Turkey to Host NATO Ground Forces, Multiple Assassination Attempts in the Middle East: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan Safe after Convoy Attacked, Ahmadinejad Survives Assassination Attempt During a Visit to an Oil Refinery Unit, U.S. Investigators: Yemen’s President Hit By Advanced U.S.-Made Missile, Afghan President’s Brother Killed, Turkey Tells West it Might Launch Offensive against Syria, Tehran Warns Ankara it Will Bomb U.S. Bases in Turkey, Iranian Message Conveyed to Saudi Arabia: the Syrian Regime is a Red Line, Supporting the Unrest Means that Arab Monarchies in the Persian Gulf Will Not Be Spared, U.S. Defense Secretary Visits Iraq to Extract New Troop Agreement, Rockets Hit Baghdad Green Zone as Leon Panetta Visits, Israel Conducts Nationwide Drills Simulating Missile Attacks from Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Gaza, Iran’s Large Missile Drills Message of “Deterrent Power”, Saudi Arabia to Remove Most Troops from Bahrain, Plans to Buy $90Bn Arms from U.S., Will Buy Hundreds of Tanks from Germany, Lebanon Lawmakers Approve Iran-Syria-Hezbollah-Backed Government, Timely Response: Lebanon International Tribunal Files Indictment against Hezbollah Members in Hariri Case

Turkey to host NATO ground forces

The alliance would transfer its ground forces from a military base in the city of Heidelberg in southwestern Germany and another outpost in Spain to the Izmir Air Station in western Turkey, Journal of Turkish Weekly reported earlier in the month.

The base, NATO’s oldest stronghold in Turkey, currently accommodates 400 operational and technical forces.

The move constitutes a part of sweeping reforms in the alliance, which according to its Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen would ultimately “make NATO leaner, more flexible, and better able to deal with future challenges.”

Outlining the changes, Rasmussen has said, “We have agreed to reshape NATO’s command structure, making it more efficient, more deployable, and more compact.”

The reforms include effort to “streamline the agencies, which run individual NATO projects, such as ground surveillance and strategic airlift,” he added.

The developments come amid Turkey’s recent adoption of a toughened stance vis-à-vis its southern neighbor Syria, which has been grappling with unprecedented unrest since mid-March.

The turmoil, which the government blames on armed groups and foreign elements, has left scores of people dead, including many soldiers and other members of its security forces.

Ankara has, meanwhile, threatened Damascus with military intervention in the countrywide unrest, which has been troubling the latter since mid-March. It has also created an expansive military camp close to the common border.

Early June, armed groups, who had received their weapons from Turkey, killed 120 Syrian police and other members of the security forces in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour before burying them in mass graves.

Press TV | June 19, 2011
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Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan safe after convoy attacked

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday one policeman was killed and another injured when his convoy was attacked on its way to a campaign rally.

Erdogan was not in the convoy at the time of the attack and was airlifted to his next stop in a helicopter, NTV news reported.

The attack happened in northern Turkey, between the cities of Kastamonu and Cankiri, where the prime minister had a campaign event.

A bomb exploded in front of the police convoy escorting the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party bus after it made a stop in Kastamonu.

Continue Reading >> CNN | May 4, 2011
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Ahmadinejad survives assassination attempt

A large explosion set fire to an oil refinery unit in Abadan, Iran’s biggest oil city, during a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday, May 24. He came to inaugurate a unit for expanding production capacity by 4.2 million liters a day. Two people were killed and 12 injured. The blast was attributed by officials to a gas leak or “a technical fault” in one of the units, without specifying whether it was the same unit Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit. However, according to DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources, the explosion was triggered by his pushing the button to activate it.

Continue Reading >> DEBKAfile | May 24, 2011
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US investigators reportedly say Yemen’s Saleh hit by advanced US-made missile

An investigation team from the United States has reportedly found that an attack that wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh and several senior members of his government while performing the Friday prayers in his Sana’a presidential compound earlier in June was carried out by an advanced US-made missile designed for special assassination operations, sources close to the probe told Al Arabiya.

“The missile is very advanced and still not widely used. Only the United States and Russia currently employ this weapon,” a source said.

Continue Reading >> Al Arabiya | May 20, 2011
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Afghan president’s brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, killed

The half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been assassinated in Kandahar.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, a leading power broker in the country’s south, was shot dead at his home in a blow to Nato’s battle against the Taliban in the area.

He was shot twice by his long-time head of security, Sardar Mohammed, who was himself killed almost immediately.

The Taliban said they carried out the attack, calling it one of their top achievements in 10 years of war.

But Khaled Pashtun, a Kandahar province politician, was sceptical about the Taliban claims, saying the Islamist group had claimed responsibility for many attacks in the past without much evidence of their involvement.

The White House condemned the assassination “in the strongest possible terms”.

Continue Reading >> BBC News | July 12, 2011
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Turkey tells West it might launch offensive against Syria

Turkish officials have told Western countries that Turkey might launch a military operation in Syria’s north to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Monday.

Continue Reading >> Today’s Zaman | June 27, 2011
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Iran threatens Turkey for support of Assad’s victims in Syria

Iranian regime-run site Entekhab reports:

According to sources close to the Iranian regime, who were interviewed by Al-Manar [Hezbollah affiliated TV run out of Lebanon], Iran’s resolve is as strong as a rock and defending Damascus is as much of a priority as defending Beirut and Tehran. … Tehran does not meddle in any of the events taking place in Syria.

Quoting the Iraqi daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, Entekhab wrote:

Tehran has threatened Turkey by announcing that Iran will bomb every single NATO and U.S. base in Turkey, should they allow any attacks on Syria to be launched from within Turkish soil. The Iranian regime believes protecting Syria to be as important as protecting both Lebanon and Iran.

Though Iranian regime officials have claimed that this threat has not affected Turkish-Iranian relations, there are reports that privately a number of Turkish officials are extremely incensed by the Iranian regime’s belligerence. So far, neither Iran nor Turkey has publicly commented on this matter.

Continue Reading >> Prairie Pundit | June 28, 2011
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US defense secretary visits Iraq to extract new troop agreement

The Obama administration’s recently installed defense secretary, Leon Panetta, flew unannounced into Iraq on Monday to pressure the Iraqi government to finalise a formal treaty to sanction the continued occupation of the country by American forces.

Continue Reading >> WSWS | July 14, 2011
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Iraq Green Zone Attacked As Panetta Visits

AFP reports “Rockets Hit Baghdad Green Zone as Panetta Visits.” Aswat Al Iraq reports: “U.S. Defense Secretary’s visit aims to keep U.S. forces in Iraq, MP says.”

Continue Reading >> infoZine | July 11, 2011
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Israel conducts missile attack drills

Israel Sunday began a nationwide, week-long drill simulating missile attacks from Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Gaza.

Continue Reading >> UPI | June 19, 2011
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Iran’s missile drills message of “deterrent power”

A ballistic missile is launched during the second day of military exercises codenamed Great Prophet-6, for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards at an undisclosed location. Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards fired 14 missiles in the exercise. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Iranian lawmakers said that the missile maneuvers of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) convey Iran’s message of “might” and “deterrent power”, the local English language satellite Press TV reported on Wednesday.

Continue Reading >> People’s Daily | June 30, 2011
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Saudi Arabia to remove most troops from Bahrain

Saudi Arabia is to withdraw most of its security forces from Bahrain starting on Monday after deciding the situation is calmer in the Gulf Arab country after protests in February and March.

Continue Reading >> Reuters | June 28, 2011
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S. Arabia plans to buy $90bn arms from US

Saudi Arabia plans to raise its arms purchases from the United States to $90 billion from the $60 billion announced last year, as the kingdom seeks to upgrade it navy, diplomats in the Gulf said this week.

Continue Reading >> Dawn | July 7, 2011
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Saudi Arabia in deal to buy German tanks

Saudi Arabia is buying hundreds of tanks from Germany, Saudi security sources said, in a multibillion euro deal that German opposition lawmakers say contravenes the country’s export guidelines for military hardware.

The oil-rich Gulf state has bought 44 Leopard tanks in the first phase of the deal for a total of 200 tanks in coming months, the sources said.

Continue Reading >> The China Post | July 6, 2011
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Lebanon lawmakers approve Hezbollah-backed government

Western-backed coalition walks out of parliament after Hezbollah-run cabinet wins vote of confidence.

The Hezbollah-backed Lebanese government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati won Thursday a parliamentary vote of confidence after three days of heated debate.

Lebanon’s new government won the votes of 68 lawmakers in the 128-seat parliament.

Parliamentarians loyal to former prime minister Saad Hariri of the Western-backed coalition walked out of the chamber as the voting began.

Continue Reading >> Haaretz | July 7, 2011
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Lebanon tribunal files indictment against Hezbollah members in Hariri case

The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Thursday released to Lebanese authorities an indictment with four arrest warrants in relation to the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The warrants were issued for Mustafa Badreddine, Salim al-Ayyash, Hasan Aineysseh and Asad Sabra, who are alleged members of Hezbollah. Lebanon has 30 days to arrest the suspects before the STL personally summons them and makes the indictment public. In a press conference, Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated that “the indictments, from whatever source, [are] not sentences, and the charges need to contain compelling evidence beyond any doubt, and that every defendant is innocent until proven guilty.” Many have interpreted this statement as an indication that Hezbollah members will not be arrested. Although Mikati was endorsed in the election by Hezbollah, he said he will not “take sides.”

Continue Reading >> Jurist | June 30, 2011