because the Syrian opposition still cannot decide on its participation as well as a list of participants, a Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.
“Right now the most complicated issue is perhaps about a list of conference participants,” Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies in Geneva.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration came back empty-handed after a diplomatic delegation to Moscow last month presented intelligence suggesting that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government used chemical weapons on its own people, officials said Tuesday, raising further questions about how seriously the United States can cooperate with Russia to end the Arab country’s civil war.
Militants set up a fake checkpoint in western Iraq and ambushed a convoy of 14 border policemen on Wednesday, killing all of them and setting fire to the bodies of two of them, officials said.
The checkpoint was set up along the main highway connecting Iraq to Saudi Arabia, with the attack taking place near the town of Nukhaib.
US says “deeply troubled” over Iran’s nuclear reactor plans
The United States said on Wednesday it is “deeply troubled” over Iran’s plans to launch a new heavy water reactor in 2014 while failing to provide the UN nuclear watchdog with necessary design information about the plant.
Western diplomats and experts say the Arak reactor could yield plutonium for nuclear bombs if its spent fuel were reprocessed, something which Iran says it has no intention of doing. The Islamic Republic says the plant will produce medical and agricultural isotopes.
Turkish protesters demand government abandon Istanbul project
A Turkish protest group demanded on Wednesday that the government abandon plans to redevelop an Istanbul park and that it sack governors and police chiefs the group holds responsible for violence during days of clashes across Turkey, Reuters reported.
Members of the Taksim Solidarity group told reporters they had delivered the demands – also including the release of arrested protesters, a halt to police use of teargas and the removal of obstacles to freedom of speech – to Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc at a meeting in the capital Ankara.
Turkey unrest aims to make ‘Islamic project fail,’ say Egypt MB leaders
Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Egypt on Tuesday accused Turkish protesters of receiving foreign funds from entities which they claim “want to make the highly successful Islamic project fail,” according to local Egyptian media reports.
Hussein Ibrahim, secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), blamed “foreign groups” who wish to “manipulate internal issues to serve international interests.” He did not clarify.
More than a week after the unceasing anti-government protests across the country, the government is now taking some steps back in a move that will most likely stop the escalation of demonstrations.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül kicked off a process on Monday to avoid ignoring protesters and address their demands. He said, “Well-intentioned messages were received,” which aimed at reducing the flames of anger of protesters.
New Pakistan PM calls for end to U.S. drone strikes
Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Wednesday for an end to U.S. drone strikes in the country’s northwest, after lawmakers endorsed him for an unprecedented third term in office.
Some 13 years after he was deposed in a coup and sent into exile, the 63-year-old was formally chosen by a vote in the National Assembly and will take the oath from President Asif Ali Zardari later in the day.
Russia’s Putin says S-300 missiles not yet sent to Syria
Vladimir Putin
President Vladimir Putin defended on Tuesday Russia’s right to sell arms to the Syrian government but said Moscow had not yet delivered advanced S-300 air defense systems to Damascus.
Although Western governments have criticized Russia for planning to send the missile systems to President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, Putin told a news conference the contracts were legal and were not intended to upset the military balance.
He also praised the S-300 missiles system as one of the best in the world but added: “The contract was signed several years ago. It has not been fulfilled yet.”
PARIS (AP) — France’s foreign minister says tests have confirmed that sarin gas has been used multiple times in Syria.
In a statement Tuesday, Laurent Fabius said samples taken from Syria and tested by a laboratory in France “prove the presence of sarin in the samples in our possession.”
Fabius says France “now is certain that sarin gas was used in Syria multiple times and in a localized way.”
APNewsBreak: Iran’s Reactor Said Damaged by Quakes
Several countries monitoring Iran’s nuclear program have picked up information that the country’s only power-producing nuclear reactor was damaged by one or more of several recent earthquakes, with long cracks appearing in at least one section of the structure, two diplomats said Tuesday.
Iran is under U.N. sanctions for refusing to stop nuclear programs that could be used to make weapons, even as it insists it has no such plans.
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Russia has deployed in Armenia state-of-the-art ballistic missiles capable of striking targets more than 400 kilometers away, according to a source in the Armenian Defense Ministry.
Speaking on the condition anonymity, the source told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) over the weekend that several Iskander-M systems are currently stationed at undisclosed locations in the country. The source declined to clarify whether they were delivered to the Armenian armed forces or the Russian military base headquartered in Gyumri.
Russian campaigner says Putin’s policy on Syria is all about oil
Russia’s staunch backing of ally Syria can be pinned squarely on President Vladimir Putin’s need to buttress oil prices in order to protect his own regime, ardent Kremlin opponent Garry Kasparov said Tuesday.
The former chess king turned political campaigner said Moscow’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be seen through the domestic Russian prism, rather than as a need to maintain the alliance with Damascus or spar diplomatically with the West.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, known for his black humor, on Tuesday said he hoped that Syria’s opposition will not send organ-eating rebels to proposed peace talks.
Speaking to an EU-Russia summit, Putin described seeing televised footage in which “members of the Syrian armed opposition pull out internal organs of their enemies and eat them.”
He seemed to be referring to a video uploaded to YouTube in May which showed a rebel apparently cutting out and eating the heart of a Damascus regime soldier.
Meqdad Says Hizbullah Fighters Set to Storm Aleppo
Free Syrian Army’s Political and Media Coordinator Louay Meqdad revealed on Tuesday that there are currently around 4,000 Hizbullah members fighting alongside the Syrian regime in Aleppo.
The pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat quoted Meqdad as saying that the fighters are deployed in the Academy of Military Engineering near the province of Aleppo.
He pointed out that the fighters are getting ready to storm the province, which the opposition controls more than half of it.
Sabra Urges Berri to Open ‘Humanitarian Corridors’ in Qusayr: Delaying Aid Leads to Massacre
Caretaker leader of the Syrian National Coalition George Sabra on Tuesday urged Speaker Nabih Berri to open “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate the wounded in the neighboring country’s border town of a-Qusayr.
“There are more than 1000 wounded persons in al-Qusayr, 400 of them are in critical conditions, and we do not have enough support in the town to heal these people,” Sabra explained in a videotaped speech posted online.
Kabbara Gives 48-Hour Ultimatum for State to End Battles in Tripoli
Tripoli MP Mohammad Kabbara gave on Tuesday a 48-hour ultimatum for the state to control the situation in the northern city of Tripoli.
“The residents of the city will have to defend themselves if the battles continued,” Kabbara said after heading a meeting for the National Islamic Gathering.
The lawmaker accused President Michel Suleiman, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji of cooperating with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Hariri Denounces Clashes in Tripoli, Calls on Army to Assume Responsibilities
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on the army to assume its responsibilities and safeguard the northern city of Tripoli, expressing fear that a “wicked” plot is targeting the city and its residents.
“We completely reject the incidents in Tripoli,” Hariri said in a statement issued late on Monday.
He called on the army and the security institutions to control the situation and prevent those “who are assaulting the dignity and safety of the citizens and implementing foreign orders” that aim at destabilizing the country from carrying out their plot.
Syrian government forces have pushed rebels battling to topple President Bashar Assad out of a key district on the edge of Damascus, the country’s state news agency reported Tuesday.
If confirmed, the regime’s latest gain would bolster the defenses of the Syrian capital and further shift the balance of power Assad’s way in the civil war.
In the past two months, the Syrian army has moved steadily against rebels in key battleground areas, making strategic advances near the border with Lebanon and considerably lowering the threat to Damascus, the seat of Assad’s government.
Evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria attacks reaches UN
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a report that both sides were deliberating breaking the rules of war against millions of victims.
“War crimes and crimes against humanity have become a daily reality in Syria,” the Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a report delivered to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, adding it had “reasonable grounds to believe that chemical agents have been used as weapons.
Shelling kills civilian near Russian embassy in Damascus
Shellfire near the Russian embassy in Damascus killed a civilian and wounded a member of the security forces on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
“It was recorded that five shells hit the Al-Adwi area of Damascus,” the Britain-based watchdog said.
“Some of them struck near the Russian embassy, where sources reported one civilian was killed and one member of the regime forces was wounded.”
Two Hezbollah fighters including commander killed in Damascus clashes
Clashes between the Free Syrian Army and Hezbollah in the Damascus suburb of Madhamiya on Monday have killed two members from the Lebanese Shi’ite militia group, one of them being a field commander, activists said.
The Syrian government troops backed by hundreds of fighters from Hezbollah attempted to infiltrate Madhamiya, activists added.
U.N. panel reports ‘new levels of brutality’ in Syria conflict
United Nations human rights investigators said on Tuesday the Syrian regime has been using civilians as “human shields,” adding that they had reasonable ground to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used in the conflict.
“The conflict in Syria has reached new levels of brutality”, the 29-page report said, according to Reuters news agency. “War crimes, crimes against humanity and gross human rights violations continue apace.”
Syrians trying to flee their conflict-ravaged homeland are facing growing difficulties as they try to get to neighboring Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, the UN’s refugee agency warned Tuesday.
“We call on all parties in the conflict to enable people to leave, and on countries in the region to keep their borders open,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told AFP.
Fleming declined to say who was to blame for the border restrictions, which reports on the ground suggest are due to fighting and checkpoints in Syria, as well as beefed up controls on the other side of the line.
Raad Says Qusayr Rebels Wanted to ‘Attack Resistance from Behind’
Hizbullah on Tuesday accused the Syrian opposition of seizing control of the Syrian town of Qusayr with the aim of “attacking the resistance from behind its back.”
“The thing that is immunizing and strengthening the resistance is the harmony among all the political forces that have embraced the path of resistance, and this is what’s bothering the other partners in the country, who have been trying to drive a wedge or stir discord in order to infiltrate through and achieve their plot,” head of Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad said.
Battle for Damascus is over. Is Israel intelligence slow on Syrian war?
When Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon informed a Knesset panel Monday, June 3 that Syrian rebels still occupied four Damascus districts, debkafile’s intelligence sources reported the battle for the Syrian capital was all but over. Barring small pockets of resistance, Bashar Assad’s army had virtually regained control of the city in an epic victory. Senior IDF officers criticized the defense minister’s briefing on Syria Monday to a Knesset panel as drawing on flawed intelligence which, they feared, must lead to faulty decision-making.
Russia Reiterates Iran’s Participation in Upcoming Geneva II Conference
TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Russian foreign ministry official once again underlined that Iran should take part in the upcoming Geneva II Conference.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Moscow and Washington are still divided over Tehran’s participation in the conference slated for June.
Nevertheless, the Russian Foreign Ministry believes that the event would not be successful if Iran were not invited, Ryabkov said.
Defense minister confirms field hospital operating on Syria border
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, in a wide-ranging presentation to a Knesset defense oversight committee, confirmed on Monday that Israel is operating a field hospital on the Syrian border and transferring severely wounded Syrian nationals to Israeli hospitals for treatment.
“Our policy is to help in humanitarian cases, and to that end we are operating a field hospital along the Syrian border,” Ya’alon told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “In cases where there are badly wounded, we transfer them to Israeli hospitals. We have no intention of opening refugee camps.”
The US government has publicized classified information detailing the location, design and specifications of a launch site to be built from this summer for Israel’s new Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system. The details, apparently spilled in error, appear to include highly sensitive information relevant to the struggle against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The material specifies, for instance, that the launch site must be completed by the end of next year, by which time, it says, Israel expects to have the Arrow 3 — a missile defense system crucial to Israel’s plans for countering an Iranian nuclear threat — operational.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed alarm over the recent deterioration in the security situation in Lebanon.
“The Secretary-General is alarmed by developments in Lebanon, the spill-over effect from Syria,” his spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters at the U.N. headquarters on Monday.
He said U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly had expressed concern last week on the spillover.
Powers set to press Iran on nuclear inquiry: diplomats
(Reuters) – China and Russia are expected to join four Western powers in voicing deep concern about Iran’s atomic activities this week and pressing it to cooperate with a stalled inquiry by the U.N. nuclear agency, diplomats said on Tuesday.
A draft statement by the six powers, expected to be delivered during a June 3-7 meeting of the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says it is essential and urgent for Iran to engage with the IAEA.
Iran not after nuclear bomb, says presidential contender Velayati
Ali Akbar Velayati, a conservative presidential contender, reiterated that the Islamic republic is not seeking nuclear weapons that he said are banned by the Islamic religion, in an exclusive interview with AFP.
Iran’s controversial nuclear program has for years been a point of contention between the Islamic republic and the P5+1 countries, the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany, who suspect the drive is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
No concessions to West, Iran’s Khamenei tells candidates
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday that the country’s next president should avoid making “concessions” to the west, saying this would not diffuse tensions over Tehran’s nuclear drive.
Khamenei is the ultimate decision maker in Iran and has the final say on all key issues, including its controversial nuclear program, a major source of concern in the West over suspicions the Islamic republic is using it to develop weapons.
U.S. blacklists ‘front companies’ of Iran’s leaders
The United States identified and blacklisted Tuesday what it called a “major network of front companies” serving Iran’s leadership.
It said the 37 companies under The Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order both pull in money from state business for the leaders and work to circumvent international sanctions on the regime.
“EIKO and its subsidiaries — one that manages and controls EIKO’s international front companies, and another that manages billions of dollars in investments — work on behalf of the Iranian Government and operate in various sectors of the Iranian economy and around the world, generating billions of dollars in profits for the Iranian regime each year,” the U.S. Treasury said.
Turkish government offers conciliatory moves as thousands return to protest in Taksim
ISTANBUL – After a tense night in Istanbul’s Taksim, where demonstrators feared the police were about to reclaim the square, thousands of protesters returned on Tuesday morning. At the same time, senior government figures made conciliatory moves toward the demonstrators in the absence of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is currently out of the country.
On Monday night, the police came close to the southern edge of Taksim, arriving from the main road leading to the Bosphorus and launched large volleys of tear gas grenades which swept the square. Hundreds of demonstrators ran away from the road, many of them taking shelter in the lobbies of nearby hotels while hundreds of others wearing gas masks remained on the barricades that had been erected across the road from metal fences, burnt-out vehicles and paving stones uprooted from the sidewalk.
Turkish deputy PM to meet Istanbul park protest organizers
The death toll since the start of the protests in Turkey over the weekend has risen to two after a 22-year-old man died in a hospital, injured from being shot during anti-government protests in southern Turkey, the NTV television reported Tuesday.
“Abdullah Comert was seriously wounded… after gunfire from an unidentified person,” the station reported, quoting a statement from the local governor’s office in the Hatay province.
Istanbul (CNN) — Trade unions claiming 240,000 members are throwing their weight behind anti-government demonstrations across Turkey.
The KESK confederation of public sector workers was calling a two-day strike starting Tuesday to protest what it called the “fascism” of the governing party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has become one of the focal points of demonstrators’ anger.
Red Cross To Withdraw Foreign Staff From Afghanistan Following Attack
(Reuters) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is removing some international staff and curtailing operations in Afghanistan following last week’s fatal attack on their Jalalabad compound, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The ICRC has held emergency meetings since the May 29 attack in the east of the country in which an Afghan guard was shot dead and three people, including one international staff member, were wounded.
First on CNN: U.S. to send Patriot missile battery, fighter jets to Jordan as part of exercise
Patriot Missile Battery
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved the deployment of a Patriot missile battery and F-16 fighter jet aircraft to Jordan as part of a planned military exercise, but with an understanding that the weapons systems may stay in the country to bolster Jordan’s security as violence from the Syrian civil war spreads.
The deployment, approved by Hagel over the weekend, will send the weapons to Jordan for a multinational training exercise called Eager Lion, which is taking place this month.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Monday that an international Syria peace conference may have to be delayed until July to give more time for preparations.
“It would be better that it takes place in July than never,” Westerwelle said at the U.N. headquarters where he signed an international arms trade treaty. The United Nations had wanted to hold the conference this month, but mounting obstacles have appeared.
Iraq warns Israel on using airspace in Iran strike
Baghdad has warned Israel that it would respond to any attempts by the Jewish state to use Iraqi airspace for a strike against Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, a top Iraqi minister told AFP.
The remarks from Hussein al-Shahristani, deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs, mark the first time a senior Iraqi official has publicly warned Israel against entering its airspace — the most direct route — to hit targets in Iran.
A key bloc within Syria’s main opposition National Coalition announced its withdrawal from the body on Monday, accusing some leaders of misusing funds and being motivated by personal ambition.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission said in a statement: “We are withdrawing from the Coalition… because it is taking initiatives far removed from the true revolution and cannot represent the revolution in an authentic way.”
Three men and a woman were killed in renewed clashes between Sunni and Alawite residents of the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli in less than 24 hours, a security source told AFP on Monday.
“One civilian was killed and 21 were wounded in clashes late Sunday between the Sunni-majority Bab el-Tabbaneh neighbourhood and the facing Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen,” the source said.
The violence is tied to the conflict in Syria, where a Sunni-led uprising is fighting to overthrow the regime of Alawite President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel possesses some 80 nuclear warheads — rather fewer than once thought, and lower than the nuclear arsenal of countries that are officially in possession of atomic weapons — according to the new 2013 yearbook put out by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a leading think tank on global security issues.
Of those warheads, 50 are for medium-range ballistic missiles and 30 are for bombs carried by aircraft, the report said. In addition, “Israel may also have produced non-strategic nuclear weapons, including artillery shells and atomic demolition munitions,” the Guardian reported Monday.
Russia cannot deliver advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian regime before 2014, Israel’s defense minister asserted on Monday.
“We are following this matter with concern, but no deliveries have taken place. If they do take place, it will not be before next year,” Moshe Yaalon told the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defense, in comments reported by army radio.
Turkey clashes: Erdogan says protests ‘are not Turkish Spring’
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says four days of anti-government protests do not constitute a Turkish Spring.
At a news conference before a trip to Morocco, he said the protests were organised by extremists and accused the opposition of provoking “his citizens”.
The protests initially targeted plans to build on a treasured Istanbul park but have spread into nationwide unrest.
Protests continue in Ankara as group supporting police attack demonstrators
Solidarity protests against the demolition of Taksim Gezi Park continued in Ankara today while clashes erupted between demonstrators and a group 30 people chanting slogans on behalf of the police. The unknown group, which attacked while shouting “May the hands of those who attack the police be broken,” ran away after attacking demonstrators.
During the day, protesters persistently gathered in Kızılay Square after being dispersed by police through the side streets several times.
Istanbul (CNN) — More than a week after protests began sweeping Turkey, demonstrators kept up their occupation of bustling Taksim Square on Monday amid appeals from the government to abandon the rallies and return to work and school.
What began as a small sit-in over the Turkish government’s plan to demolish a park in central Istanbul in favor of a shopping arcade has morphed into the biggest protest movement against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan since he was elected more than 10 years ago.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday voiced concern over “reports of excessive use of force” by Turkish police in clashes with demonstrators in Ankara and other Turkish cities.
Kerry stressed that the United States supported the right to peaceful protests and said Washington was “deeply concerned about the numbers of people injured,” urging all sides to “avoid any provocations or violence.”
Iran may have cleared key base of nuclear evidence: IAEA
VIENNA: Extensive construction activities at Iran’s Parchin military base may have removed all evidence of alleged nuclear weapons research, the head of the UN atomic agency said Monday.
“As our verification capacity has been negatively impacted by extensive activities (at Parchin), it may no longer be possible to find anything even if we are given access,” Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters in Vienna.
Gulf sources: “Accidents” to Ahmadinejad, Jalili were attempted assassinations
Twelve days before Iran’s presidential election, stubborn rumors were making the rounds that two “accidents” which took place Sunday, June 2, were in fact attempts on the lives of outgoing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a leading presidential hopeful, Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Both escaped unhurt. The rumors pointed the finger of suspicion at supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or his underlings in the wake of a reported secret Ahmadinejad-Jalili deal for the former to be awarded the vice presidency if the latter won the election.
BEIRUT: Hezbollah denounced Monday the early morning shooting at a prominent Sunni sheikh in the southern coastal city of Sidon and said the attack aimed at inciting strife in the country.
“At dawn today, criminals tried to assassinate Sheikh Maher Hammoud in his home city Sidon while he was heading to the mosque to pray. Such a criminal attempt aims without a doubt at inciting strife in the service of the Zionist enemy and its conspiracy against Lebanon,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
Jumblat Slams Nasallah’s ‘War against Takfiris’: Syrian Regime Uses al-Nusra to Execute Attacks
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat slammed on Monday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s description of Syria’s war as a “fight against Takfiris,” accusing the Syrian regime of hiding behind the Islamist jihadist al-Nusra Front to conduct attacks in Iraq and Lebanon.
“President Bashar Assad’s regime executed terrorist attacks in many locations, in Iraq for example, by claiming it was fighting occupation and it also released many al-Nusra members from jails upon the eruption of the Syrian revolution,” Jumblat stated in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website.
Gulf Cooperation Council Warns of Steps against Hizbullah
Gulf states could take measures against Hizbullah in the near future, the head of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council said on Sunday.
The GCC “decided to look into taking measures against Hizbullah’s interests in the member states,” GCC chief Abdul Latif al-Zayani told reporters at the end of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Syria’s Qusayr pounded as battle enters third week
Syrian warplanes pounded the embattled town of Qusayr on Monday as a regime offensive backed by fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah to retake the town from rebels entered its third week.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a fierce overnight onslaught both on the strategic town near the border with Lebanon and slightly farther north in Dabaa.
Dabaa, the site of a disused military airbase that had been seized by rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is still partly under insurgent control.
Red Cross still pushing for access to besieged Qusair in Syria
(Reuters) – The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday it was still seeking a formal Syrian response to its request for urgent access to the besieged town of Qusair after a minister said aid efforts should wait until the fighting was over.
Humanitarian groups say as many as 1,500 wounded people may be trapped in Qusair by fighting between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, who are backed by fighters from Lebanon’s militant Shi’ite group Hezbollah.
BEIRUT (AP) — At least 300 seriously wounded residents of an embattled Syrian town near the border with Lebanon need to be evacuated for medical treatment, a doctor told The Associated Press on Monday, as fighting in Qusair raged for the third straight week.
Kasem Alzein, who coordinates treatment in several makeshift hospitals in Qusair, said the wounded are being treated in private homes after the town’s main hospital was destroyed during fighting between the Syrian army — backed by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas — and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Missile hits village near Syria’s second city, killing 26
A missile hit a village near Syria’s second city of Aleppo overnight, killing 26 people including six women and eight children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
“At midnight on Sunday, 26 people were killed, including six women and eight children, when what appears to have been a surface-to-surface missile struck the village of Kfar Hamra,” said the Observatory.
NATO to discuss training Libyan security forces: U.S. official
(Reuters) – NATO defense ministers concerned about the growing presence of al Qaeda-linked rebels in southern Libya will this week discuss the possibility of training Libyan security forces, U.S. defense officials said on Monday.
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan requested the assistance at a meeting last week with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who raised the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington last Friday.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a busy market in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 13 people, including 10 children and two NATO security forces, The Guardian reported. A local security official confirmed that the attacker rode a motorcycle into a group of US soldiers the same time schoolchildren were breaking for lunch. It is noted that the explosion also killed an Afghan police officer.
New Al Qaeda Video Urges Boston-Like Homeland Attacks
Al Qaeda’s most dangerous franchise is threatening the U.S. with renewed attempts at homeland terror attacks, while urging radicalized Americans to launch strikes like the Boston bombings and poison mail cases on their own.
The dual-pronged “Message to the American Nation” comes from a top militant in Yemen’s al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and was both warning to the U.S. and call to arms for homegrown jihadis.
