U.S. To Send Patriot Missile Battery, Fighter Jets To Jordan For 18 Nation Exercise As Turkey Revolts Against Govt

by ftownballa in Afghanistan, Featured Posts, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, News Updates, Russia, Syria, Turkey

Posted on: June 3, 2013 1:13 pm - Permalink

By FTown
EndGameBeginningOfWW3
June 6, 2013

First on CNN: U.S. to send Patriot missile battery, fighter jets to Jordan as part of exercise

Patriot Missile Battery

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.

German FM Says Syria Conference May Be Delayed

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.

Key Bloc Quits Syria Opposition, Slams Leaders

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.”

Violence in Tripoli claims more lives

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 now has 80 nuclear warheads, report says

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.

Israel: No Russian S-300s to Syria before 2014

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 protests Tear gas used as PM urges calm

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.

Turkey protests show no sign of letdown

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.

Kerry concerned over “excessive force” in Turkey

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.

Hezbollah slams attempt on Sheikh Hammoud’s life

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.

300 wounded civilians trapped in Qusair fighting

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.

Suicide Bomber Kills 13 in Afghanistan

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.

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Russia May Not Deliver S-300 To Syria Till Next Year While Golan Heights Prepares For War

by ftownballa in Afghanistan, Africa, Featured Posts, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Mali, Middle East, News Updates, Russia, Syria, Turkey

Posted on: May 31, 2013 12:49 pm - Permalink

By FTown
EndGameBeginningOfWW3
May 31, 2013

Russia may not deliver S-300s to Syria this year

S-300 Anti-Aircraft System

S-300 Anti-Aircraft System

Russia may not deliver a hugely controversial consignment of S-300 air defense missile systems to the Syrian regime this year, two Russian newspapers reported Friday, rejecting claims the weapons had already arrived in the country.

The Vedomosti daily cited a Russian defense industry source as saying it was unclear if the weapons would be delivered to Syria this year while the Kommersant daily quoted its source as saying that delivery was only planned in the second quarter of 2014.

PM indicated to Putin: ‘We’ll destroy your missiles if you deliver them to Assad’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted during his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel would destroy Syrian S-300 missiles before they became fully operational, Maariv cited Middle Eastern diplomats saying Friday. The reported threat underlined how firmly Israel has sought to pressure Russia to cancel the deal, apparently with some success.

According to the report, during the meeting between the heads of state earlier this month in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Netanyahu called on Putin to cancel Russia’s transfer of the sophisticated anti-aircraft system to Syrian President Bashar Assad, and indicated that, should the delivery go ahead, Israel would strike the missiles before they became operational.

Washington betrayed Moscow over S-300 deal with Iran: Russian official

A Russian official has criticized the US for abandoning Moscow after forcing it to stop a deal for the delivery of S-300 defense systems to Iran.

Russian Technologies (Rostech) CEO Sergei Chemezov said on Thursday that the US applied heavy pressure on Moscow to stop the agreement under the pretext that the Iran-Russia deal was against UN Security Council sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.

Golan Heights villages brace for war as tensions rise between Syria and Israel

Food and medical supplies are stockpiled and bomb shelters prepared as Bashar al-Assad threatens to open new front

Syria Wants to Revive Fighter Jet Deal with Russia

MOSCOW, May 31 (Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti) – The Syrian authorities want to revive a contract to purchase MiG-29M/M2 fighter jets from Russia in light of the upcoming expiration of an EU embargo on arms sales to Syria, representatives of aircraft maker MiG said Friday.

“A Syrian delegation is currently in Moscow. We’re discussing details and timeframe of a possible contract,” MiG head Sergei Korotkov told journalists, but did not elaborate.

Russia waiting for Turkey’s explanation on sarin gas link in bomb attack

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Friday that his country is expecting an official explanation from Ankara over Syrian militant al-Nusra’s possession of sarin gas.

Seven members of the al-Nusra group were detained on Wednesday after Turkish police found sarin gas, which was reportedly going to be used in a bomb attack, during a search of the suspects’ homes, Turkish media have reported.

Kremlin aide says Russia will fulfill Syria arms contracts

A senior Kremlin aide defended Moscow’s right to deliver weapons to the Syrian government on Friday and said an EU decision to let an arms embargo lapse would hurt efforts to organize peace talks.

Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin’s aide on foreign policy, said the EU’s decision was “not conducive to preparations for such an important international event” and that Russia would fulfill its arms contracts with the Syrian government, despite Western criticism.

NGO: Doctors record ‘dozens of chemical attacks’ in Syria

A group of doctors working in war-torn Syria said Friday its members had seen dozens of patients suffering from what they believe are chemical weapons attacks, saying the number seemed to be rising.

“We have dozens of cases of people hurt in what seems to be chemical attacks, especially civilians,” Tawfik Chamaa, a founding member of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (UOSSM), told AFP.

NGO: Syrian army kills three westerners, two of them Muslims

Syrian soldiers have killed three westerners, including an American woman and a British man, both Muslims, in northwest Idlib province near the Turkish border, a monitoring group said late Thursday.

“They were shot dead during an ambush in the Idlib region and the army found them with maps of military positions,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

U.S. woman killed in Syria identified by relatives via online images

(CNN) — An American woman was among three Westerners reported killed in Syria, her relatives said Friday.

The woman has been identified as Nicole Lynn Mansfield, 33, of Flint, Michigan, her aunt and grandmother told CNN.

The grandmother, Carole Mansfield, told CNN that FBI personnel visited her home to talk about reports of the death. The relatives confirmed the identity Thursday night after they saw images of the woman online. The FBI and the State Department have not officially confirmed the identity.

Hilli Calls on Hizbullah to Reconsider Stance over Syrian Conflict

Arab League Deputy Secretary General Ahmed bin Hilli described on Friday Hizbullah’s involvement in battles in Syria as “dangerous development,” calling on the party to reconsider its stance.

“Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria battles complicates the matters,” Hilli said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

Mansour: We Adamantly Reject Placing Hizbullah on Any Terrorism List

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated that Hizbullah is an integral part of Lebanon’s national and political fabric, reported As Safir newspaper Friday.

He therefore told the daily: “We adamantly reject placing the party on any terrorist list.”

“Hizbullah is represented at parliament and in the government and therefore listing it as a terrorist group is an attempt at political blackmail,” he continued.

Syrian opposition admits liberals after inconclusive talks

Syria’s opposition struggled to overcome deep rifts on Thursday and form a united front for a proposed international conference to try to end the Syrian civil war.

Delegates at inconclusive talks in Istanbul agreed to add 14 named members of a liberal bloc led by veteran figure Michel Kilo to the 60-member assembly of the Syrian National Coalition, the closest body that President Bashar al-Assad’s foes have to an overall civilian leadership in the two-year-old uprising.

Controversial EU decision to arm Syrian rebels becomes official

The EU on Friday formally modified its package of sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime following this week’s controversial agreement to arm Syrian rebels in line with British and French demands.

A European Union statement said wide-ranging “restrictive measures against the Syrian regime” agreed over the last two years would be renewed for a year from Saturday until June 1, 2014.

Activists: Troops attack convoy in key Syrian town

Activists say Syrian troops have attacked a convoy trying to evacuate wounded people from a central town near the border with Lebanon, killing at least seven.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Friday’s attack near the town of Qusayr also wounded “tens of people.”

Syrian troops backed by members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah have been trying to capture the town, launching an offensive nearly two weeks ago.

Syria opposition says reinforcements reach battle town

The Syrian opposition said Friday that hundreds of rebel reinforcements, most close to the Muslim Brotherhood, have reached the strategic town of Qusayr to try to repel an attack by Hezbollah-backed army troops.

“Around 1,000 fighters from across Syria” have penetrated the rebel stronghold near the Lebanese border, the opposition National Coalition’s interim leader George Sabra told reporters in Istanbul.

Kerry: Russia’s plans to send S-300 missiles to Syria’s Assad put Israel at risk

The United States and Germany on Friday warned Russia that arming President Bashar Assad’s forces would hurt efforts to bring Syria’s warring parties together for peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking after talks with his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, said Russian plans to send a sophisticated air defense system to Assad also put Israel’s security at risk.

EU regrets Lebanon elections will not be held on time

The European Union regrets that elections in Lebanon will not be held on time at the end of the mandate of parliament, which was scheduled on June 16, 2013.

“In light of the decision to extend Parliament’s term, the European Union urges all the political parties to use the extension to agree on an electoral law, and fix a new date for elections,” the EU said in a statement issued on Friday.

U.K. says battle ahead to keep Lebanon out of Syria war

BEIRUT: Britain’s ambassador to Lebanon urged that Beirut maintain a policy of neutrality toward events in Syria, voicing concern of the growing involvement of Hezbollah’s fighters in its neighbor.

“I raised our concerns about the role of Lebanese fighters in Syria. It is of great sadness that Iran is now sending sons of Lebanon to die for [President Bashar] Assad,” Ambassador Tom Fletcher said following talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

U.S.: Iran, Hizbullah Support for Global Terror Surged in 2012

Iran last year boosted its support for global terrorism to levels not seen for two decades, the Obama administration said Thursday as it released its annual report on international trends in extremist violence. The report said the core elements of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan are headed for defeat but stressed that the network’s various affiliates remain severe threats to the U.S.

Roadside bomb kills worshippers in Baghdad

A bomb has exploded as Sunni worshippers left a mosque in west Baghdad, one of two attacks that have killed seven people in Iraq, officials have said.

Police said the bomb left by the side of the road at the Omar mosque killed four people and wounded 11 others as they were walking away after Friday prayers.

In a separate incident, police said that two carloads of gunmen attacked a security checkpoint in Fallujah early on Friday, killing three policemen.

Kerry says US will not accept nuclear arms in Iran’s hands

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he did not have high expectations that an upcoming presidential election in Iran would change the calculus over Tehran’s nuclear program, repeating it was unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

At a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Kerry said Iran needs to understand that international patience was waning over the nuclear program that Tehran says is meant for peaceful purposes. “Every month that goes by gets more dangerous,” Kerry said. Westerwelle also said more diplomatic talks were necessary. (Reuters)

Red Cross Halts All Staff Movement after Afghan Attack

The International Committee of the Red Cross has halted all staff movement across Afghanistan and closed its office in Jalalabad which was hit by a deadly suicide and gun attack.

The two-hour assault on Tuesday, which left one Afghan guard dead, was the first time ICRC offices have been targeted in Afghanistan since the organisation began work there 26 years ago.

France Says No Plans for Military Intervention in Libya

France wants to work with Libya against militant groups on its territory but will not take military action in the country without U.N. backing, President Francois Hollande said on Friday.

Asked about media reports of France preparing an intervention against Islamist groups in southern Libya, Hollande told interviewers from broadcasters France 24, RFI and TV5Monde there were no plans in the works.

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Syria Opposition Says No To Peace Talks While Assad Says He Has S-300 Already

by ftownballa in Featured Posts, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, News Updates, Russia, Syria, Turkey

Posted on: May 30, 2013 11:35 am - Permalink

By FTown
EndGameBeginningOfWW3
May 30,2013

Syria opposition says no peace talks until Hezbollah, Iran halt ‘invasion’

Syrian Opposition

Syrian Opposition

Syria’s main opposition group said Thursday it will not take part in proposed U.S.-Russia peace talks while key allies of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime are waging war alongside government forces.

“The National Coalition will not take part in any international conference or any such efforts so long as the militias of Iran and Hezbollah continue their invasion of Syria,” the opposition’s acting chief George Sabra told reporters in Istanbul.

Syrian regime says it has Russian missiles

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said the regime has received the first shipment of sophisticated Russian anti-aircraft missiles, while the main Western-backed opposition group announced Thursday that it will not participate in peace talks — a double blow to international efforts to end the country’s devastating civil war.

Assad’s comment on the arrival of the long-range S-300 air defense missiles in Syria, which was made in an interview with Lebanon’s Hezbollah-owned TV station, could further ratchet up tensions in the region and undermine any to hold any peace talks.

Syria gets first batch of Russian S-300 missiles - Assad

Assad taunts: First S-300s are here, more coming. Green light for Golan fight against Israel

DEBKAfile Special Report May 30, 2013, 10:09 AM (IDT)

Taunting Israel, Bashar Assad says in an interview prerecorded for broadcast Thursday night, May 30, that the first batch of Russian S-300 anti-air missiles has arrived in Syria and a second consignment is on the way. Wednesday, May 29, debkafile reported the landing at Latakia of a large Russian transport carrying 60 tons of unidentified freight. This was the first S-300 consignment. Fresh Hizballah forces entering Syria Thursday are heading for Deraa, the rebels’ southern stronghold 30 kilometers from Israel’s Golan border.

‘Assad’s lying about possessing S-300 missiles’

A leading Israeli Arabic affairs analyst said Thursday he believes Syrian President Bashar Assad was lying about already having his hands on state-of-the-art anti-aircraft missiles.

Channel 2′s Ehud Ya’ari said that to the best of his knowledge Assad “is not telling the truth”: he doesn’t have the missiles and certainly doesn’t have the complete batteries needed to launch them.

Date set for Syria peace talks, but opposition threatens boycott amid Assad ‘massacres’

Russian, the United States and the United Nations have officially set a date for an international conference aimed at finding a solution to the ongoing civil war in Syria, announcing Thursday that they would be meeting in Geneva on June 5.

“On June 5, in Geneva, a three-party meeting is expected with the participation of representatives from Russia, the United States and the United Nations at which preparations for the international conference on Syria will be discussed,” a Russian Foreign Ministry source said on Thursday, according to the Interfax news agency.

Gulf states to discuss placing Hezbollah on terror list on Sunday

Gulf Arab states will consider placing Lebanon’s Shiite party Hezbollah, which is openly involved in the Syrian conflict, on their terror list, Al-Rai daily quoted highly placed diplomats on Thursday as saying.

Bahrain will ask foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss “placing Hezbollah on the terror list” at a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, the newspaper said.

Besieged Syria rebels plead for help, Assad confident

(Reuters) – Syrian rebels under siege in a town near the Lebanese border issued a desperate appeal on Thursday for reinforcements and medical supplies as government troops and Lebanese guerrillas pounded their defences.

Alongside a military offensive on Qusair and rebel-held Damascus suburbs, President Bashar al-Assad tried to drive home diplomatic advantage; he highlighted his foreign alliances in announcing the arrival of anti-aircraft missiles from Russia and militia from Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and declared his willingness to attend a Geneva peace conference with his squabbling opponents.

Russia Accuses Syria Opposition of Trying to Scuttle Peace Bid

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday accused the Syrian opposition of seeking to disrupt plans for a peace conference by putting forward unrealistic demands.

“We are under the impression that the National Coalition and its regional sponsors are doing everything so as not to allow the start of the political process and achieve military intervention in Syria through any means possible,” Lavrov told reporters.

When Assad shells rebels, Israel goes on alert and learns

PALMACHIM AIR BASE, Israel – Israel tracks every heavy missile fired in the Syrian civil war, keen to study Damascus’s combat doctrines and deployments and ready to fend off a feared first attack on its turf, a senior Israeli military officer said on Thursday.

Colonel Zvika Haimovich of the air defense corps said southward launches against Syrian insurgents by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces gave Israel mere seconds in which to determine it was not the true target – a distinction that could prove crucial for warding off an unprecedented regional conflagration.

’4,000 well-armed, prepared to die’ Hezbollah fighters in Syria

State Department calls on Hezbollah to withdraw fighters from Syria, says Washington “continuing to increase and escalate our aid and support for the opposition” • French Foreign Minister Fabius: Regime supporters “being guided by Iranian officials.”

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday that his country’s intelligence services believed 3-4,000 Hezbollah guerillas were inside Syria partaking in the fighting.

Free Syrian Army head: Hezbollah ‘invading’ key Syrian city

The military head of the Free Syrian Army told BBC that thousands of Hezbollah fighters have been “invading” Syria and participating in attacks in the embattled border town of Qusayr, it was reported Thursday.

According to the chief of the Syrian rebel group, more than 7,000 Hezbollah fighters were involved in the violence in the rebel-held town, BBC cited Gen Selim as stating.

Report: Hizbullah Gives Hamas ‘Eviction Papers’ from Lebanon

The head of Hamas in Lebanon, Ali Barakha, was informed by Hizbullah that his people were no longer welcome in the country, and that Hamas members should evacuate the country immediately, Israel Radio reported Thursday. The message raised the possibility that the two Islamist groups could end up fighting each other in Lebanon, as each vies for influence with opposing parties in Syria, analysts said.

Syrian rebels have been receiving assistance from the Sunni-oriented Hamas terror group, while the Shi’ite-affiliated Hizbullah terror group has been helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the ongoing civil war in Syria.

Palestinian Refugees Burn Aid Provided by Hizbullah in Ain el-Hilweh

A number of Palestinian refugees who fled the war in Syria on Thursday set ablaze aid offered to them by Hizbullah in protest at the party’s military intervention in the neighboring country, state-run-National News Agency reported.

The refugees at the Palestinian Ain el-Hilweh camp in Sidon called on Hizbullah to withdraw its fighters from Syria and not to interfere in Syrian affairs, NNA said.

Russia Earmarks $10M for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, Jordan

The Russian government on Thursday earmarked 10 million dollars in aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan that will be paid through the United Nations in the year 2013.

“In 2013, around 10 million dollars will be earmarked as a contribution to the budget of the the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), with around 6.5 million dollars in support for the Lebanese government and around 3.5 million dollars in support for the Jordanian government,” read a resolution issued by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Israeli Energy Minister: We Will Not Allow Transfer of Strategic Weapons From Syria to Hizbullah

Israel does not want to provoke a military “escalation” with Syria but will not allow it to transfer strategic arms to groups like Hizbullah, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.

“There is no need to provoke an escalation, there is no need to heat up the border with Syria, that was not our objective and it will never be,” Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom told public radio.

Suleiman Urges Nasrallah to Stop Fighting in Syria, Says Will Challenge Long Extension of Parliament’s Mandate

President Michel Suleiman revealed on Wednesday that he will challenge extending the parliament’s term “if it exceeded few months,” urging Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to refrain from involving Lebanon in Syria’s war.

“The elections will be held by October and I will challenge the constitutionality of extending the parliament’s term before the Constitutional Council,” the President stated in an interview on Future television.

In a hospital parking lot, Israel prepares for chemical war

The IDF’s Home Front Command on Wednesday simulated a chemical weapons missile strike in the capital with thousands of wounded and hundreds of dead.

The nationwide three-day drill, code-named Turning Point 7, which on Wednesday also simulated missile strikes on Israel’s parliament building, has unfolded amid rising tension between Israel and Syria — a country that possesses some 1,000 tons of chemical weapons.

16 die in a wave of bomb blasts across Iraq

Security and medical officials says at least 16 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a series of bomb explosions across Iraq.

Four people lost their lives in the Binouq neighborhood of northern Baghdad on Thursday, when cars rigged with explosives were set off.

Three people also died in a bombing at a market selling spare car parts in central Baghdad.

Iran Terror ‘Sleeper Cells’ Are Infiltrating South America, Argentine Prosecutor Says

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Iran is “infiltrating” South America and setting up intelligence networks to carry out terrorist attacks in the region, an Argentine prosecutor said Wednesday.

The prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, has been engaged for 20 years in the effort to charge a handful of former Iranian officials with masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center.

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Hezbollah Sends over 4,000 Fighters To Syria While Britain Says More Chemical Attacks Have Happened

by ftownballa in Afghanistan, Featured Posts, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, News Updates, Russia, Syria, Turkey

Posted on: May 29, 2013 12:00 pm - Permalink

By FTown
EndGameBeginningOfWW3
May 29, 2013

Hezbollah sends more fighters to Syria after rebels issue ultimatum

Hezbollah Fighters

Hezbollah Fighters

Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah appears to be shrugging off a 24-hour ultimatum set on Tuesday by a Free Syrian Army (FSA) official to end the group’s involvement in the Syrian conflict.

Syrian elite forces and extra fighters from Hezbollah have been sent to reinforce government troops battling rebels in the strategic border town of Qusayr, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.

Elite troops in pivotal battle for Syria’s Qusayr

Syrian elite troops rushed to bolster a Hezbollah-led offensive against rebels in the strategic town of Qusayr on Wednesday as the U.N. Human Rights Council debated a resolution condemning the assault.

Russia warned a European Union decision to lift its arms embargo on rebels fighting to oust its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, harmed its joint efforts with the United States to halt the conflict.

Fighting in Syria, Hezbollah charts risky course

KAFR KILA, Lebanon (AP) — The giant posters of Hezbollah fighters killed in Lebanon’s wars with Israel still dot the picturesque landscape of southern Lebanon, the few remaining reminders of some of the epic battles that once made the Shiite guerrilla group and its leader Hassan Nasrallah heroes in the Arab world.

Nowadays, they are overshadowed by fresh portraits of Hezbollah fighters who have died fighting fellow Muslims in the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Jordan to host major military exercise

AMMAN, Jordan, May 28 (UPI) — Jordan is to host a major military exercise with more than 15,000 soldiers from 18 countries, including the United States.

A Jordanian military official speaking on condition of anonymity stated that, besides the United States, other countries sending military personnel for the two-week “Eager Lion 2013″ military exercise include Britain, Bahrain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, The Tehran Times reported.

Britain Reports New Cases of Syria Chem Weapons Use

Britain last week informed the United Nations of “new incidents” of apparent chemical weapons use in Syria, diplomats said Wednesday.

London sent a letter to the world body that included “details of new incidents since April,” a Western diplomat said — the latest in a series of reports on the use of chemical arms in the more than two-year Syrian conflict.

Israel in Moscow talks to halt supply of missiles to Syrian regime

Top-level Israeli intelligence figures flew into Moscow on Tuesday night in a last-ditch attempt to talk the Kremlin out of supplying sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to the Assad regime, which once installed in Syria would have the range and power to target civilian and military aircraft over Tel Aviv.

Israeli diplomats will continue to work both privately and publicly to prevent the transfer until the shipment sails, but officials attempted to lower the diplomatic temperature, insisting Israel had no intention of fighting Russia on the issue.

Netanyahu tells ministers stay silent on Syria

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his cabinet to stay silent on the issue of Russian missile deliveries to Syria, public radio said on Wednesday.

His remarks came after several ministers criticized Moscow’s arms deals with Damascus and raised the possibility of an Israeli response should the Jewish state feel under threat.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Tuesday warned Israel would “know what to do” if Russia delivered promised anti-aircraft missiles to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel Readying for Regional Deterioration, Says Netanyahu

Israel is gearing up for a deterioration in the regional situation, with a growing number of new threats facing the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

Netanyahu made the comments as he watched an exercise simulating the response to a chemical attack on a residential neighborhood in Jerusalem as part of an annual civil defense drill.

His remarks came after several ministers raised the alarm over the planned delivery of Russian anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, where President Bashar Assad has been waging a bloody two-year war against insurgents bent on overthrowing him.

End of EU’s Arms Embargo Harms Syria Peace Bid, Says Lavrov

Russia warned on Wednesday that the European Union’s decision to lift its arms embargo on the Syrian rebels harmed joint Russian-U.S. efforts for an international peace conference over the 26-month crisis.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the EU’s original ban on arming the opposition made little sense because the 27-nation bloc’s own laws prohibited it from sending weapons to “non-state entities” — leaderships not formally recognized by the United Nations.

Turkish foreign minister arrives at Syria opposition talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived Wednesday at a stalled meeting of Syria’s divided opposition in Istanbul, in what is likely an effort to push for more progress at talks deadlocked by infighting.

US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and a top French diplomat on Syria also arrived at the meeting of the main opposition National Coalition, which has failed to find common ground on key issues including whether to take part in a peace conference proposed by the United States and Russia.

US-backed UN resolution on Syria is ‘odious’, says Russian foreign minister

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has criticised as “odious” a US-backed draft resolution condemning the Syrian government before a debate at the UN human rights council on Wednesday. Lavrov said the “extremely unwholesome initiative” would damage attempts to end the Syrian civil war and convene a planned peace conference.

The draft resolution, submitted by the US, Qatar and Turkey, condemns the use of heavy weapons against civilians and other rights abuses by the Syrian regime. Lavrov called it “one-sided” and said he was surprised the US was one of the sponsors, saying it ran contrary to the US’s pledge to help organise the planned peace conference. He said the draft was “unilateral and odious”.

Assad ally Iran hosts peace conference ahead of Geneva talks

As the United States and Russia prepare to hold Syria peace talks in Geneva, Iran, an ally of President Bashar al-Assad, held a peace conference in Tehran.

Iran said the conference, which began on Wednesday, was aimed at finding a political solution to the Syrian conflict and that officials from 40 countries and heads of regional and international organizations were expected to attend.

Iranian television, which broadcast images of the conference, referred to the meeting as a “Friends of Syria Conference”, using the name also used by a grouping of Western and Arab governments who broadly support the Syrian rebels and call for Assad to quit.

Syria crisis harmful for region, world: Iran FM

Iran has warned against attempts to further fuel the deadly unrest in Syria, saying such moves will inflict irreparable damage on the international system.

“An increase in violence and bloodshed [in Syria] and delay in the process of the political resolution of the current crisis is not at all in the interest of neighboring countries [of Syria], the region and the world…,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the participants of the International Conference on Syria in Tehran on Wednesday.

Geagea: We Need New Government Independent of Hizbullah’s Influence

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed on Wednesday Hizbullah’s fighting in Syria, warning that it will incur “severe consequences” on Lebanon.

He therefore demanded the formation of a new government independent of the party’s influence, while saying that the LF supports a technical extension of parliament’s term instead of the adoption of the 1960 electoral law for the parliamentary elections.

Suleiman in Surprise Visit to Arsal: Assailants behind Attacks Will Be Arrested Sooner or Later

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Wednesday that the time will come when assailants who attacked the army will be arrested.

He said: “The assailants behind these terrorist attacks will be arrested an punished sooner or later.”

He made his remarks during a surprise visit to the the northeastern town of Arsal after three soldiers were killed by unidentified gunmen in the area, stressing that the army is the only guarantee for Lebanon’s safety.

Syrian rebels near Israel border stole UN’s armored trucks

A Syrian rebel group that twice abducted United Nations peacekeepers near the Israeli border in the past three months stole several UN vehicles, a UN Peacekeeping spokesperson acknowledged to The Times of Israel — including at least two sophisticated armored personnel carriers.

An Israeli expert warned that the sophisticated UN-marked vehicles could be used in surprise border attacks on IDF targets.

New Iraq Attacks Push Tuesday Death Toll to 45

Violence in Iraq on Tuesday killed 45 people, after evening attacks raised an earlier toll, the latest in a spate of unrest sparking concerns the country could be sliding back to all-out sectarian war.

The wave of shootings and bombings, which also wounded nearly 100 people, came the same day ministers discussed ways to curb the violence, while the U.N. has urged Iraq’s feuding political leaders to resolve long-running disputes that have paralyzed the government and been blamed for its inability to halt the bloodshed.

Afghan officials say insurgents attack Red Cross

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say insurgents have attacked a guest house used by the International Committee of the Red Cross in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, says the attack began Wednesday evening and that a gun battle was still going on.

Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal also confirms the attack on the guest house.

Officials: US drone strike kills Pakistan Taliban number 2

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A US drone strike killed the number two of the Pakistan Taliban, Wali-ur-Rehman, in North Waziristan region on Wednesday, three security officials said in what would be a major blow in the fight against militancy.

Wali-ur-Rehman had been poised to succeed Hakimullah Mehsud as leader of the Pakistan Taliban, a senior army official based in the South Waziristan tribal region, the group’s stronghold, said in December.

Russian Warplanes Go on 24-Hour Duty in Snap Alert Drill

MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti) – MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors are going on round-the-clock duty in northern Russia as part of a snap combat readiness check of the nation’s aerospace defense capabilities, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

The fighters, “in conjunction with A-50 airborne warning and control system aircraft, are performing continuous missions to protect the airspace, including from cruise missile strikes,” the ministry said in a statement. The aircraft are to be refueled while still in the air.

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FSA Issues 24-Hour Warning For Hezbollah To Leave Syria As Russia Sends S300 To Assad

by ftownballa in Featured Posts, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, News Updates, Russia, SaudiArabia, Syria

Posted on: May 28, 2013 1:13 pm - Permalink

By FTown
EndGameBeginningOfWW3
May 28, 2013

FSA issues 24-hour deadline for Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria

Free Syrian Army Chief-of-Staff Major General Selim Idriss

Free Syrian Army Chief-of-Staff Major General Selim Idriss

Free Syrian Army Chief-of-Staff Major General Selim Idriss issued Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a 24-hour ultimatum to get Hezbollah to withdraw its militants from Syria.

Idriss warned in an interview with Al-Arabiya that “the FSA will chase after [Hezbollah’s] militias wherever they are,” in an implicit reference to Lebanon.

Lebanese soldiers killed at checkpoint

Armed men have killed three Lebanese soldiers at an army checkpoint in the eastern Bekaa Valley, then fled towards the Syrian border, Lebanese officials say.

It was not clear who carried out Tuesday’s attack, which is the latest incident in a frontier region which has been increasingly drawn into the violence in neighbouring Syria.

The shooting took place before dawn near Arsal, in an area used by Syrian rebels and their Lebanese backers to smuggle arms and fighters into Syria.

More Syrian Rockets Land on Hermel, Several Wounded

Several people were injured on Tuesday in two cross-border rocket attacks in the northeastern town of Hermel, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said seven rockets landed in Hermel and its outskirts a day after a girl was killed in a similar incident.

In the first attack, three rockets hit the Hermel area.

Israel ‘will know what to do’ over Russia missiles

Israel “will know what to do” if Russia delivers anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, its defence minister said Tuesday, in an apparent allusion to another air strike on the war-torn neighbouring country.

“The deliveries have not taken place, and I hope they do not. But if, by misfortune, they arrive in Syria, we will know what to do,” Moshe Yaalon said.

Russia to send S300 missiles to Syria to 'deter intervention & hotheads'

Russia will send anti-aircraft system to Syria despite Israeli threats

Russia will go ahead with plans to deliver S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria despite Western opposition and Israel saying it would “know how to act” if Syrians receive the advanced weapons system.

Moscow said that by sending in the anti-aircraft system, it would deter “hotheads” intent on intervention in the two-year-old conflict, the deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Russia, EU clash over arming regime, rebels

BEIRUT: Russia is insisting it reserves the right to supply anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian government, claiming it is a key deterrent against foreign intervention, as the EU lifted its arms embargo against the opposition.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov didn’t say whether Russia has yet shipped any of the long-range S-300 air defense missile systems, but added that Moscow isn’t going to abandon the deal despite strong Western and Israeli criticism.

UK and France say can arm Syria rebels now but no immediate plans

Britain and France said on Tuesday they did not have to wait until August 1 to arm rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, contradicting European Union officials, but both countries stressed they had no plans to do so yet.

EU governments failed to renew an EU arms embargo on Monday due to differences in opinion, opening the way for Britain and France to supply weapons. But EU officials said the two countries had made a commitment not to do so before Aug. 1.

EU arms embargo lift ‘too little, too late,’ says Syrian opposition

Syria’s opposition on Tuesday denounced as “too little, too late” an EU decision to lift an arms embargo on rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Definitely it is a positive step, but we are afraid it could be too little, too late,” Louay Safi, spokesman for Syria’s main opposition National Coalition, told AFP.

The European Union agreed Monday to lift its embargo against arming Syria’s rebels, but no member state intends to send any arms in the coming months for fear of endangering a U.S.-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2.

Syrian rebel group threatens Lebanese army

The New York Times reported that a “powerful rebel group” in Syria threatened to strike Lebanon’s army if it did not prevent Hezbollah fighters from crossing the country’s border into neighboring Syria.

“I have 500 fighters in Lebanon, ready to move,” Saraqeb Martyrs Brigade commander Jamal Maarouf told the US daily in an interview Monday.

“The Lebanese government should take a clear stance. Their silence means they are satisfied,” the rebel added.

France to Probe Samples from Syria for Sign of Chemical Arms

French authorities will analyze samples brought back from Syria by two journalists after they reported the Syrian army was using chemical weapons against rebel forces, a top official said Tuesday.

There have been mounting reports of the use of chemical arms in Syria, where a bloody conflict has raged for over two years and claimed more than 94,000 lives amid reports of widespread rights violations.

Syria’s paralyzed opposition makes no progress on peace talks

A week into marathon talks aimed at presenting a united front on a proposed peace conference, Syria’s opposition remains more divided than ever, pulled apart by regional power grabs and unpopular with rebels on the ground.

Despite going into several days of overtime at a key meeting in Istanbul, the main Syrian opposition group, the National Coalition, has failed to agree on a whether to join a proposed peace conference aimed at ending a more than two-year civil war that has cost some 94,000 lives.

Hezbollah denounces “crime” against Lebanon’s military

Hezbollah denounced on Tuesday the attack on members of the Lebanese Armed Forces in Arsal, the National News Agency reported.

“This crime is an attack on all Lebanese and on their security and destiny, as it targeted the institution which preserves stability and protects the Lebanese people,” Hezbollah declared in an issued statement.

U.N. rights body mulls resolution on foreign fighters in Syria’s Qusayr

A draft resolution condemning the Syrian regime’s use of foreign fighters in the besieged town of Qusayr will be debated on Wednesday by the U.N.’s top rights body,

The draft resolution, presented on Tuesday, “condemns the intervention of foreign combatants fighting on behalf of the Syrian regime in al-Qusayr,” an implicit reference to the involvement of fighters from Lebanon’s Shiite group Hezbollah in the fierce battle for the strategic town.

Syrian rebels divided in fight against Assad

For the first time, Al Jazeera has gained access to a frontline view of the stand-off outside al-Raqqa city in northern Syria.

Opposition snipers from the Ahrar al-Sham Brigade, a group that has a reputation for some of the fiercest combat fighters in Syria’s war, are in the forefront of the fight against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Al-Sham wants an Islamic state in Syria and shares ideology with groups like Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq. That puts Al-Sham ideologically apart from the Free Syria Army, creating a division that is holding back the revolution.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons reports from al-Raqqa.

Gantz: IDF wants to ‘cool down’ the Syrian border

Israel is concerned about weapons being transferred from Syria to Hezbollah, but does not want to heat up the northern front, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting Tuesday.

“Our inclination is to cool the atmosphere, even though we passed messages [to stop the weapons transfers],” he explained. “We don’t want combat with Syria, and if we recognize continuous or dangerous shooting, we act to remove the danger.”

Israeli soldiers treat civilians in simulated attacks

Soldiers treated “wounded” civilians on Tuesday as Israel simulated a chemical weapons attack as part of its annual civil defense drill, which comes against a backdrop of tension on its borders with Syria and an increasingly unstable Lebanon.

In the city of Holon, south of Tel Aviv, 150 troops evacuated civilians to a field hospital set up in a sports stadium and “contained” the area, simulating a chemical warhead attack, an army spokesperson told AFP.

Iran Blasts EU Decision to Lift Syria Arms Embargo

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian foreign ministry blasted the EU decision to send weapons to the rebel groups who fight the Syrian people, and warned the decision would result in the spread of terrorism in the European countries.

“The decision to lift the embargos on arms shipment to the terrorist groups in Syria is a dangerous one,” Araqchi told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran offers Syria $4 bn credit line

DAMASCUS — Iran has opened two lines of credit totalling $4 billion to Damascus and expects to open up a third to counter the effects of an international embargo, Syria’s central bank said on Monday.

“Iran continues to support Syria, by opening one line of credit worth a billion dollars to finance the import of different items and another line of credit worth three billion dollars to finance the purchase of petrol and associated products,” central bank governor Adib Mayale said, quoted in the government daily Tishreen.

Russia insists Iran join Syria peace conference

Russia said on Tuesday that it was imperative for Iran to join a proposed peace conference on Syria despite reservations from some Western nations such as France.

“The issue of Iran is key for us,” Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying while on a visit to Paris. “Iran without question is one of the most important nations.”

Bombings, clashes kill 15 in Iraq wave of violence

BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings and gunfire in central and northern Iraq killed at least 11 people and wounded 35 others on Tuesday, officials said, in the latest bloody chapter of a wave of violence that has edged the country closer to all-out internal warfare.

A day earlier, 70 people were killed, and more than 450 have died this month. Most of the attacks are sectarian in nature, with Sunni and Shiite areas targeted frequently.

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Senator McCain Visits Rebels in Syria As E.U. Mulls Arming The Syrian Rebels

by ftownballa in Bahrain, Endgame Articles, Featured Posts, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, News Updates, Russia, Syria

Posted on: May 27, 2013 2:13 pm - Permalink

By FTown
EndGameBeginningOfWW3
May 27, 2013

McCain visits rebels in Syria

John McCain

John McCain

(CNN) – Sen. John McCain visited rebels in Syria on Monday, his communications director confirmed to CNN, making the Arizona Republican the highest ranking elected official from the United States to visit the war-torn country.

Brian Rogers confirmed a report that originally appeared on The Daily Beast, which indicated McCain entered Syria through Turkey, and remained in the country for several hours.

Jordan seeks to deploy Patriot missiles: minister

Jordan, which shares borders with war-torn Syria, said on Sunday it is in talks with “friendly countries” to deploy Patriot missiles on its territory after a similar move by Turkey.

“Jordan wishes to deploy Patriot missile batteries in order to boost its defence capabilities and help protect the country,” Information Minister Mohammad Momani told a news conference.

Israeli army investigates rocket launched from southern Lebanon

A day after two Grad rockets exploded in a Shiite-majority Hezbollah district in Beirut, a rocket was fired at Israel from the southern Lebanese town of Marjaoun early Monday, Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported.

“An explosion was heard. Soldiers are searching the area. The cause is still being investigated,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A second Israeli military source said the explosion was probably caused by a mortar.

‘Mounting suspicions’ chemical weapons used in Syria, French FM says

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday said there were “mounting suspicions” that chemical weapons were being used in Syria.

Speaking to journalists after talks with his EU counterparts, Fabius said that “very detailed verification” was necessary however.

There were indications of “localized use” of chemical arms, he said amid reports by activists that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in Harasta in the Damascus district on Monday.

French Journalists Report Chemical Weapons Use Near Damascus

French newspaper Le Monde reported Monday that the Syrian army is using chemical weapons against rebel forces in the outskirts of Damascus, quoting two of its journalists who were in the area in April and May.

The journalists “witnessed over several consecutive days” the use of explosive chemical weapons and their effects on rebel fighters in the village of Jobar on the outskirts of the capital, reporter Jean-Philippe Remy wrote.

EU foreign ministers sharply divided over Syria arms embargo

EU foreign ministers were sharply divided on Monday over lifting an embargo to arm Syrian rebels, with Britain’s delegate rejecting the complication of talks.

“It is important to show that we are prepared to amend our arms embargo that the Assad regime gets a clear signal that it has to negotiate seriously,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in comments broadcast on BBC television.

Syria Opposition Urges EU to Lift Arms Ban

Syria’s opposition urged Monday EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to lift an arms embargo on the war-torn country, and to allow weapons to be channeled to rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime.

“I think it falls upon the EU to really make a decision. It’s the moment of truth that we’ve been waiting for for months,” said Khaled al-Saleh, spokesman for the main opposition National Coalition.

Pillay: Syria Violence Reaches ‘Horrific Dimensions’

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay decried Monday the “horrific” level of rights violations in war-torn Syria, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to organize a new summit in Geneva aimed at ending the conflict.

“A humanitarian, political and social disaster is already upon us, and what looms is truly a nightmare,” Pillay told diplomats as she opened one of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s four annual sessions in Geneva.

Iran to host ‘international’ conference on ally Syria

Iran will host on Wednesday an international forum to help find a “political solution” for the conflict in ally Syria, the foreign ministry said, as France, the United States and Russia push for their own peace conference.

“More than 40 countries and a representative of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan are expected to attend,” deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, on Monday told Al-Alam Arabic-language television.

Fighting intensifies in Syria's Qusair city

NGO: At least 79 Hizbullah Fighters Killed in Qusayr

At least 79 Hizbullah members have been killed fighting alongside the Syrian army in the town of Qusayr since last week, a watchdog said on Monday.

“The number of Lebanese Hizbullah fighters killed in recent months in the outskirts of Damascus and Homs has risen to 141,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.

’5,000 Hezbollah troops in Syria, with 5,000 more set to join them’

DEAD SEA, Jordan — Lebanon’s Hezbollah has 5,000 troops fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria, and another 5,000 are getting ready to join them, a World Economic Forum gathering heard Sunday.

Salman Shaikh, director of the Doha Center of the Brookings Institution think tank, said there were also 1,500-2,000 fighters from Iraq in the battlegrounds of Syria. He said that not only was Syria “on the abyss,” but that after two years of civil war, there was growing danger that the fighting could draw in “the entire region.”

Tripoli clashes leave eight injured on Monday

Clashes in the Lebanese northern town of Tripoli left on Monday eight injured, the National News Agency reported.

Explosions were heard on Syria street, the main thoroughfare street that divides the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

The NNA identified the victims as Walid Ahmad as-Sayyed, Saleh al-Dali, Ahmad Hammoud, Wafiq al-Qari, Ismail Mohammad, Fadwa Saleh and Mohammad as-Sayyed.

Hezbollah should change name to ‘Party of Satan,’ Turkish Deputy PM says

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday that Hezbollah, or “Party of God” in Arabic, should change its name to “Party of Satan,” blaming the terrorist organization for killing thousands of civilians in Syria.

“Those who stand by the Assad regime and kill their own Muslim brothers and indiscriminately kill women and children in the battlefield should not appeal to Islam and the Quran to legitimize their actions,” Bozdag said, according to Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman.

IRGC Stages Naval Drills to Reinvigorate Iranian Islands’ Defensive Structure

TEHRAN (FNA)- Different combat units of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps staged four days of naval exercises in the Persian Gulf waters to display and assess Iran’s power in defending the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb islands.

Different IRGC combat units displayed their capabilities and assessed their efficiency and potentials during the four-day-long maneuvers which were held under the title of ‘Strong Defense’.

Bahrain Bans Contact with Hizbullah

Shiite-majority Bahrain banned on Monday opposition groups from having contact with Hizbullah, a day after the foreign minister of the Sunni-ruled kingdom branded the party’s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as a “terrorist”.

“Political associations are prohibited from having any form of contact with the Hizbullah organization,” Justice Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa said in a ministerial decree.

Police: Wave of Baghdad bombings kills more than 50

A wave of bombs exploded in markets in Shi’ite neighborhoods across Baghdad on Monday, killing more than 50 people, Reuters reported police and health officials as saying, in the latest attacks to increase fears Iraq risks sliding back into broader conflict.

While no group claimed Monday’s blasts, Sunni Muslim Islamist insurgents and Al-Qaeda’ s Iraqi wing have increased attacks since the beginning of the year and often target Shi’ite districts to try to trigger wider confrontation.

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