The United States is at the risk of a war with China and Russia as its main objective behind engineering the Libyan war and Syrian unrest is to remove the two major powers from the Mediterranean, a senior former U.S. official has warned.
“Washington is all for invading Libya and is putting more and more pressure to intervene in Syria because we want to… clear China and Russia out of the Mediterranean,” Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, who served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration, said during an interview with Press TV on Tuesday.
Pakistan and China will hold two joint military exercises in 2011, a Pakistani senior military leader said Tuesday.
The two exercises, one army drill and one air force one, will be held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China, said General Khalid Shameem Wynne, chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Frenemies: U.S. ally in hot seat after bin Laden found in Pakistani army town
U.S. officials have left little doubt that they did not sufficiently trust their counterparts in Pakistan to keep quiet on the plan to send a team of U.S. special forces and CIA operatives into the country on Sunday to kill Osama bin Laden. And now that the whole world knows U.S. forces found and killed bin Laden in a large, conspicuously fortified compound in an affluent Pakistani military town less than forty miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, American officials are likewise making it clear that they don’t fully buy the Pakistani government’s see-no-evil line on bin Laden’s whereabouts. It’s hard for Pakistani military leaders in particular to make a credible case that they were shocked–shocked!–to learn bin Laden was right there under their noses; the Pakistani army, after all, has a college in Abbottabad about 800 yards away from the compound where bin Laden was found and killed.
The United States collaborated with Saudi Arabia to increase crude oil supplies to China at the expense of Iran, U.S. diplomatic cables show. The move was designed to hurt Iran and win Beijing’s support for sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.
China has long worried that oil supplies from Iran could be choked off if Beijing sides too closely with the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear activity, which opponents say is intended to give it the means to assemble nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
But as Saudi deliveries of crude increased to China over the past years, so has Beijing’s support for U.N. sanctions against Tehran — although Chinese state oil conglomerates have been moving into the vacuum created by the withdrawal of most major players from the Iranian oil patch.
China has indicated it will deepen cooperation with Pakistan on counterterrorism issues and back its long-term strategic ally’s efforts to maintain stability, in the wake of renewed international concern over the country’s efforts to clamp down on terrorist groups on its soil following Osama bin Laden’s killing.
China says Pakistan made “important contributions” to international fight against terrorism
China on Tuesday said Pakistan has made “important contributions” to the fight against terror worldwide following the U.S. announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death.
“We noticed that the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has pledged not to allow its territory to be used for terrorist attacks against any country and it will continue to support the world’s anti-terror efforts,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a regular media briefing.
Jiang said the south Asian country is at the anti-terror front-line, and its anti-terror resolve is unwavering and its action powerful.
Putin says ‘dumbfounded’ over NATO operation in Libya
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin continued on Wednesday to criticize NATO military operations in Libya, saying that he was “dumb-founded” over how easy decisions are made to use force against countries.
When asked by a Swedish journalist, Putin, who is currently on a visit in Stockholm, said “this happens despite human rights and humanity concerns which the civilized world is believed to advocate,” apparently referring to reports about NATO planes bombing civilian objects in Libya.
“Don’t you think that there is a serious controversy between words and practice of international relations?” he said, adding that this “misbalance” should be eliminated.
Arms flowing to Syrian rebels from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon
Syrian opposition sources said tribes in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon have been relaying weapons in an effort to oust President Bashar Assad. They said the weapons were sent to avenge the killing by Syrian security forces of tribal members over the last month.
IAEA Confirms Syria Secretly Building Nuclear Reactor
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has said for the first time that a target bombed in Syria in 2007 was a secretly built nuclear reactor.
Yukiya Amano Thursday told a Paris press conference that the facility destroyed by Israel in an air strike was a “nuclear reactor under construction.” As such, Amano said, it was not producing plutonium.
Commander: US Focused on Economic War against Iran
Head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization General Gholam Reza Jalali warned that the US has concentrated its efforts on strong economic pressures against the Islamic Republic as its major strategy in confrontation against Tehran.
[...] Maliki is planning to send a delegation headed by Abdul-Haleem al-Zheiri, a leading figure in Maliki’s Dawa party, to the neighboring Iran to explain his move and to give assurances to Tehran that the remaining U.S. troops will not be used against Iran, it added.
Security sources say a Untied States military base in eastern Iraq has come under a second rocket attack in less than a week.
Three Katyusha rockets hit the Echo Army base near the city of Diwaniyah late on Saturday, Fars News Agency reported on Sunday. The projectiles are reported to have been fired from the southern parts of the city.
A suicide bomber drove a tanker packed with explosives into the Italian military police station in southern Iraq killing at least 25 people, most of them Italian.
Egypt pipeline blast cuts gas supplies to Israel, Jordan
[...] It is the second such attack on the pipeline in the past few weeks. In late March, gunmen planted explosives on the pipeline, but they failed to detonate.
An explosion on the pipeline in February during an 18-day uprising in Egypt was blamed on a gas leak, although security services said they suspected sabotage.
Iraq Syria Eager for Cooperation With Iran in Building Joint Gas Pipeline
Baghdad and Damascus are prepared to cooperate with Iran to build a joint pipeline to transfer Iran’s gas supplies to Syria and other Arab states, a Syrian official said.
[...] “The pipeline in question will meet the needed gas in Iraq and Syria and will facilitate Iranian gas exports to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt through the Arab Gas Pipeline.”
China’s Presence in PoK “Increasing Steadily”: Army Commander
China’s presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is “increasing steadily” and its troops are “actually present” along the Line-of-Control, a top Army commander said, adding the Chinese footprints are “too close for comfort” for India.
“Chinese presence in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Northern Areas is increasing steadily… There are many people who are concerned about the fact that if there was to be hostility between us and Pakistan, what would be the complicity of Chinese. Not only they are in the neighbourhood but the fact that they are actually present and stationed along the LoC,” Northern Army commander Lt Gen KT Parnaik said here last week while addressing a seminar.
He said China’s links with Pakistan through PoK “lends strength” to the “nexus” between the two countries which is a cause of “great security concern” for India.
“As part of (China’s) ‘strings of pearls’ policy, Chinese footprints are too close for comfort,” Parnaik added.
The Army commander said such a nexus between the Chinese and Pakistani military “jeopardises our regional strategic interests in the long run and and facilitates speedy and enhanced deployment of Pakistan armed forces to complement China’s military operations and thus outranks India.”
He said China has been found to be involved in the construction of numerous roads and and several hydro-power projects inside PoK.
Beijing is laying a web of roads that run across areas as distant from each other as Skardu in PoK and Kunming in China near Myanmar border.
China has already constructed roads connecting all its highways to logistic centres and major defence installations that dot the border with India and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in south-eastern Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chinese state news agency has posted photographs of an aircraft carrier under reconstruction that appears to show the warship near completion. Captions with the photos said that the work would end soon and that the carrier was expected to sail later this year.
[...] Xinhua’s headline with the photos said: “Huge warship on the verge of setting out, fulfilling China’s 70-year aircraft carrier dreams.” One caption said: “A few days ago, domestic online military forums consecutively published photographs of the Varyag aircraft carrier being reconstructed at China’s Dalian shipyard. From the pictures, we can see that this project is entering its final stage.” The caption noted that construction on the ship’s bridge was almost done, with the exception of a radar system.
[...] The appearance of the photos came just days before Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited China. Military officials tested the fighter while Mr. Gates was in Beijing, which led to a puzzling and awkward diplomatic moment between Mr. Gates and President Hu Jintao.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou inaugurated a squadron of missile boats Thursday as he pledged to continue the island’s military buildup to offset the perceived military threat from China.
The fleet of 10 locally manufactured missile boats joined the navy following a ceremony presided over by Ma at the northeastern naval base in Suao.
Ma, the initiator of detente with the island’s giant neighbour, said tensions with the mainland have eased significantly since he came to power in 2008 but insisted Taiwan needed a deterrent against Beijing which claims the island as part of its territory.
Two Former Ministers Executed in North Korea – Seoul Newspaper
[...] The newspaper reported that the North Korean former minister of railways, who occupied the post in 1998-2000, was executed over the blast case at a railway station in April 2004. This explosion was qualified as an act of sabotage targeted against a special train of a North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who was on the way back from China.
The minister was accused of classified information leakage. The routes and the schedule of Kim’s trips were accessible only for his bodyguards and secretaries, as well as the railway minister.
North Korea has intensified submarine drills near the tense Yellow Sea border with South Korea, putting Seoul defence officials on alert, a report said Thursday.
JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, citing a Seoul military source, said the North had been staging exercises involving five or six submarines at the Bipagot submarine base on its west coast since last month.
They feature the signature 325-tonne submarines as well as the new and bigger Shark-class submarines called K-300, it said.
“It’s highly unusual for them to beef up submarine drills in March so we’re intensely monitoring the situation,” said the source.
North Korea warned Friday that its military would not remain a “passive onlooker” if South Korea and the United States continued joint military drills, state media reported.
The threat came from Ri Yong-Ho, a vice marshal of the North’s armed forces, at a meeting attended by top government, military and party officials in Pyongyang.
Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya’s official visit to Indonesia has resulted in further strengthening the longstanding and excellent defence relations between the two nations and their armed forces.
Army sources say that it also provided opportunity to explore further defence cooperation between the two countries.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s crude oil exports to China increased 62 percent in the first two months of 2011, Xinhua reported.
In January-February 2011, Iran’s crude exports to China increased 62 percent compared to the same period last year.
During the mentioned time, China has totally imported 45.73 million tons half of which has been supplied by the countries in the Middle East.
Iran’s crude oil exports to China reached 4.11 million tons during the two months. Iran has been second biggest crude supplier to China.
Saudi Arabia exported 8.19 million tons of oil to China and it was ranked first supplying 20 percent of the Asian country’s oil demand during the same period.
Tehran, Moscow Underline Increasing Cooperation in Oil, Gas Fields
Iranian Deputy Vice-President for Economic Affairs Ali Aqa Mohammadi and Chief Executive of Russia’s Gazprom Company Alexei Miller in a meeting in Moscow underscored the necessity for the further promotion of mutual cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sectors.
Russia on Friday resumed loading fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant after it had to be removed because of an apparent technical fault, news reports said.
China and Russia Fingered in German Industrial Espionage Alert
Industrial espionage by China and Russia is becoming easier thanks to computer hacking, officials warned German business leaders on Thursday, adding that police need data logs to track computer break-ins.
A conference heard that the annual cost to German companies of data theft was at least 20 billion euros (nearly 30 billion dollars).
[...] “Russia and China are the main sources of so-called industrial espionage in Germany,” Schroeder said.
The United States is preparing for its first test of a sea-based defense against longer-range missiles of a type that officials say could soon threaten Europe from Iran.
With Eye on South China Sea, U.S. Might Place Troops in Australia
American troops might soon find themselves serving in Australia as the United States looks for better access to the South China Sea, the source of much friction between China and many other Pacific nations.
During testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Adm. Robert Willard, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Australians would like to see an increase of U.S. military activities Down Under.
[...] U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he has a group studying the idea of U.S. troops rotating through existing Australian bases, but he doesn’t want to create any new permanent bases in the Pacific. And he remained diplomatic when asked whether such a plan would be about keeping China in check.
[...] The United States and Australia have been on the same side of every major war since World War I. Australia has the largest group of troops from a non-NATO country fighting in Afghanistan.
Russia to Continue Military Conscription for Next 10-15 Years – Medvedev
The Russian Armed Forces will continue using a mixture of conscripts and contracted recruits for the next 10-15 years, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
Russia is in the process of reforming its armed forces by shifting the focus away from a largely inefficient body of conscripted soldiers toward a smaller professional army.
Russia hopes Turkey will eventually give the green light to the section of the South Stream gas pipeline project that crosses its territory, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
Turkey has not given its consent to the laying of part of the 15.5-billion-euro marine pipeline across its Black Sea territory. South Stream is designed to diversify Russian gas export routes, and will stretch to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and then on to Italy and Austria.
[...] The land section of the pipeline will go across Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, with whom Russia has already signed intergovernmental agreements.
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said Turkey would still abide by the terms of a 2009 agreement with Russia over a proposed underwater pipeline that will carry natural gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine.
South Stream, controlled by Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni, is planned to carry Russian natural gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and on to Europe via Italy and Austria. In an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman, Yıldız reaffirmed the Turkish position on the $21.5 billion pipeline project called South Stream, saying nothing had changed on the Turkish side. “We are still waiting for the environmental impact studies, as well as feasibility studies, on South Stream to see if the required criteria demanded by Turkey are met. If met, there is no question we would give our approval to the project,” he said.
The South Stream natural gas pipeline project is not in the best interest of Ukraine and the country is working against it, according to Ukrainian Minister of Energy Yuriy Boyko.
Boyko said his country is undergoing “tense discussions” with Russia, the main country supporting the project, set to deliver gas to southern and central Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
“South Stream is a political project of our Russian partners, who want to create an excess of transit capacities for gas, like what they did back in the day for oil,” said the Ukrainian minister, quoted by MIGnews.
Boyko said that in collaboration with Ukraine’s “EU partners,” the country will be putting efforts so that in the end the pipeline be not built.
Iran’s Oil Ministry plans to invest about $90 billion in South Pars gas field in the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said.
According to Mirkazemi, about $60 billion of the mentioned amount will be allocated to the upstream projects and about $30 billion to the downstream sector, SHANA News Network reported.
The official also noted that an extra $20 billion will be invested in the petrochemical projects of the giant field.
Mirkazemi further said that the Oil Ministry plans to complete the developing projects of all the remaining phases of the field within 35 months.
The Iranian oil minister also stressed the need for foreign investment in the site to speed up the projects, saying that once all the phases of the South Pars come on stream, the field can produce 25 million cubic meters of natural gas and about 40,000 barrels of liquefied natural gas per day, making the country’s annual revenue from the field hit $110 billion, Press TV reported.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf in the border zone between Iran and Qatar. The field’s reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas.
U.K. oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) is drilling 17 wells in China, including for tight gas and shale gas, Reuters reported Sunday, citing Chief Executive Peter Voser.
If drilling is successful, Shell plans to spend $1 billion a year during the next five year years on shale gas in China, Voser was quoted as saying.
China escalated its opposition to American-led airstrikes on Libya on Tuesday, joining Russia and India in calls for an immediate cease-fire and suggesting that coalition forces were imperiling civilians by exceeding the United Nations-mandated no-fly zone.
[...] China’s response to the campaign has been the most forceful, warning that the assault could bring about a “humanitarian disaster.” In a news briefing Tuesday, Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called for an end to hostilities. “We’ve seen reports that the use of armed force is causing civilian casualties, and we oppose the wanton use of armed force leading to more civilian casualties,” she said.
China was one of five countries to abstain from the United Nations resolution that authorized the allied airstrikes against the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which have been seeking to crush a rebellion against his four-decade rule. Russia, Brazil, India and Germany also abstained, while South Africa joined nine other Security Council members in supporting the resolution approved last week.
In its decision to abstain rather than block the resolution through its veto power, China said it was heeding the wishes of the Arab League and the African Union.
The Chinese government on Thursday said it viewed the security situation in the Asia-Pacific as “volatile”, pointing to the United States “reinforcing” regional military alliances and rising suspicions among China’s neighbours.
In a national defence white paper issued on Thursday, China said it would seek to expand confidence-building measures with its neighbours, as well as stick to a defence policy that was defensive in nature.
The white paper, the seventh that China has issued since 1998, portrayed a strained regional security environment, describing the Asia-Pacific region, in particular, as “volatile.”
“Relevant major powers are increasing their strategic investment,” said the paper. “The United States is reinforcing its regional military alliances, and increasing its involvement in regional security affairs.”
The World’s Largest Arms Importer is Now India, Not China
India has spent US$80 billion to modernize its military to keep up with China and now, India has become the world’s number one arms importer according to Swedish think-tank keeping tabs on global arms transactions. India makes up 9 percent of global arms purchases while China has 6 percent of market share in comparison.
“India has ambitions to become first a continental and [then] a regional power,” Rahul Bedi, an analyst with London-based Jane’s Defence Weekly, told AP.
“Just from what they have already ordered, we know that in the coming few years India will be the top importer,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior fellow at SIPRI told the International Business Times.
SIPRI’s report stated India’s defense budget for the coming fiscal year is in the region of $32.5 billion, 40 percent more than in 2009. In addition, India will spend over $50 billion in the next five years to modernize its military – including purchasing new fighter jets and aircraft carriers.
“The kind of purchases that India is buying, no country in the world buys,” added Bedi of Jane’s Defence Weekly. India has also been importing 82 percent of its weapons from Russia and plans to purchase 250 to 300 advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter jets worth $30 billion in the next decade.
SIPRI also included in its report:
Average volume of global arms transfers in 2006-2010 increased 24 percent from 2001-2005.
Asia and Oceania accounts for 43 percent of arms imports, Europe for 12 percent, 17 percent in the Middle East, 12 percent in the Americas and 7 percent in Africa.
The largest arms importers are locate in Asia with India accounting for 9 percent of all imports, 6 percent in China, 6 percent in South Korea and 5 percent in Pakistan.
USA remains the world’s largest exporter of military equipment and totals 30 percent of global arms exports in 2006-2010; of which 44 percent were exported to Asia and Oceania, 28 percent in the Middle East and 19 percent to Europe.
EconomyWatch | March 30, 2011
____________________
S. Korea, US Conduct Large Military Exercise in Yellow Sea
A large-scale South Korea-U.S. military exercise in the Yellow Sea seeks to prepare for North Korea`s use of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, submarines and special forces to destroy or blockade major infrastructure in the South.
Military Exercises Strengthens RP-Malaysian Relations
The ten-day military exercises between the Philippine Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy, which concluded March 25, has been beneficial to both parties and was a success in its purpose, the Naval Forces West (NFW) claimed. The activity opened on March 16.
Hugo Chavez’s $15 Billion Weapons Purchase Concerns Latin America
With the acquisition of hundreds of tanks, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles as well as submarines and missile networks, Venezuela is arming itself at a speed unprecedented in the history of the South American country.
The Africa Partnership Station (APS) 2011 jungle exercise, conducted by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the United States Marines, has ended at Achiase Jungle Warfare in the Eastern Region.
[...] The two-week training exercise comprised 100 troops from GAF and 42 US Marines.
U.S. agents are helping guide air strikes and determining the allegiances of rebel forces
Since the conflict in Libya began, Barack Obama has promised not to put U.S. “boots on the ground” in the country. CIA agents presumably sport some other kind of footwear, then, because there are dozens of U.S. spies already in Libya, working with rebel forces and attempting to learn more about them, with the ultimate aim of determining whether the U.S. should arm the rebellion. Weeks ago, Obama signed a secret “presidential finding” that authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to provide weapons to the anti-Gadhafi forces, but so far no weapons have been shipped, and officials in Washington continue to weigh the consequences of such a move. British Special Forces and agents with the MI6 intelligence agency are also operating inside Libya.
Egypt Supplies Libyan Insurgents With Weapons, Reports American Newspaper
Egypt has began, at Washington’s instigation, sending arms shipments to insurgents fighting against Gaddafi’s forces in Libya, said on Friday the Wall Street Journal.
This information was obtained from a member of the National Transitional Council which represents the insurgents and US officials, indicated the American newspaper.
The newspaper further noted that this is the first time a confirmation is obtained on sending arms including light rifles and ammunition from a foreign country to Libyan revolutionaries who have recently been defeated by government forces, much better equipped.
The US had expressed its disappointment at the unavailability of Arab countries to solve regional problems and critics against Western countries engaged to help settle these issues.
According to a US official quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the dispatch of Egyptian arms shipments started a few days ago. However, he stressed that Washington has not put in place a clear official policy on this score, even if it knows.
The official considered that the quantity of weapons as too small and too late to have influenced the balance of power in favor of the insurgents.
Crack special forces troops have been secretly pouring into Libya to back the rebellion against Colonel Gaddafi.
The elite troops moved in as the defiant tyrant vowed to “fight to the last man and woman” – and warned that “thousands will die” if the West intervenes.
[...] Intelligence sources have told us that post-Mubarak Egyptian troops have been allowed into Libya by Tunisian soldiers – showing increasing Arab-backing for the anti-Gaddafi revolt.
[...] Egypt’s new foreign minister, Nabil al-Arabi, told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday that he intends to reestablish ties with the regime of Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Islamic overseers.
“We will turn over a new leaf with all states, including Iran,” said al-Arabi.
The minister said he was not yet sure if Egypt would be opening an embassy in Tehran anytime soon, but was keen to begin promoting friendly relations with the Islamic Republic.
Asked about Lebanon’s Hizballah terrorist militia, which more or less runs that country, al-Arabi indicated he had no problem with the group, and would not oppose official ties between Hizballah and Egypt.
“Hezbollah is part of Lebanon’s composition, and we see this as an internal matter,” he said. “If any party wishes to have ties with Egypt there will be nothing preventing us from talking.”
Egypt Stalls Reopening of Natural Gas Pipeline to Israel, Once again
Egyptian company Eastern Mediterranean Gas hints closure is political, asks U.S. government for help
Egyptian authorities refused to allow the reopening of the natural gas pipeline to Israel yesterday, which was closed a month ago after a terrorist bomb damaged part of the pipeline. Sources at the Egyptian company Eastern Mediterranean Gas, which supplies Israel with the Egyptian gas, hinted the issue is not actually technical − but political.
Some of the owners of EMG, which sells gas to Israel, asked the American and Thai governments to push the Egyptian government to resume the flow of gas to Israel. The reopening was scheduled for today, after three previous postponements.
Iran and Saudi Arabia Cold War Has Entered a New Era
Saudi Arabia fears Iranian influence – its Bahrain intervention has echoes of the Soviet reaction to the 1956 Hungary uprising.
Democracy is arriving in the Middle East, albeit slowly. But what is making progress at a much faster pace is the cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Some described the fall of the Mubarak government, preceded by the fall of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, as the Middle East’s Berlin Wall moment. The parallels with the cold war in Europe do not end there. There are also similarities between the entry of Soviet forces into Budapest in November 1956 to put down a popular uprising and the Saudi decision to send forces into Bahrain on 14 March this year.
The Soviets were worried that communist Hungary might fall into the hands of their western cold war adversaries, and thus felt it necessary to send their forces to put down any such initiative. The new Saudi strategy is based on similar calculations. They sent their forces into Bahrain because they felt that if the Shia uprising succeeded, it could turn the country from a Saudi friend into an ally of Iran.
The Saudi decision to risk the lives of its own soldiers in Bahrain is a sign of how seriously they view the situation. It is a departure from the old strategy, where the Saudis paid others to do their fighting for them – as with the Saudi financing of Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran between 1980 and 1988.
As far as the Saudis are concerned, the gloves are off and this means that the Middle East’s version of the cold war is intensifying.
The Iranian government is furious as well. Publications such as the pro-Ahmadinejad Raja News have accused the Saudis of creating a “bloodbath” in Bahrain. Others, such as the Tehran-based Asr Iran, have called for the creation of a Hezbollah movement in Bahrain. Meanwhile, the Association of Independent Student Unions in Iran has declared its readiness to go to Bahrain in order to confront government and Saudi forces there.
This fury is now turning into warnings. President Ahmadinejad has already cautioned the Saudi royal family that they should “learn from Saddam’s fate”.
The Saudis should now start preparing themselves for Iran’s response, because the Iranian government is not going to let this pass quietly.
Saudi Arabia Virtually Annexes Bahrain, Will Build a Missile-Naval Base Opposite Iran
Saudi Arabia ranges defenses against Iran, is willing to swap gesture favoring coalition operation in Libya for recognition of its takeover of Bahrain.
Israeli and Saudi Leaders in Moscow as Palestinians Ramp up Missile Strikes
[...] In Moscow, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources report that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was working to set up a discreet meeting between two visitors – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, failing which he will try and bring the Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, who arrived with the foreign minister, together with the Israeli leader.
Muqrin has met Israeli leaders in secret before, including the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
[...] DEBKAfile’s Jerusalem and Moscow sources note that this is the point at which Israel’s declining security situation becomes relevant to a possible Israeli-Saudi dialogue.
Neither Jerusalem nor Riyadh is at ease with the US role in favor of the popular uprisings against veteran Arab regimes – and most particularly the US-UK-French military intervention in Libya. Both find this policy detrimental to the national and security interests of America’s foremost Middle East allies.
They also share resentment for the benefits accrued from this wave of unrest by Tehran and the effect it has had to turn world attention away from its progress toward manufacturing a nuclear bomb.
The Saudi king and Israeli prime minster are apprehensive, on the strength of their intelligence input, that Iran will eventually seize control of the popular uprisings in Arab lands, especially Egypt.
Riyadh alone took a substantial precautionary step against this menace by sending military units into the Bahrain on Feb. 14 to pre-empt the Iranian-backed Shiite threat to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the tiny kingdom’s financial and oil assets at the back door of the rich eastern Saudi oil center.
Israel Holds Secret Talks With Russia in Bid to Thwart Recognition of Palestinian State
Isaac Molho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior adviser and top negotiator on the Palestinian channel, made a secret trip to Moscow on Wednesday and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The purpose of the visit was to dissuade Russia from supporting the European Union’s intention to present in two weeks’ time a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Facebook on Tuesday removed a page calling on Palestinians to take up arms against Israel, following a high-profile Israeli appeal to the popular social-networking site.
The page, titled “Third Palestinian Intifada,” had more than 350,000 fans before it was taken down. It called on Palestinians to take to the streets after Friday prayers on May 15 and begin an uprising. “Judgment Day will be brought upon us only once the Muslims have killed all of the Jews,” a quote from the page reads.
Facebook said the page began as a call for peaceful protest, even though it used the term “intifada,” which has been associated with violence in the past.
“However, after the publicity of the page, more comments deteriorated to direct calls for violence,” said Andrew Noyes, Facebook’s public policy communications manager. He said the creators of the page eventually made calls for violence as well.
“We monitor pages that are reported to us and when they degrade to direct calls for violence or expressions of hate — as occurred in this case — we have and will continue to take them down.”
In a letter last week to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Israeli Cabinet Minister Yuli Edelstein said the page included “wild incitement.” Edelstein applauded Facebook for removing the page, saying he hoped the action would be an example to others and deter similar postings in the future.
Military Intelligence Monitoring Foreign Left-Wing Organizations
Military Intelligence is collecting information about left-wing organizations abroad that the army sees as aiming to delegitimize Israel, according to senior Israeli officials and Israel Defense Forces officers.
Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud al-Faisal on Thursday will arrive in Ankara, reported the website of CNN Turk TV channel, which links the visit to Bahrain events.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet al-Faisal after returning from Russia. According to the report, the foreign minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu will also attend the meeting.
On Wednesday, Davutoglu spoke with foreign ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by phone, Anadolu Agency reported.
Officials said that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called Davutoglu, stating that Davutoglu and Salehi discussed “developments in the region”.
Davutoglu called foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and phone conversations mainly focused on developments in Bahrain, officials said.
Anti-government protests began in Manama, Bahrain in February. Demonstrators have been demanding the ouster of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as well as constitutional reforms, with hundreds camping out peacefully in the capital’s Pearl Square since February 14th.
Bahraini forces imposed a curfew and started to intervene in the protesting group on Wednesday. At least six people were reported to have been killed in Manama during attacks by Bahraini forces against the anti-government protesters in the capital. In response to this, Iran recalled its ambassador from Bahrain.
Troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states were dispatched to Bahrain at the country’s government’s request to help quell the uprising by majority Shiite Muslims against the Sunni leadership.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa will visit Turkey on Tuesday to discuss unrest in his country sparked by a Shiite-led opposition movement, Turkey’s foreign minister said, AFP reports.
Turmoil in the Gulf kingdom “could produce a potential to create an international conflict… and spread Shiite-Sunni tensions across the region,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with CNN Turk television Monday.
Turkey is in contact also with Saudi Arabia and Iran to ease tensions, he said.
“On the one side, we are advising Bahrain to put in practice democratisation reforms as soon as possible, and on the other side we are advising Iran, Saudi Arabia and the other related parties to show restraint,” he added.
Tension has escalated between Gulf states and Iran as Tehran condemned the deployment of Saudi-led Gulf troops in Bahrain last week, followed by a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the Shiite-majority country.
The Turkish authorities have seized rifles on a Syria-bound Iranian plane, grounded since the weekend, and questioned its seven-man crew, police and judicial sources said Tuesday.
The cargo plane, a civilian Ilyushin, was ordered to land in Diyarbakir, in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, on Saturday night on suspicion that it had military or illicit cargo on board.
The plane had declared a cargo of spare car parts, but the inspection resulted also in the discovery of a box containing automatic rifles, a police source told AFP, without providing further details on the guns.
The crew was taken to a police station for questioning and argued that the weapons were on board as part of routine security measures, declining to give additional information.
Turkey to UN: We Seized illegal Iran Arms Shipment en Route to Syria
Turkey has informed a UN Security Council panel that it seized a cache of weapons Iran was attempting to export in breach of a UN arms embargo, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
Security Council diplomats said the report of the seizure from an Iranian cargo plane reflected positively on Turkey, which some U.S. and European officials say has taken a lax approach to implementing international sanctions against Iranian financial institutions.
The report to the council’s Iran sanctions committee, which oversees compliance with the four rounds of punitive steps the 15-nation body has imposed on Iran over its nuclear program, said a March 21 inspection turned up the weapons, which were listed as “auto spare parts” on the plane’s documents.
The plane was bound for Aleppo, Syria, and was given permission to pass through Turkish airspace provided it made a “technical stop” at Diyarbakir airport.
Turkey has said it will help with distributing humanitarian aid to Libya and has suggested it could play a part in mediating between rebels and the government of Muammar Gaddafi.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s prime minister, said Turkey would take over the running of Benghazi airport to take responsibility for distributing humanitarian aid from the rebel-held eastern city.
The AFP news agency also quoted an official as saying Turkey was responding to a request from fighters in Libya, saying civilian and technical personnel would be sent out.
Ankara has already sent a ferry carrying a medical team, two ambulances and two tonnes of medical supplies to Libya in an attempt to help treat wounded people.
Cemil Cicek, the deputy prime minister, said Turkey was planning to take around 450 injured people from the rebel-held port of Misurata to Turkey for treatment.
Last week, the Turkish parliament also approved the dispatch of a naval force to Libyan waters as the government moved reluctantly to join the military campaign in the north African country.
Turkish PM Cancels Brussels Trip amid Criticisms Over Press Freedom
The Turkish prime minister has canceled his April 1 trip to Brussels to avoid criticisms from EU officials over the deterioration of press freedom, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned from diplomatic sources.
[...] Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was scheduled to meet with top EU officials, including Herman van Rompuy, president of the EU Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. A joint press conference was also expected during the Brussels talks.
Turkey’s Erdogan in First Visit to Iraq Kurd Region
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was welcomed on Tuesday as the first Turkish leader to visit Iraq’s Kurdish region, on a trip laden with significance born of Turkey’s own history of conflict with its Kurdish minority.
Turkey Hosts Military Exercise with Pakistani, Afghan Troops
Turkey has hosted joint “urban warfare” exercises with troops from Afghanistan and Pakistan, comprising sniper and anti-tank units from the three countries.
The number of troops was small — apparently 128 — but the meaning of the exercise was more political than operational. Turkey has long been NATO’s point of contact for relations with Pakistan, and Washington and Brussels have been trying to get Turkey to help build relations between the militaries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. So this exercise — agreed upon at a summit between the three countries in December — is a step in that direction.
Signs of an Axis Shift in EU’s Trust in Turkey’s Ruling Party
Trust in Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, appears to be diminishing among European circles due to growing concerns about fundamental freedoms.
[...] The views of EU institutions vis-a-vis Turkey have seen a clear shift, according to Demir Murat Seyrek, a senior policy adviser for the European Foundation for Democracy.
After Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, a wave of unprecedented anti-regime protests has now hit Syria, a country known for its iron grip on security matters.
[...] Daraa, a southern town that is home to large tribal families, has been the focal point of the rallies, the latest in a string of uprisings against long-running autocratic regimes across the Arab world.
Syria has deployed security forces to the northern city of Latakia after violent protests left at least 12 people dead and more than 150 injured amid calls for reform.
[...] Syrian authorities have accused “armed groups” of seeking to incite sectarian strife in the city, which has seen violent clashes between pro-reform protesters, security forces and government supporters.
IDF: Syria May Provoke Israel to Distract from Domestic Unrest
[...] The IDF is also preparing for the possibility that Damascus might use Hezbollah or other militant organizations in Lebanon to heat up that front to divert attention from events in Syria.
A bomb struck a crowded bus stop in central Jerusalem Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding more than 20 other people in what authorities said was the first major Palestinian militant attack in the city in several years.
The bombing brought back memories of the second Palestinian uprising last decade, a period in which hundreds of Israelis were killed by suicide bombings in Jerusalem and other major cities.
Lebanon: Estonian Tourists Kidnapped in Bekaa Valley
Seven Estonian tourists have been kidnapped while cycling in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
The army has now begun searching for the group, who had entered Lebanon legally from Syria earlier in the day.
They were in the town of Zahle when they were seized by men in a car and two vans.
It is not clear whether the kidnapping is politically motivated. The Bekaa Valley is a stronghold of the Islamist Hezbollah movement.
During Lebanon’s civil war, at least 88 foreigners were taken hostage between 1984 and 1990, including the journalist John McCarthy and peace envoy Terry Waite.
The Bekaa Valley is known for lawlessness, drug trafficking and feuds between the powerful clans which control the region’s hashish plantations.
The tourists’ abandoned bicycles were found near the industrial complex in Zahle where they were abducted.
A bomb exploded Sunday at a church in the eastern town of Zahle, causing severe damage but injuring no one, in an act denounced by politicians and religious leaders as an attack on Lebanon’s stability.
A security source told The Daily Star that a device containing 2 kilograms of TNT exploded inside Saidat al-Najat church at 4.15 a.m. Sunday morning, in a detonation performed via cellphone.
“This is the first time this kind of bomb has been used [in Lebanon], whereby the individual can detonate the bomb from anywhere,” the source said.
Israel Releases Map of Hezbollah Bunkers in Lebanon
Washington Post obtains map detailing bunkers, arms caches, surveillance sites in south Lebanon. IDF official: We want to show world that Shiite group has turned villages into fighting zones.
Syria Releases Egyptian-American Accused of Espionage
Syrian authorities have released an Egyptian-American man one week after detaining him on espionage concerns and showing him in what was billed as a televised confession on state TV.
Muhammad Radwan was released to the Egyptian Embassy in Damascus on Friday.
The organization that represents the conservative Arab Gulf states Monday defended military action in Libya by the U.S. and its allies, saying it doesn’t constitute “intervention.”
“What is happening now is not intervention, it is protecting the people from bloodshed,” said Abdel Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the secretary general of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. “These operations are to stop bloodshed in Libya,” Mr. Al Attiyah added.
Mr. Al Attiyah’s statement follows criticism of allied military strikes on Libya by the Arab League, the group whose endorsement of a no-fly zone gave political cover for U.S. and European military action in a Muslim country.
The Arab League got back behind international military strikes against Libya on Monday after comments by its leader had indicated divisions over the campaign against Moamer Kadhafi.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa declared his commitment to the UN-mandated action after a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Ban, who later had to be rescued from pro-Kadhafi activists in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, said it was essential for the world “to speak with one voice” on the Libya crisis and Mussa gave new backing to the campaign.
“We are commmitted to UN Security Council Resolution 1973, we have no objection to this decision, particularly as it does not call for an invasion of Libyan territory,” Mussa told a press conference with the UN chief.
While Battling Riots at Home, Bahrain Military Joined Exercise With UAE
Bahrain’s military, amid bloody riots, has staged an exercise with the United Arab Emirates.
[...] The Royal Air Force of Bahrain conducted an air defense exercise with the United Arab Emirates this month. The two militaries were said to have focused on the U.S.-origin Hawk air defense battery, manufactured by Raytheon.
[...] The exercise took place in the UAE on March 8 and was deemed part of military cooperation between Abu Dhabi and Manama. Officials said the exercise facilitated interoperability as well as air defense skills.
[...] Manama has one of the smallest militaries in the GCC. Bahrain has been bolstered by a significant U.S. military presence, including that of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Iran Raises Doubt about True Objectives of West in Attacking Libya
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast cautioned about the objectives of the western military intervention in Libya, and called on the regional states to keep vigilant about the plots hatched by the hegemonic powers.
Iran Calls for Immediate Withdrawal of Foreign Forces from Bahrain
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called on the Bahraini regime to end the crackdown on popular demonstrations in the country, and stressed the necessity for an immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from the Persian Gulf island.
[...] Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 1,000 troops to the country, while the United Arab Emirates has dispatched around 500 police forces to assist in the repression of the peaceful protesters.
French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Spooks Rivals in Vote Poll
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen had her political rivals on the run after a poll showed she could beat any of the top likely candidates in a first-round presidential election.
The survey by pollster Harris Interactive published in Le Parisien newspaper showed Le Pen would win 24 percent of the first-round vote, ahead of the leading contenders from the main left- and right-wing rival parties.
Gaddafi’s Son Says Libya Funded “Clown” Sarkozy’s Presidential Campaign
The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has claimed that his country helped fund French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s election campaign in 2007.
In an interview with Euronews, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi said Sarkozy would have to return the money, given his government is now the first to officially recognise the opposition council.
Gaddafi said Libya funded Sarkozy’s campaign and was prepared “to reveal everything” about it.
“The first thing we want this clown to do is to give the money back to the Libyan people. He was given assistance so that he could help them. But he’s disappointed us: give us back our money. We have all the bank details and documents for the transfer operations and we will make everything public soon.”
A spokesperson for Sarkozy’s office in Paris has denied the claims.
Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign funding is already a hot topic in France, where an investigation involving allegations L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt donated money to the campaign illegally has been underway for months.
French Plane Fires First Shot in Libya Intervention
The French air force destroyed Libyan tanks and armored vehicles on Saturday, the first shots fired in a U.N.-mandated military intervention to protect civilians from attacks by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
A French defense ministry official said “a number of tanks and armored vehicles” were destroyed in the region of Benghazi, with initial action focusing on stopping Gaddafi’s forces from advancing on the rebels’ eastern stronghold.
MI6 Puts Gun to Generals’ Heads: Our Spies Phone Gaddafi’s Men Direct to Warn : Defect or Die
British intelligence is warning Colonel Gaddafi’s generals that it could be fatal to remain loyal to the Libyan leader.
MI6 spies and military officials are contacting commanders in Tripoli trying to persuade them to defect, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Their message is blunt: ‘General, we’ve got the GPS co-ordinates of your command post. They are programmed into a Storm Shadow missile. What do you want to do?’
As Gaddafi vowed to wage a long war with the ‘crusader alliance’, British officials said the intelligence services had the telephone numbers of many key military officials in his regime.
A senior source said: ‘They will be doing their best to get in touch. This is a situation where success breeds success. Once you get air superiority it becomes suicidal for Libyan army commanders to want to move tanks or to use artillery.
Libyan rebels have been seen using Swedish-designed weapons in their battle to oust Muammar Qaddafi from power. Swedish arms export officials suspect the weapons arrived via the UK.
At least two foreign television reports of the fighting in Libya have shown rebels carrying older models of the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle, according to Sveriges Television (SVT).
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called Friday on Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stop violence against peaceful protesters.
Rival tanks deployed in the streets of Yemen’s capital Monday after three senior army commanders defected to a movement calling for the ouster of the U.S.-backed president, leaving him with virtually no support among the country’s most powerful institutions.
[...] Two Yemeni ambassadors also resigned their posts in protest at the government’s crackdown on protesters.
Oil Price Jumps on Libya Attacks and Japanese Demand
The price of oil jumped by more than $2 a barrel on Monday morning, driven higher by the military action in Libya and strong demand from Japan.
As Operation Odyssey Dawn continued in the Middle East, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude gained $2.29 to $116.22. US crude rose by the same amount, to $103.35. Analysts have predicted that the strikes against Colonel Gaddafi could push oil above its recent highs, with Brent tipped to rise above $120 a barrel.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday likened the UN Security Council resolution on Libya to a Medieval crusade call.
Russia abstained from a UN Security Council resolution adopted on Thursday imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and measures to protect civilians from leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
“The Security Council resolution is deficient and flawed; it allows everything and is reminiscent of a medieval call for a crusade,” Putin told workers at a ballistic missile factory in the Urals region. “It effectively allows intervention in a sovereign state.”
Ten of the Security Council’s 15 members voted in favor of the resolution, with Russia, China, Germany, India and Brazil abstaining. The resolution was co-sponsored by France, Britain, Lebanon and the United States.
“This U.S. policy is becoming a stable trend,” Putin said, recalling the U.S. air strikes on Belgrade under Bill Clinton and Afghanistan and Iraq under the two Bush administrations.
“Now it’s Libya’s turn – under the pretext of protecting civilians,” the premier said. “Where is the logic and conscience? There is neither.”
“The ongoing events in Libya confirm that Russia is right to strengthen her defense capabilities,” he added.
A Russian programmer accused of stealing proprietary computer code from the U.S. financial firm Goldman Sachs has been sentenced in New York City to 97 months in prison.
Sergey Aleynikov was found guilty in a jury trial in December.
He was employed by Goldman Sachs between 2007-09 to develop and maintain computer platforms for high-frequency trading.
Prosecutors said that during his time with Goldman Sachs, Aleynikov stole proprietary computer code, with the intention of using it later at a competitor firm.
In addition to the prison sentence, Aleynikov, who is a dual Russian-American citizen, is required to pay a $12,500 fine.
China expressed regret on Sunday over the multinational air strikes in Libya, saying in a foreign ministry statement that it opposed the use of force in international relations.
“China has noted the latest developments in Libya and expresses regret over the military attacks on Libya,” the statement said.
Russia also issued a similarly worded statement in which it called for a ceasefire as soon as possible.
China’s statement made no mention of a ceasefire and stressed that China respected the north African country’s “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity”.
“We hope Libya can restore stability as soon as possible and avoid further civilian casualties due to an escalation of armed conflict,” it added.
Regretting air strikes over Libya, India today called upon all parties to abjure use of violence saying the need of the hour was “cessation of armed conflict” in the North African country.
“We view with grave concern the ongoing violence, strikes and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Libya. We regret the air strikes that are taking place,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters here.
“India calls upon all parties to abjure violence and the use of threat and force to resolve the differences. I think the need of the hour is cessation of armed conflict,” he added.
No Need to Panic Over Chinese Warship Off Coast of Libya
One of the most ironic developments in the Libyan crisis is the reaction of American military pundits to China dispatching a warship to the Mediterranean Sea.
The warship Xuzhou, which media outlets described as a “4,000-ton frigate, fully armed with air defence missiles,” or simply as a “Chinese missile ship,” would appear to a layperson to be both massive and powerful. The rationale that American analysts give for the Chinese deploying the Xuzhou is “projecting China’s power off the coast of Libya.”
Aramco and Sinopec Sign MoU for Refining Partnership
Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) related to the ongoing development of the Red Sea Refining Company (RSRC), a world-class, full-conversion refinery in Yanbu’, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The MOU was signed by Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO, Saudi Aramco, and Su Shulin, president, Sinopec.
U.S. Won’t Have Dominant Role in Libya Action : Gates
Aboard a U.S. military aircraft — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday the United States would not play a “preeminent role” in military action against Libya, with other countries soon taking the lead.
US President Barack Obama “felt strongly, I would say, about limiting the scale of US military involvement in this,” Gates told reporters on his plane, en route to Russia.
“We will have a military role in the coalition. But we will not have the preeminent role,” Gates said.
In deciding to back intervention in Libya, Obama stressed the “importance of a meaningful coalition” with partners “making serious military contributions,” Gates said.
Turkey to Serve as Protecting Power for U.S. in Libya
Turkey will serve as a “protecting power” for the United States in Libya, senior State Department officials told CNN on Sunday.
As a protecting power, Turkey will represent the United States in Libya, including acting as consular officers on behalf of U.S. citizens in Libya and looking after American diplomatic facilities in the country.
Turkey can also pass messages between the United States and Libya, as what little communication remains between the two countries is likely to come to a grinding halt now that the U.S. is bombing Libyan targets as part of enforcement of a no-fly zone.
Levent Sahin Kaya, Turkish ambassador to Libya, told CNN he will represent America in Libya along with the United Kingdom and Italy.
Greece Asks Turkey to Halt Its Nuclear Plant Plans
Turkey is planning to building its first nuclear power station at Akkuyu, in the south of the country, under a deal signed last year with the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom.
President Karolos Papoulias said Friday that the European Union should intervene to prevent a “catastrophe on its doorstep.”
Prime Minister George Papandreou’s office said the premier also telephoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express opposition to the venture.
Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has lost his position as the head of powerful clerical body according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Rafsanjani had chaired the Assembly of Experts since 2007.
He did not seek re-election after a veteran conservative cleric applied for the post.
Rafsanjani has now been replaced by Ayatollah Mohammed Reza Mahdavi Kani.
Under Iran’s constitution the assembly appoints and supervises the Supreme Leader and can even dismiss him.
Rafsanjani lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005’s presidential election and has been a rival ever since.
Hardliners accuse Rafsanjani of being too close to the opposition.
The 77-year-old was a vocal critic of a government-led crackdown on the 2009 ‘Green Movement’ protests after Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.
The volume of Iran’s oil exports to the EU member states increased to 41% in 2010 despite the western sanctions and the extra embargos imposed by the EU against the country.
According to a report citing Eurostat website, the recent statistical figures show that the value of Iran’s crude oil exports to the EU was worth 11.44bln euro in 2010, while the value of the country’s oil exports to 27 EU members in 2009 amounted only to 8.11bln euro.
Iran and Afghanistan have conducted a joint exercise to show off their readiness in countering drug-smugglers that operate along their shared borders.
Iranian and Afghan border guards kicked off the drill on Sunday as it entered its third day on Tuesday, commander of 4th Zone Afghan Border Police Maj. Gen. Sher Ali Shahryar said.
Gen. Shahryar added that Afghanistan had increased its forces in the west, saying that the Afghan border police are capable of stopping drug traffickers and preventing them from transporting drugs out of the country, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Afghanistan has deployed on its Western border 90 police officers that have been recently trained in Kabul, said the Afghan official.
He also stressed that new forces would be deployed in the border provinces of Herat, Farah, and Bagdis.
Afghanistan remains the source for over 90 percent of the world’s opium supply, which is the raw ingredient for heroin. The United Nations estimates the potential export value of Afghan narcotics to be about USD 3.4 billion a year.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has enforced strict security measures on its border with Afghanistan to stop drugs from being smuggled into the country.
British Special Forces Seize Shipment of Arms Iran Intended for the Taliban
Foreign Secretary William Hague has condemned Tehran’s ‘completely unacceptable’ behaviour after British Special Forces seized a shipment of Iranian arms intended for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
UK officials say detailed technical analysis has shown that the rockets, which have twice the range of the weapons currently available to the insurgents, were supplied by Iran.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Wednesday his country rejects any interference in its domestic affairs and would “cut off” any accusing finger.
Shiite protesters have taken to the streets in the majority Sunni kingdom in recent days demanding more freedom and democracy, mirroring the unrest across the Middle East and North Africa.
Lady Barbara Judge, a prominent member of the international board that advises the UAE on nuclear development, is happy with the way the Arab world’s first civilian nuclear programme is shaping up.
“The UAE understands that the key is to bring in the best people, give them the best facilities and a high degree of autonomy,” Lady Judge said yesterday after a lecture to female students at Zayed University in the capital.
“Abu Dhabi has the gold standard of nuclear projects,” she told a student who asked about security. “It is peaceful, transparent and will be a model for the rest of the world. The nuclear industry is the safest in the world, and it is only getting safer.”
Egypt, still grappling with a revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February, is reported to be quietly aiding rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
This is seen as part of a drive by the transitional regime in Cairo to restore Egypt’s leadership of the Arab world.
While the United States and the international community debate whether to intervene in the civil war raging in Libya to support the ragtag rebel forces holding the east of the country, Egypt apparently has sent around 100 Special Forces troops to help the insurgents.
The U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor says these troops “have played a key role in quietly providing weaponry and training to Libyan opposition forces while trying to organize a political command in the east.”
Cairo has made no official comment on the report.
[...] Stratfor claimed that, Tunisia, Libya’s western neighbor where the people power uprisings erupted in January, is “allowing armed volunteer fighters, along with Egyptian special operations forces, to enter Libya.”
It gave no numbers but noted, “This reported influx of fighters would presumably be used to flank Gadhafi’s forces from the west while other opposition forces move in from the east for a potential battle over Tripoli,” the Libyan capital held by Gadhafi’s loyalists and mercenaries.
[...] There has been speculation that with Mubarak gone, Egypt will have a freer hand in terms of foreign policy and that the powerful military will have a bigger say in that regard.
“Unlike Persian Gulf Arab states, whose power is derived from petrodollars, Egypt has real military might and regional intelligence networks with which to assert itself,” Stratfor observed.
“This means that in the near future, the United States may conceivably get a new source of manpower in the Middle East,” analyst Victor Kotsev wrote in Asia Times Online.
“For Egypt’s military rulers, this would also be a way to divert public attention away from domestic problems and to demonstrate competent rule in one area where they are indeed expert: military intervention.
“In a sense, the uprising created the ideal conditions for expanding Egypt’s military role in the region. It weakened the political structure of the country while empowering the army,” Kotsev wrote.
Egypt is well-placed to act as a regional gendarme, particularly as U.S. power and authority in the Middle East is waning.
One of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s closest aides is in on a mission in Egypt amid surging clashes between government forces and protesters in Libyan cities.
A plane carrying Libyan army General Abdel-Rahman al-Zawi landed in Cairo on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
A Libyan diplomat has confirmed that Major General al-Zawi is carrying a message for Egypt’s military council which is now running the country.
Three weeks after president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, Egyptians are turning their anger toward his internal security apparatus, storming the agency’s headquarters and other offices Saturday and seizing documents to keep them from being destroyed to hide evidence of human rights abuses.
What to do with the country’s tainted security agencies remains one of the most contentious issues facing the military rulers who took charge after a popular uprising forced Mubarak to step down on Feb. 11.
The 500,000-strong internal security services are accused of some of the worst human rights abuses in the suppression of dissent against Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule. The protesters are demanding the agency be dismantled and its leaders face a reckoning.
The ruling military council’s bind was evident on Friday and Saturday when thousands of demonstrators — including some who said they were victims of abuse by security agents — marched on state security buildings in Alexandria, Cairo and other cities.
Protesters stormed inside at least six of the buildings, including the agency’s main headquarters in Cairo’s northern Nasr City neighbourhood, confronting officers face to face and attacking some in a surreal reversal of roles.
[...] Egypt’s state security services, which under Mubarak were given a free hand by emergency laws to suppress dissent, are among the most powerful symbols of his regime. Many protest leaders say despite the fall of Mubarak and his government, the agency remains active in protecting the old regime and trying to sabotage the revolution.
The agency was the most pervasive security force, collecting intelligence on regime opponents and supporters alike.
Hundreds of Coptic Christians gathered outside the state television and radio building in Cairo on Sunday to protest against the burning of a church following religious clashes south of the capital.
Protesters, some carrying wooden crosses and Egyptian flags, demanded that the armed forces intervene to protect Coptic communities and churches.
The demonstration comes two days after a church was torched following clashes between Muslims and Christians in the town of Sol, 90 km south of Cairo.
Protesters demanded that those responsible for the incident be brought to justice.
Clashes in Sol were triggered when residents discovered that a Christian man from the town was having a relationship with a Muslim woman from a Cairo suburb.
The mass demonstrations sweeping the Middle East are touching the Palestinian territories, where West Bank and Gaza Strip activists are trying to organize their own “Facebook revolutions.”
The Palestinian activists are inspired by the calls for democracy that toppled autocratic leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and threaten longtime rulers in Libya and Bahrain.
In recent weeks, activists using Facebook have brought hundreds of people onto streets of the West Bank, waving Palestinian flags and calling for change. Smaller gatherings have taken place in Gaza. The protesters hope to stage a massive demonstration in both areas on March 15.
[...] Palestinians seek an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, areas wedged on different sides of Israel and ruled by rival governments. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority governs in the West Bank, where Israel’s military still retains overall control. The militant Islamic group Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007.
Britain to Raise Status of Palestinian London Office
Hague says status being raised to mission; move falls short of conferring formal diplomatic status which would imply recognizing Palestinian state.
[...] The move means that the current Palestinian “general delegation” office in London becomes the Palestinian mission and the head of delegation becomes known as the head of mission.
[...] “We want to see an urgent return to negotiations, based on clear parameters including 1967 borders. We will work with all the parties to press for a decisive breakthrough this year,” Hague told parliament.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may move up a trip to the United States and present an interim peace plan to head off growing pressure on the Jewish state, Israeli radio reported Monday.
Citing sources close to the prime minister, the radio said Netanyahu had been expected to present the plan during a May 22 visit to Washington.
During that trip he had been expected to address US pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC and possibly the US Congress.
But, facing increasing international pressure over stalled peace talks with the Palestinians, Netanyahu is now considering moving up his visit and is hoping to secure an official invitation to address Congress with his plan.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Monday called on Netanyahu to “take a bold decision” as soon as possible “to move Israel out of its isolation.”
Defense Minister sees no immediate threat in Egypt but fears repercussions of Mideast unrest. In Wall Street Journal interview, he says military upgrade can turn Israel into regional stabilizer.
Defense Minister Barak said Israel might request an additional $20 billion in military assistance from the United States in order to prepare for possible threats, given the recent unrest in the Middle East.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday, Barak said that Israel should not fear regional changes or the risk of offering valiant concessions to the Palestinians.
Oil prices climbed to near $106 a barrel Monday as intense fighting between Libyan government forces and rebels appeared to be turning into a civil war and raised the prospect of a prolonged cut in crude exports from the OPEC nation.
[...] Over the weekend, supporters and opponents of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi fought in several cities, heightening fears that the country is headed for a protracted conflict. Libya’s oil output has fallen by at least 1 million barrels per day from 1.6 million since the uprising began last month.
Saudi Arabia’s “Day of Rage” Lures Record Bets on $200 Oil : Chart of Day
Options traders are betting more than ever that crude oil is heading to $200 a barrel as some websites call for a “Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia and anti- government protests spread in the Middle East and North Africa.
[...] Saudi Arabia produced 9.71 million barrels a day in 2009, one-third of OPEC output and almost six times as much as Libya, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy. Websites have called for a nationwide “Day of Rage” on March 11 and March 20, Human Rights Watch said Feb 28. Protests in five of the kingdom’s eight immediate neighbors have prompted King Abdullah to boost spending on housing, social welfare and education to curb unrest in his country.
“The price of oil is going to go up, whether you like it to or don’t,” said Juerg Kiener, chief investment officer at Swiss Asia Capital Ltd. in Singapore. “If Saudi Arabia fails, then I say you have a fire in the house. They gave out $30 billion of money so maybe they’ll buy time. But I don’t see the problems disappearing.”
The U.S. government reiterated that it could tap its strategic oil reserves in order to safeguard economic growth as surging gasoline prices increase pressure for action.
While longstanding U.S. policy is to release reserves only in the event of a significant and immediate supply shortage, some analysts say the Obama administration may feel compelled to try to tamp down prices that are being fueled both by outages in Libya and concern unrest could spread in the Middle East.
If crude oil prices stay high for an extended time — and that remains a big if — Asian countries from China to India might not be able to sustain the growth pace that has driven the global economy. While projections based on uncertainties such as oil prices and the Middle East’s future must come with big caveats, in some worst-case scenarios inflation could double and growth rates halve in parts of Asia. That would deprive the world of a growth driver just as developed countries start to get back on track.
If high prices persist, “Without a doubt, Asia could take a hit. It faces a big problem — and that will be a problem for everybody,” said Sanjay Mathur, an Asia economist in Singapore for RBS.
In a report, Mathur and RBS economist Erik Lueth estimated that at $120 a barrel, the oil price would shave off 1.5 percentage points off growth this year for Asia ex-Japan. Their baseline, with $80 a barrel oil, is for 8.2 percent growth, which drops to 6.7 percent for $120 a barrel.
On Monday, New York crude reached its highest level since September 2008. At 0645 GMT, it was up $2.02 to $106.44 a barrel.
U.S.’ Geithner to Meet Trichet, Schaeuble in Germany
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet with European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Tuesday during a brief trip to Frankfurt and Berlin, the Treasury said on Monday.
Geithner also will meet with German Bundesbank President Axel Weber while in Frankfurt on Tuesday morning.
Saudi Arabia has banned all protests following several small gatherings of demonstrators demanding change in the conservative kingdom.
The country’s Interior Ministry announced Saturday on state television that security forces would use what it called “all measures” to prevent any attempt to disrupt public order.
The ban follows a series of protests by minority Shi’ite Muslims, calling for the release of prisoners they said were being held unjustly. Media reports say police made a number of arrests during these events.
Most of Saudi Arabia’s Shi’ite minority lives in the country’s oil-rich east. This region borders the kingdom of Bahrain, which has been the scene of protests by majority Shi’ites against their Sunni rulers. Saudi Shi’ites – like their Bahraini bretheran – complain that their Sunni-controlled government discriminates against them.
Opposition activists in Saudi Arabia have made public calls on Facebook for two organized rallies, one on March 11 as a “Day of Rage,” and the other on March 20.
Saudis Mobilise Thousands of Troops to Quell Growing Revolt
Saudi Arabia was yesterday drafting up to 10,000 security personnel into its north-eastern Shia Muslim provinces, clogging the highways into Dammam and other cities with busloads of troops in fear of next week’s “day of rage” by what is now called the “Hunayn Revolution”.
[...] The opposition is expecting at least 20,000 Saudis to gather in Riyadh and in the Shia Muslim provinces of the north-east of the country in six days, to demand an end to corruption and, if necessary, the overthrow of the House of Saud. Saudi security forces have deployed troops and armed police across the Qatif area – where most of Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslims live – and yesterday would-be protesters circulated photographs of armoured vehicles and buses of the state-security police on a highway near the port city of Dammam.
[...] Saudi security officials have known for more than a month that the revolt of Shia Muslims in the tiny island of Bahrain was expected to spread to Saudi Arabia.
Iran will earn USD 110 billion annually upon the complete launch of the remaining phases of the South Pars gas field, Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi says.
“Every phase of the South Pars will produce 25 million cubic meters of natural gas and some 40,000 barrels of condensates per day,” he was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news website Shana on Monday.
Mirkazemi noted that USD 60 billion would be allocated to developing the upstream sector of Asalouyeh and South Pars in the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-2015), which is part of long term roadmap for sustainable growth.
The process of developing gas production projects in the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone has been divided into 28 phases.
The gas field is located in the Persian Gulf in the border zone between Iran and Qatar. Its reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of gas condensates.
South Pars covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, of which 3,700 square kilometers (South Pars) is in Iranian territorial waters and 6,000 square kilometers (North Dome) is in Qatar’s territorial waters.
The oil minister also said as South Pars gas field is a joint project with Qatar; it needs more investment in order to speed up the completion of the project.
Around 300 American CIA contractors are present in various parts of Pakistan, the revelation of which has further deepened the diplomatic row between Islamabad and Washington over the fate of the American killer of two Pakistanis ‘Raymond Davis’ arrested in Lahore in January this year, a security official revealed here yesterday.
The presence of dozens of CIA-linked Americans is not the only matter of deep concern for Pakistani security agencies but what is alarming is that these Davis-like “dubious characters” are also indulging in some highly-objectionable activities. Davis was for instance trying to make inroads into jihadi organisations linked to Kashmir, such as the defunct Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
Number of DoD Contractors in Afghanistan at a Record High
The number of private security contractors employed by the Department of Defense in Afghanistan has reached a new record high, according to DoD statistics in a recently updated report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service.
In Afghanistan, as of December 2010, there were 18,919 private security contractor (PSC) personnel working for DOD.
Afghan Analyst : Gates in Kabul for Talks on Permanent Military Bases
An Afghan military analyst cautioned that the Monday visit to Kabul by the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, aimed at military goals, including establishment of permanent US military bases in the war-torn country.
Gates arrived on a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with US troops and Afghan leaders. A number of media reports tried to connect the visit to the recent killing of civilians in foreign forces’ air attacks.
[...] In February, Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed that the Obama Administration has been in secret talks with him to formalize a system of permanent military bases across the war-torn country.
[...] During his visit, Gates claimed that both the US and Afghan governments agree the American military should remain involved in Afghanistan after the planned 2014 end of combat operations to help train and advise Afghan forces.
A soldier asked Gates about a long-term military presence, and Gates noted that Washington and Kabul have recently begun negotiating a security partnership.
On February 24 a majority in the Cyprus parliament voted for the country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Partnership for Peace program, a transitional mechanism employed to bring twelve Eastern European nations into the U.S.-dominated military bloc from 1999-2009: The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania and Croatia. Macedonia would have become a full member of the Alliance in 2009 along with the last two except for the lingering name dispute with Greece.
Cyprus is the only member of the 27-nation European Union that is not either in NATO or the Partnership for Peace (PfP), the only EU member that did not need to join NATO or be on its doorstep in order to be accepted, and the only European nation (excluding the microstates of Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City) that is free of NATO entanglements. Every other nation on the continent and island state in the Mediterranean Sea is a member of NATO or the PfP. (NATO still lists Russia as a member of the second and since last November’s NATO summit in Portugal it has been active again in the NATO-Russia Council.)
[...] Cyprus was split into northern ethnic Turkish and southern Greek sections after the Turkish military invasion of 1974, although only Turkey recognizes the northern entity.
Britain, France and the United States have dispatched hundreds of military advisors to Libya to set up military bases in the country’s oil-rich east, reports say.
Several Libyan diplomats have been quoted by news outlets as saying these forces are setting up bases in the eastern cities of Benghazi and Tobruk — the two oil-rich cities that have been liberated by the opposition forces.
British and US special forces entered Libyan port cities of Benghazi and Toburk on February 23 and 24.
David Cameron’s Secret Talks With Tony Blair Over Libya Crisis
David Cameron has been secretly consulting Tony Blair about Libya despite publicly criticising his links with Colonel Gaddafi.
Senior officials say the Prime Minister has held at least two conversations in the past fortnight with the former Labour premier, now a Middle East peace envoy.
Mr Cameron has consulted Mr Blair about the Libyan dictator’s state of mind and sought advice about how to make him quit.
Members of the SAS have been captured by anti-government troops in Libya, according to a report.
The Sunday Times has claimed that rebels in the troubled North African state captured the eight elite soldiers as they escorted a British diplomat in a mission to establish a dialogue with opposition fighters.
According to the newspaper, the SAS men were armed but travelling in plain clothes and were seized as they accompanied the official in eastern Libya, before being taken to Benghazi for interrogation.
[...] It is thought that members of the anti-Gaddafi movement are unhappy that British special forces were operating in the country, despite the diplomatic offer of assistance, as has been perceived as Western interference.
[...] In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: “We neither confirm nor deny the story and we do not comment on the special forces.”
Libya : Captured Dutch Marines, Seized Helicopter Shown on State TV
Libyan state TV has aired footage of three detained Dutch marines who were captured along with their helicopter by forces loyal to leader Moammar Kadafi near the Kadafi-stronghold of Sirte on Sunday as they reportedly were carrying out a mission to evacuate two Europeans.
The Dutch Defense Ministry insists the crew was simply carrying out a “consular evacuation” — a claim that Libya seems to find dubious.
Preparing for “Operation Libya”: The Pentagon is “Repositioning” its Naval and Air Forces
“The United States is moving naval and air forces in the region” to “prepare the full range of options” in the confrontation with Libya: Pentagon spokesperson Col. Dave Lapan of the Marines made this announcement yesterday, March 1. He then said that “It was President Obama who asked the military to prepare for these options,” because the situation in Libya is getting worse. The military then began “the planning and preparation” phase for an intervention in Libya. Pentagon planners are working on several specific plans, depending on how the “repositioning of forces” begins so as to have maximum flexibility to implement any option.
China Insists Libyan Sovereignty Must Be Respected
China on Thursday stressed the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Libya and also promoted a peaceful solution to the crisis in that country.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu also said that an important principle for China was that the UN Security Council should the views of Arab and African nations.
She said Beijing hopes that all Libyan sectors can work together to restore order as soon as possible.
Regarding protests in Bahrain, she said the Chinese government welcomes the efforts of authorities with a view to reducing tension through dialogue.
All Middle Eastern nations are friends of China, she said, noting that her country had developed friendly relations and cooperation with these countries based on equality and mutual respect and benefit.
In First, Israel Blocks Palestinian Anti-Tank Rocket
For the first time, an Israeli system has intercepted an enemy missile fired toward a main battle tank.
[...] “For the first time during operational activity, the Trophy system, designed to actively protect against anti-tank missiles, identified, alerted and intercepted the missile.”
[...] The military did not identify the Palestinian anti-tank missile but said its crew was tracked and struck in counter-fire.
[...] In December, Hamas fired a Russian-origin AT-14 Kornet anti-tank missile that penetrated the Merkava Mk-4. The Hamas operation sparked an Army effort to install Trophy on all Merkavas deployed along the Gaza border.
After the overthrow of a neighboring multi-year ruler of Egypt Hosni Mubarak, Israel has created rapid reaction forces in case the situation in Judea and Samaria gets out of control. It enhanced the guard of a number of military and civilian targets inside the country and abroad.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak inspected the military units stationed near the northern border and made a number of important statements. New Israeli war preparations are consistent with the anxiety that has seized the Middle East in recent weeks.
Recently Benny Ganz was appointed the new Chief of General Staff of Israel. Just like his predecessor, he had a career as a combat officer. One of his first decisions in his new position was separating of Haifa and a number of settlements located in the north of the country in a separate military district.
This is not a formal change in the structure, but an important step aimed at strengthening of the defense of the North. In summer of 2006, it was Haifa and Kiryat Shmona that suffered the most from the attacks of the radical Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah.
During a visit to battalion 932 “Granit” of the Infantry Brigade of IDF, Ehud Barak stated the possibility of a new invasion to Lebanon. This measure can be undertaken by the Israeli army in the event of another attack of Hezbollah.
According to Benny Ganz, Israel is preparing for major military operations in the face of the external threat. Despite the requirement under the UN resolution 1701, the Lebanese resistance movement not only has failed to disarm, but also significantly strengthened its position.
Iran Contacting Arab Opposition Movements : Clinton
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Iran is directly or indirectly communicating with opposition groups in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen in a bid to shape events there.
[...] They are doing everything they can to influence the outcomes in these places,” Clinton told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“They are using Hezbollah… to communicate with counterparts… in (the Palestinian movement) Hamas who then in turn communicate with counterparts in Egypt.”
“We know that they are reaching out to the opposition in Bahrain. We know that the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen.”
“So either directly or through proxies, they are constantly trying to influence events. They have a very active diplomatic foreign policy outreach.”
Gates on Urgent Mission to Cairo as Military Rulers Lose Grip
President Barack Obama Saturday, March 5, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to set out for Cairo without delay on an emergency mission as the unrest in Egypt veered out of control, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources report from Washington. Friday night, thousands of protesters seized control of the headquarters Egyptian security police in Alexandria, Cairo and the nearby 6 of October town, shutting down its operations across the country.
In the last hours, information reaching Washington indicated that control was slipping out of the hands of the Egyptian military junta ruling the country since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow; anti-American elements energized by Iran appeared to have strengthened their hold on the protest movement, causing deep concern in the White House.
Commander : Navy to Continue Deployment of Warships in Foreign Waters
Commander of Iran’s Navy Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari on Saturday praised an Iranian flotilla of warships dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian coasts for their success in accomplishing their long-term mission, and announced that the Navy will continue similar missions in future.
U.S. to Send Warship to Mediterranean to Support Europe Defense Shield
In a bid to protect Europe from possible Iranian missile strikes, the United States military is considering sending a warship to the Mediterranean next week.
Italian Warship Sails for Anti-Piracy Mission in Indian Ocean
An Italian warship sailed to the Indian Ocean on Tuesday to take part in the international anti-piracy mission.
The Atalanta mission is part of an EU joint task force operation aimed at patrolling the Indian Ocean against pirates and escorting the UN World Food Program and the African Union humanitarian relief ships to Somalia, according to a statement by the Italian Navy.
Indian Vessel, Nine Crew-Members Detained in Iran Since Feb 16
An Indian vessel ‘MVS Ramban’ carrying livestock, alongwith its nine crew members has been detained by the Iranian authorities for over two weeks now, the Salaya Sailing Vessel Owner’s Association in the district said on Saturday.
[...] “The Iran Navy took the vessel to Chabahar Navy port. They have kept two crew members on board, while other seven members have been sent to jail.”
[...] This is the first time in the recent history that a vessel from Gujarat has been detained by Iran Navy.
Indian Army Chief to Visit U.S. to Enhance Defence Cooperation
In the light of enhanced defence cooperation between India and the United States, over the last five years, Indian Army Chief, General VK Singh will visit the United States from March 7.
“Airstrikes in Libya Did Not Take Place” – Russian Military
The reports of Libya mobilizing its air force against its own people spread quickly around the world. However, Russia’s military chiefs say they have been monitoring from space – and the pictures tell a different story.
According to Al Jazeera and BBC, on February 22 Libyan government inflicted airstrikes on Benghazi – the country’s largest city – and on the capital Tripoli. However, the Russian military, monitoring the unrest via satellite from the very beginning, says nothing of the sort was going on on the ground.
At this point, the Russian military is saying that, as far as they are concerned, the attacks some media were reporting have never occurred.
The same sources in Russia’s military establishment say they are also monitoring the situation around Libya’s oil pumping facilities.
All laws necessary for the launch of a nuclear power plant construction program in Poland are to be adopted by Parliament before the end of June, reports Rzeczpospolita.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed Washington’s plans to deploy missile defenses and Air Force units in Poland.
“As was announced by our two presidents in December, we plan to establish a new permanent U.S. air detachment in Poland, build missile defenses in Poland, and as agreed at the NATO summit, develop a contingency plan in the region,” Clinton told journalists ahead of talks with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Washington.
Wikileaks published U.S. cables in late 2010 showing that NATO was drawing up a plan on the protection of Estonia, Lithuania and Poland from external threats on a request from the United States and Germany.
The Guardian reported that under the plan, reportedly approved by Clinton, the United States, Britain, Germany and Poland would deploy troops in the region in case of a military aggression against the Baltic States or Poland itself.
According to the British newspaper, NATO members approved the draft plan during the alliance’s summit in Lisbon in November 2010.
In 2009, the United States decided to deploy several F-16 fighter jets and Hercules transport aircraft in Poland. Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich has said the United States was also planning to deploy Patriot missile defense systems in Poland at a base just 100 kilometers from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Russia Election Risks Causing Capital Flight – Finance Minister
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Thursday that a perception of political risk leading up to the 2012 presidential election was causing capital to flee the country, a factor which battered the ruble in the second half of last year.
Russia saw over $30 billion in capital outflows last year, more than four times the amount forecast by the central bank.
Islamist Leader Calls for Jihad by Russian Muslims
Islamist rebel leader Doku Umarov called on Muslims throughout Russia to wage jihad (holy war) against the state, in a video posted on websites on Thursday.
A decade after federal forces drove separatists out of power in the second war in Chechnya, the Kremlin is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency throughout the North Caucasus, where rebels want to create a separate Islamic state.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Rejects No-Fly Zone for Libya
Russia’s top diplomat ruled out the idea of creating a no-fly zone over Libya on Tuesday as embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi unleashed bombing raids, special forces and army troops in a desperate bid to retain power.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the idea of imposing limits on Libyan air space as “superfluous” and said world powers must instead focus on fully using the sanctions that the U.N. Security Council approved over the weekend.
Russia’s Lavrov Urges Anti-terror Cooperation With British Intelligence
[...] Lavrov urged cooperation against terrorism and said he had discussed the issue with British Foreign Secretary William Hague during his visit to London last month.
[...] He said Britain should act first on un-freezing contacts with Russia’s Federal Security Service.
Tensions remain high after Britain expelled a Russian diplomat from London over allegations of spying in December. The Russian authorities responded in kind.
Mideast Unrest Puts U.S. Military Access in Jeopardy
Popular unrest sweeping the Middle East highlights the US military’s reliance on Arab regimes that offer privileged access to airfields and ports from Cairo to Qatar.
The military’s dominant role in the region hinges on a web of agreements with friendly Arab states that allow American forces to patrol oil shipping routes in the Gulf, target Islamist militants and keep a watchful eye on arch-foe Iran.
Roughly 27,000 US forces are deployed at an array of bases and sites throughout the Gulf, along with a 50,000-strong contingent in Iraq and thousands more aboard naval ships, a US military official told AFP.
Major air fields in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, a large base in Kuwait and the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain serve as key points in an arc around Iran, ensuring American forces can move swiftly with heavy firepower.
In Bahrain, where security forces have cracked down on street protests after popular revolts ousted leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, about 4,000 Americans are stationed as part of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters.
With a flotilla of aircraft carriers, destroyers and amphibious ships at its disposal, the Fifth Fleet oversees an area spanning the Red Sea, the Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
The Pentagon on Friday played down the impact of the unrest in Bahrain and elsewhere, saying the violence had not disrupted the naval headquarters or other bases.
Former officials say losing the headquarters in Bahrain would be a setback but not a catastrophe, as the Navy could move the command post elsewhere.
Mullen Mideast Trip Shows U.S. “Worry” : Iran General
A trip to the Middle East by the top US military officer Mike Mullen shows the “deep worry” of Washington when it comes to the fate of its forces in the region, the top Iranian general said Sunday.
“The hasty trip of Mike Mullen shows the deep worry regarding the fate of American forces stationed in the region,” armed forces chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi said in a statement.
Calling for the withdrawal of US forces from the region, Firouzabadi said that “any kind of military operation will fail to have an effect on the Muslim peoples’ revolution which is being done to get rid of American oppression.”
He said the revolts rocking longstanding Western-backed regimes around the Arab world would result in the troops’ “quick exit”.
Mullen was in the Middle East last week on a tour during which he accused Iran of fomenting instability in the region, but said Tehran was not behind the popular protests in several regional countries.
Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari stressed the significance of mutual cooperation between Tehran and Damascus, specially in naval fields, and called for the implementation of agreements already held by the two strategic allies.
“Definitely, the good ties between the two friendly and brotherly countries of Iran and Syria and their use of each other’s experiences would strengthen the two states, specially in naval fields,” stated Sayyari, who is in Syria at the head of a high-ranking military delegation.
He made the remarks in a meeting with the Syrian Army’s lieutenant commander, chief of staff and Defense Minister Lt. General Ali Habib.
[...] Adm. Habibollah Sayyari met with Syria’s defense minister and military chief Sunday, just days after Iran’s first show of naval power in the Mediterranean in decades. Two Iranian warships reached Syria last week after passing through the Suez Canal in the first such trip since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s military presence in the Mediterranean has raised alarm in Israel as political turmoil reshapes the region. Iran has close ties with Syria and the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
The official news agency IRNA say Sayyari and the Syrian military officials discussed the need for cooperation between the navies of the two countries, including training.
Israel saw the Iranian warships’ passage as a provocation. The country’s officials refused to comment, but earlier in the week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he viewed the move “with gravity.”
The canal linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean enables ships to avoid a lengthy sail around Africa. The Iranian ships were headed for a training mission in Syria. The country has been a close ally of Iran’s hard-line Islamic rulers and an arch foe of Israel. In Syria, officials at the Iranian embassy said it would mark the first time in years that Iranian naval vessels dock in a Syrian port.
Russia vowed Saturday to fulfil its contract to supply Syria with cruise missiles despite the turmoil shaking the Arab world and Israel’s furious condemnation of the deal.
“The contract is in the implementation stage,” news agencies quoted Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as saying. Russia initially agreed to send a large shipment of anti-ship Yakhont cruise missiles to Syria in 2007 under the terms of a controversial deal that was only disclosed by Serdyukov in September 2010.
The revelation infuriated both Israel and the United States and there had been speculation that Russia would decide to tear up the contract amid the current turmoil plaguing north Africa and the Middle East.
The Israeli ambassador to Moscow confirmed that the state was primarily worried the missiles would end up in the hands of the Shiite Hezbollah movement that receives strong backing from Syria.
Iran’s intelligence minister says authorities have arrested an Iranian who he says was working with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in connection with recent anti-government protests in Tehran.
Heidar Moslehi told state TV Thursday that the individual was using informants to collect information about the unrest to submit to the CIA.
He said the person was arrested on February 14 after a period of surveillance. That day, Iran’s opposition held its largest protest rally in more than a year, with two people killed in clashes.
Iran routinely blames the United States and Israel for alleged interference in Iranian affairs. Both nations deny meddling.
Saudi Arabia Witnesses First Signs of Unrest as ‘Day of Rage’ Planned for March 11th
The popular uprisings across the Middle East are sparking similar unrest in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with youth groups and workers in that country now calling for a “Day of Rage” demonstration in the capital, Riyadh, on March 11.
Already there have been protests last week in the city of Qatif and other towns in the country’s oil-rich Eastern Province demanding, among things, the release of political prisoners and a raft of social reforms. There are also reports of prominent Shia clerics being detained by the Saudi Sunni authorities, and security forces mobilizing in anticipation of further protests.
Al Jazeera Enrages Dictators, Wins Global Viewers With Coverage of Unrest
“Don’t believe those misleading dog stations,” Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said this week. He wasn’t referring to CNN or the BBC.
Arab-owned television channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have been denounced by targets of the Middle Eastern revolts, showing they’ve played a pivotal role in the uprisings that have shaken countries from Tunisia and Egypt to Libya and Yemen. Qaddafi called them the “biggest enemy.” In Egypt, Al Jazeera’s Cairo bureau was shut down at the start of rallies that led to the ouster of 82-year-old president Hosni Mubarak.
Beaming images of the protests and interviewing key participants, Al Jazeera in particular has moved from being perceived as a Middle Eastern talk shop to a catalyst for change. Although the Arabic- and English-language broadcaster has sometimes acted like a participant rather than an observer of the uprisings, it is winning praise in Europe and the U.S., which may help it extend its global reach.
Is Al Jazeera trying to bring down the Palestinian Authority?
“Al Jazeera is the enemy,” charged former Israeli ambassador to Cairo, Zvi Mazel, about the most widely viewed television channel in the Middle East whose pictures of the protests in Cairo have been seen all over. “Al Jazeera is serving Zionist interests and it invites Israeli representatives to its studios,” claimed the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al Quds al-Arabi, which is owned by the family of the Qatari ruler, some two years ago.
“Al Jazeera has decided to bring down the Palestinian Authority,” moaned Israeli commentators while [Palestinian chief negotiator] Saeb Erekat complained that “Al Jazeera is waging a war against [Palestinian Authority head] Mahmoud Abbas.”
Al Jazeera is investigating reports of interference with its reception in several countries across the Middle East on 19 February, just a day after it claimed its satellite signal had been jammed once again.
“We are not sure of the cause, but we are looking into it,” a spokesman for the Qatar-based rolling news network told Reuters.
Bahrain’s King Hamad Concerned About Qatar, GCC Unity
[...] King Hamad of Bahrain expressed concern about Qatari policy toward Iran and al Qaeda in an hour-long conversation with the Ambassador. He spoke of strong disagreements among GCC leaders during their December summit in Kuwait, which troubled him. He said his focus would be to “look after” the unity and stability of the GCC and he urged close consultations with the United States as part of this effort.
The FBI has launched a hunt for a previously unknown team of men suspected of being part of the attacks of September 11, 2001, according to documents obtained by WikiLeaks.
The documents disclose that the three Qatari men, who had flown into America from London, conducted surveillance on the targets of the atrocities, gave ”support” to the plotters and had tickets for a flight to Washington on the eve of the attacks.
They allegedly carried out surveillance at the World Trade Centre, the White House and in Virginia, where the Pentagon and CIA headquarters are.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Ten days later, they flew to Los Angeles and stayed in a hotel near the airport which the FBI has established was paid for by a ”convicted terrorist”, who had also paid for their airline tickets.
Hotel staff told investigators they saw pilot uniforms in their room. On September 10 they were booked on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington but did not board. The next day five terrorists hijacked the same aircraft and crashed it into the Pentagon.
Instead of boarding their flight to Washington, the Qatari suspects – named as Meshal Alhajri, Fahad Abdulla and Ali Alfehaid – flew back to London on a British Airways flight then on to Qatar. Their location now is unknown.
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamed Ben Khalifa, succeeded in defeating the end of last week and attempted coup, which occurred after the deposition of some thirty senior Qatari army, some are under house arrest.
The news of the attempted coup coincided with a declaration of some people from families close to the emir of Qatar and opponents of the current regime, in which they announced the non-recognition of the legitimacy of the Emir Hamed Ben Khalifa, and seek to replace him by his brother Abdelaziz Ben Khalifa ben Hamed refugee to France.
The statement of the Qatari opposition, signed by 66 political opponents as well as Qatari personalities and ruling families, including 16 figures from the ruling family, contained serious accusations against the current Emir of Qatar, among others, relations with Israel and the United States of America. He is accused of working for the United States and creating discord among Arab countries in addition to his involvement with the family of his wife in corruption and social injustice against thousands of Qatari citizens.
The signatories of the statement have mentioned the wife of the Emir, known as “Sheikha Mouza Bint Nacer El Mesned “, whose appearances in various media, clothed contrary to the customs of Qatar which they considered “indecent”. His children, they add, have monopolized power and property of Qatari through use of power.
The signatories of the declaration encourage initiative on the social networking site Facebook, calling for bringing down the Qatari regime.
Putin Hopes Germany Will Permit Nord Stream Pumping Soon
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he hoped Germany will soon grant permission for Russia to pump gas through the Nord Stream pipeline, which is supposed to carry gas under the Baltic Sea to Europe.
NATO’s chief has called for an emergency NATO council meeting for Friday afternoon to discuss the situation in Libya, according to Reuters.
“I have convened an emergency meeting in the NATO council this afternoon to consult on this fast-moving situation. So I will return to Brussels in a few hours,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the wire service in an interview.
In the interview, he said the more immediate priority would be given to evacuation “and possibly humanitarian assistance.”
“It’s a bit premature to go into specifics but it’s well-known that NATO has assets that can be used in a situation like this and NATO can act as an enabler and coordinator if and when individual member states want to take action,” Rasmussen said in the interview.
Meanwhile, government sources in Malta, which has deep ties with Libya, told CBS News that they expect the imposition of a no-flight zone as soon as the last westerner is pulled out of the country.
Gaddafi’s Son Rejects Reports of Airstrikes Against Civilians
The son of Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafi rejected reports that the country’s air force attacked civilian protesters, as demonstrators on Thursday geared up for a 10th day of rallies against the regime.
[...] Arab media reported airstrikes in recent days against barracks and ammunitions depots aimed at preventing anti-government forces from obtaining weapons.
However, witnesses reported that fighter aircraft also opened fire on protesters.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Friday for a short working visit as G-20 president, which has disappointed top Turkish officials.
Sarkozy is visiting Turkey as president of the Group of 20 (G20), a policy forum for the world’s leading rich and developing economies.
Sarkozy will meet President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks that mostly focusing G-20 issues, Turkey’s accession talks with the EU and the issue of Cyprus.
The six-hour visit has disappointed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the length of the visit “is far from reflecting the depth of Turkish-French ties.”
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said Friday that Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi should step down and that those responsible for the killings in Libya, as well as people who now continue to cooperate with the regime, should face investigation and prosecution at the International Criminal Court.
[...] Mr. Sarkozy said France was “cautiously discussing” military intervention in Libya and called for both the United Nations Security Council and the European Union to meet and reassess their policy in the region.
Three German military vessels arrived at the Mediterranean island of Malta on Friday to take part in a rescue operation for German citizens fleeing Libya, Maltese officials said.
Two of the vessels will pick up German nationals who landed in Malta earlier this week after being evacuated from Tripoli airport. The third is awaiting instructions and could be sent to Libya to evacuate more Germans.
The Berlin supply ship and the Rheinland Pfalz frigate were berthed in Malta’s picturesque Grand Harbour, while the third vessel, the Brandenburg, also a frigate, remained offshore.
Malta, the closest European state to Libya, has become a hub for worldwide efforts to evacuate thousands of foreign nationals escaping escalating violence in the north African state.
The Inquirer | February 25, 2011 ____________________
U.S. Military Advisers in Cyrenaica. Qaddafi Loses His Air Force
Hundreds of US, British and French military advisers have arrived in Cyrenaica, Libya’s eastern breakaway province, DEBKAfile’s military sources report exclusively. This is the first time America and Europe have intervened militarily in any of the popular upheavals rolling through the Middle East since Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution in early January. The advisers, including intelligence officers, were dropped from warships and missile boats at the coastal towns of Benghazi and Tobruk Thursday Feb. 24, for a threefold mission:
1. To help the revolutionary committees controlling eastern Libyan establish government frameworks for supplying two million inhabitants with basic services and commodities;
2. To organize them into paramilitary units, teach them how to use the weapons they captured from Libyan army facilities, help them restore law and order on the streets and train them to fight Muammar Qaddafi’s combat units coming to retake Cyrenaica.
3. The prepare infrastructure for the intake of additional foreign troops. Egyptian units are among those under consideration.
[...] McCain and Lieberman are on a five-nation tour of the Middle East during this week’s congressional recess. They visited Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia (which has also seen protests) and Egypt.
The two senators also visited the Palestinian territories, where they met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Israel’s navy is drawing up plans to protect the state’s new-found strategic resource, a natural gas bonanza in the eastern Mediterranean, parts of which Lebanon and the Palestinians claim.
The arrival in the Mediterranean this week of an Iranian frigate, accompanied by a supply ship, the first Iranian warships in the region in more than 30 years, added a new twist amid the unprecedented ferment in the Arab world at this time.
Chinese Rockets, Apparently Supplied by Iran, Hit Israel in First Such Attack Since Hamas War
Israeli military sources said Palestinian gunners aligned with Iran fired at least two Chinese-modified BM-21 Grad rockets into Israel on Feb. 23. They said the rockets, believed supplied by Iran, slammed into the southern city of Beersheba, about 45 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
[...] The rocket attack on Beersheba was the first since the Israel-Hamas war in December 2008. During the war, Hamas fired scores of Chinese-modified Grads with a range of at least 45 kilometers.
[...] The sources said the military expected additional rocket strikes from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. They said military intelligence has assessed that Iran and Syria were believed working with their proxies to escalate tension along Israel’s borders to divert from the Arab revolt in the Middle East.
The European Union is moving to secure a merger of two future gas transit pipeline projects – Nabucco and ITGI (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy) – in order to guarantee the natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe.
The move is intended to consolidate EU’s strategy to start tapping into the natural gas reserves of the Caspian Sea thus reducing its dependence on Russian energy.
[...] The anonymous sources have indicated that, should such a merger come through, this could mean realizing first the cheaper ITGI project in a “Southern Corridor Phase I” to carry gas from Azerbaijan via Turkey to Greece and Italy, and then branching north according to the original Nabucco route plans from Turkey to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria.
[...] The Southern Gas Corridor entails the construction of several pipelines, such as Nabucco (running from Turkey to Austria and Germany via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary), ITGI (Interconnection Turkey-Greece-Italy), White Stream (known also as the Georgia-Ukraine-EU pipeline) and TAP (the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline), aiming to bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
[...] The several pipelines from the Southern Gas Corridor, which provides an untapped natural gas supply route for the EU circumventing Russia, will supplement the existing gas supplies that the Union gets through pipelines from Russia, Norway and North Africa, most notably Algeria.
[...] The Nabucco consortium, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH has formally refuted the information on the potential merging of the Nabucco and South Stream projects.
Nabucco and the Gazprom-sponsored gas transit pipeline have been widely considered rival projects, with EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger formally admitting in November 2010, the first such admission by an EU institution, that the two pipelines are competitors.
Russia Risks Losing Over $10 Billion in Arms Sales to the Middle East
Russia risks losing up to $10 billion (7.4 billion euros) in arms sales from the wave of unrest currently sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, a weapons industry official said Tuesday. The figure is equivalent to Russia’s total arms sales for 2010 and would represent a massive setback to the country’s efforts to maintain its Soviet-era clients in the Middle East. The unnamed arms export official told the Interfax news agency that Russia was carefully monitoring the situation because it had major outstanding contracts with some of the fallen regimes. The source said Russia “was working on and already implementing arms contracts worth some $10 billion” in the affected countries. ”Nothing can be ruled out in the current situation, and in the worst-case scenario, these plans may be wrecked.”
Iran-Turkey-Syria-Egypt Bloc Moves Closer With Profound Global Effect
[...] So the process is now becoming possible — despite attempts by current Vice-Pres. Suleiman and Defense Minister Tantawy, each in their own ways, to temporize and create delays in the removal of the Egyptian military from its position of power in Egypt — enabling the construction of a loose bloc of states with Iran and Turkey dominant, and Syria and Egypt subordinate.
Tunisia, Algeria, and Lebanon — each undergoing political upheaval — must be influenced by the transformation of reality in the Mediterranean.
Counterbalancing all of this, the rapid growth of an Israeli-Greek bloc, including the strategically impotent Cyprus, provides a link into NATO of which Jordan and Saudi Arabia must avail themselves. Other regional states in the Mediterranean see their fortunes change, especially given that the overall presence of the Islamist bloc will act as a deterrent to external investment in the whole region, but most vulnerable in all of this will be Morocco.
[...] Despite the overwhelming tide of change which began in the region in recent years, the US and British governments still have failed to understand that Turkey is no longer an ally, and now is more firmly aligned with Russia, the People’s Republic of China, and Iran.
Iran Warships Enter Suez Canal, Egypt’s State-Run MENA Says
[...] Two Iranian warships have begun crossing the Suez Canal as Israel stressed its objection to their planned voyage to Syria.
The ships entered the canal early today after the approval of Egypt’s Defense Ministry, the state-run Middle East News Agency cited Ahmed El Manakhly, head of traffic at the Suez Canal Authority, as saying.
Former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan to Head Ports Authority
According to financial publication Globes, Israel’s former spymaster, Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, is to be appointed chairman of the Israel Ports Development and Assets Company.
[...] Dagan, known for his aggressive and largely successful conduct of Israel’s secret affairs, will be responsible for implementing a national transportation plan for Israel.
[...] Various activities that delayed Iran’s nuclear plans, to which Israel did not admit publicly, took place during his term of office.
Moving quickly to fill the diplomatic and economic vacuum created by the deterioration of relations between Turkey and Israel, a new regional partnership is being formed by Israel and Greece.
With Cyprus as a catalyst for rapprochement and wide-ranging cooperation, the ultimate goal is a new multinational bloc that could include Bulgaria and Albania.
[...] Long-range Greek interest in Israel’s natural gas is a major, if not dominant, catalyst in the ongoing rapprochement. With the main impetus evidently coming from Cyprus, which would be one of the projected recipients, experts from all three countries have been preparing blueprints for these underwater conduits. They could link Israel’s Leviathian natural gas field to Crete as well as Cyprus.
From the strategic standpoint, this could be a “game changer,” Tziampiris said. “It certainly would alter Israel’s position vis-a-vis Europe and lessen the continent’s energy dependence on Russia (especially significant now, since the Nabucco gas pipeline project appears problematic).
[...] Routinely, the Greek and Israeli air forces and navies have conducted joint exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The United States evidently is favorably disposed to the positive turn in Greco-Israeli relations and has been nurturing it. This is a reflection of its having won strong congressional support.
Greece has begun exploratory talks with Israel about cooperation on transporting recently discovered offshore Israeli natural gas to markets in Europe, Investment Minister Harris Pamboukis said.
[...] “The Israelis have found big quantities of offshore gas in the Mediterranean. We are trying to see how Greece could be seen as a transportation hub and a services centre, since it is on a natural road to the Balkans and Europe.”
[...] Relations between the two countries were frosty for a long period because of Greece’s strong support for the Palestinians and close ties with Arab states. However, ties have warmed partly as a result of a chill between Israel and its traditional strategic partner Turkey, Greece’s neighbour and historic rival.
U.S. Firm : Good Chance of Large Gas Find Off Cyprus
U.S. company Noble Energy said Wednesday that seismic data indicate a strong chance of a sizable natural gas find off the southeastern coast of Cyprus.
[...] “We don’t have an exact number on the amount of resources available, but the structure that we can tell from seismic looks very favorable to be a sizable quantity,” Terry Gerhart, Noble Energy vice president for international operations, said after talks with Cyprus president Dimitris Christofias.
[...] Cyprus, along with the Kurdish question, has been among Turkey’s old problems that have for decades fallen victim to the policies of the status quo. This has stood as the main stumbling block before any contribution to be made by Ankara to end the stalemate over the 40-year-long dispute on the island.
[...] Consciously or unconsciously, the EU paved the way for two separate states to emerge on the island in the future by admitting the Greek Cypriots as full members of the union in 2004.
Greece Sends Pro-Kurdish Turkish Politician to Seek Asylum in Cyprus
Authorities announced on Tuesday (February 1st) that they have flown a pro-Kurdish politician wanted in Turkey to Cyprus, where his asylum request should be processed. Mustafa Sarikaya, former deputy leader of Turkey’s Democratic Society Party (DTP), was detained at the Thessaloniki airport in December. He had arrived from Cyprus using fake Bulgarian papers and requested political asylum. A court in Thessaloniki cleared him of charges of entering Greece illegally, accepting that he faced political prosecution in Turkey where he spent a total of 20 years in prison.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court banned the DTP in 2009 over its alleged ties to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Under EU laws, his asylum request must be processed at his point of entry in the bloc, which in this case was Cyprus.
Oil Giant BP Suspends Operations After Violent Protests
[...] The British company said 40 expatriate staff and their families, mostly based in the capital, Tripoli, are being evacuated as it temporarily shuts down work on preparations to drill in the Libyan desert.
David Cameron Arrives in Egypt to Meet Military Rulers
David Cameron has flown into Cairo amid tight security, becoming the first world leader to visit Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president in the revolution 10 days ago.
A news blackout was lifted as the prime minister landed in the Egyptian capital for a five-hour stopover that was hastily added to the start of a planned tour of the Middle East.
Hebrew daily “Yediot Ahronot” reports that the IDF is preparing a plan to protect Israel’s deepwater natural gas discoveries in its marine exclusive economic zone.
[...] The IDF will not only protect the current discoveries, such as Tamar and Leviathan, but also areas where exploration rights have been granted – an area equal to 1.5 times Israel’s land area. The area of the gas discoveries and potential discoveries has been declared a “strategic target”, as the gas fields will meet Israel’s energy needs for decades, as well as enable exports.
Brent, U.S. Crude Up More After Egypt OKs Iran Warship Passage
Brent and U.S. crude oil futures rose further on Friday after Egypt approved the passing of two Iranian warships through the Suez Canal. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March delivery was up $1.27 at $87.63 a barrel.
Egypt is No Longer Committed to an Alliance with Israel Against Iran
[...] A year and a half ago, an Israel Navy submarine crossed the Suez Canal on its way from Haifa to the Red Sea, where it conducted an exercise, and back. The unusual voyage reflected the growing strategic cooperation between Israel and Egypt, which aimed a menacing message at Iran. The submarine’s crossing of the waterway demonstrated how quickly Israel could deploy its deterrent near Iran’s shores, with the tacit support of Egypt.
Once more, the canal is being used to deliver a message of deterrence – but this time the direction is reversed. Egypt is allowing Iranian warships to cross the canal, on their way to Syrian ports. Israel was publicly critical of the passage – arguing that it is a provocative move – but Egypt ignored the pressures and granted the Iranian navy permission to pass, symbolizing the change to the regional balance of power following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt is signaling that it is no longer committed to its strategic alliance with Israel against Iran, and that Cairo is now willing to do business with Tehran. This is precisely what Turkey has done in recent years under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Since the uprising against Mubarak, the cold peace between Egypt and Israel has cooled even further. The delivery of natural gas to Israel, which was cut off after a terrorist attack on a station in northern Sinai, has still not been resumed.
[...] Talks are expected to address uprisings that have toppled the presidents of both Tunisia and Egypt and continue to ripple through the region. As during his trip last week to Israel and Jordan, Mullen said, he plans to “reassure our friends and just listen to what’s on their minds” about the situation and to get their views firsthand, particularly concerning Egypt.
[...] The United States and Saudi Arabia have had strong military-to-military relations since World War II. U.S. advisors continue to help in training the Saudi military and national guard. The U.S. military training mission to Saudi Arabia and a U.S. program managers’ office for the Saudi Arabian national guard work to help in increasing Saudi military capabilities.
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for U.S. defense goods.
The trip is expected to wrap up next weekend in Kuwait City, where a month-long commemoration is observing the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation and the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm. Coalition forces liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation forces on Feb. 26, 1991, at the end of Operation Desert Storm. Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait Aug. 2, 1990.
The United Arab Emirates will finalise an estimated $7 billion deal to buy an advanced missile defence system from Lockheed Martin this spring, the first such export by the U.S. firm.
BP Plc, recovering from last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, plans to begin offshore exploration drilling in Libya by the end of June, later than previously expected.
[...] The Libyan drilling will be the first under a $900 million deal BP signed with Libya in 2007 after the lifting of international sanctions on Libya removed barriers to doing business in the country.
[...] BP’s Libyan plans have aroused suspicion in the United States, where some politicians have said the British government and BP wanted convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi released to smooth BP’s deal with Libya. He was freed by Scottish authorities in 2009.
Ivory Coast’s incumbent Laurent Gbagbo decreed on Thursday that major banks suspending business in Ivory Coast are to be nationalised, the latest turn in a bitter struggle for political control of the West African state.
The banking system of the world’s top cocoa grower has been heading towards total collapse this week, with virtually all commercial banks shut and others swamped by customers trying to withdraw savings.
The closures are the consequence of an international sanctions effort to squeeze Gbagbo of funds and force him to stand down after UN-certified results of a November 28 election showed his rival Alassane Ouattara the winner.
South Africa Explains Presence of Warship Off Cote d’Ivoire Coast
Following the diplomatic spat triggered by the presence of a South African warship off the coast of Cote d’Ivoire, the South African government has explained the reason for the ship’s deployment. ‘The South African government confirms that it instructed the SA National Defence Force to pre-position the SA Navy support vessel, the SAS Drakensberg, in the Gulf of Guinea for possible assistance to SA diplomats, designated personnel and other South African citizens in Ivory Coast,’ Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesperson Clayson Monyela said in a statement made available to PANA here Wednesday.
[...] ECOWAS Commission President James Victor Gbeho had accused South Africa of deploying the warship to Cote d’Ivoire in support of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to step down after being widely-acknowledged to have lost the country’s presidential runoff 28 Nov. to Alassane Ouattara.
[...] South Africa is believed to be among the nations propping up Gbagbo, in defiance of the international community which has recognised Ouattara as the country’s legitimately-elected President.
Gunmen attacked a church Tuesday in northern Nigeria, but it was unclear if there were casualties in the latest such incident in the region where dozens have been killed in recent months.
[...] “We don’t know who the attackers are yet,” he added, saying he could not provide further details.
[...] Previous such incidents have been blamed on an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which launched an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault.
Three churches were attacked on Christmas Eve in Maiduguri, killing six people. The sect has also claimed responsibility for the recent assassination of a high-profile candidate for governor.
Chevron, USAID Putting $50M into Poor Nigeria Delta Region
A Chevron Corp. foundation and the United States Agency for International Development agreed to put $50 million into the poor Niger Delta area of Nigeria.
San Ramon-based Chevron (NYSE: CVX) has a strong interest in fostering political stability in Nigeria, where it has invested billions of dollars in finding and getting oil. The region around the Niger River delta is very poor and a people there sometimes attack oil company installations or hold workers hostage, demanding a share of their country’s oil wealth.
[...] Europe does not like relying on Russia for natural gas because that gas has to come through Ukrainian pipelines. Three times in the last five years, there have been major supply disruptions due to allegations that the Ukrainians were siphoning off gas. The most serious disruption came in January 2009, when 18 European countries reported major drops or complete gas cut-offs.
[...] The EU has a “four corridors” plan for its natural gas needs: it will draw from Norway, a reliable supplier; Russia, through those Ukrainian pipelines; North Africa, primarily Algeria; and Central Asia and the Middle East, through Turkey. It would be a great plan, if only it were closer to reality. The Turkish route relies on the long-planned Nabucco pipeline, which is making very slow progress towards construction. And Norway’s reserves are dwindling. Up steps Algeria in importance.
Egypt’s Petroleum Ministry is reported to be considering claiming a stake in the big natural gas fields discovered in the eastern Mediterranean while Greece, a potential customer, has begun exploratory talks on moving the gas to the European market.
Iran and Syria have signed an energy pipeline accord.
The Middle East allies have approved a project to construct a pipeline between Iran and Syria. Officials said the pipeline would pump Iranian natural gas to Syria over the next few years.
“The strategic gas pipeline will transfer gas from Iran to Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea and this is connected to the Arab gas pipeline,” Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Alaw said.
Alaw, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Massoud Mir Kazemi, said Iran, Iraq and Syria would examine the pipeline project later in 2011.
He said Syria has sought to acquire three million cubic meters of Iranian gas per day.
Stratfor analyst Eugene Chausovsky discusses Russia’s use of oil and natural gas as a political lever to extend its sphere of influence in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.
Why is official Washington so obsessed with the idea of overthrowing these governments? The answer has everything to do with Iran, China, and Russia. As regards Iran, the State Department policy is notoriously the attempt to assemble a united front of the entrenched Arab and Sunni regimes to be played against Shiite Iran and its various allies across the region. This had not been going well, as shown by the inability of the US to install its preferred puppet Allawi in Iraq, where the pro-Iranian Maliki seems likely to hold onto power for the foreseeable future. The US desperately wants a new generation of unstable “democratic” demagogues more willing to lead their countries against Iran than the current immobile regimes have proved to be. There is also the question of Chinese economic penetration.
We can be confident that any new leaders installed by the US will include in their program a rupture of economic relations with China, including especially a cutoff of oil and raw material shipments, along the lines of what Twitter revolution honcho Mir-Hossein Mousavi was reliably reported to be preparing for Iran if he had seized power there in the summer of 2009 at the head of his “Death to Russia, death to China” rent-a-mob. In addition, US hostility against Russia is undiminished, despite the cosmetic effects of the recent ratification of START II. If for example a color revolution were to come to Syria, we could be sure that the Russian naval presence at the port Tartus, which so disturbs NATO planners, would be speedily terminated. If the new regimes demonstrate hostility against Iran, China, and Russia, we would soon find that internal human rights concerns would quickly disappear from the US agenda.
Developments following the recent formation of a new Iraqi government have put the German energy company RWE in an interesting situation. Last August, RWE signed a gas cooperation contract (which is not a binding agreement) with the KRG, which the then-Baghdad government denounced.
Industry observers believe that the Nabucco partners are targeting Iraq’s Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields, not far from Kirkuk, as sources for export into the Nabucco pipeline. This belief arises from the fact that in May 2009 two Nabucco participating companies, OMV and MOL, each acquired a one-tenth share in Pearl Petroleum and its license to explore and develop those two fields, which together have estimated recoverable reserves of 100 billion cubic meters (bcm), with a speculative upper-bound estimate of 150 bcm.
The first oil pipeline linking the world’s biggest oil producer, Russia, and the world’s biggest consumer of energy, China, has begun operating.
The pipeline, running between Siberia and the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing, will allow a rapid increase in oil exports between the two countries.
Until now, Russian oil has been transported to China by rail.
Concentrated in western Siberia, Russia’s network of pipelines for oil exports has so far run towards Europe.
Russia is expected to export 15m tonnes of oil through the new pipeline each year during the next two decades – about 300,000 barrels a day.
Regardless of whether incumbent and likely winner Aleksandr Lukashenko emerges victorious from Belarus’ upcoming presidential election, Analyst Eugene Chausovsky says Belarus will remain under Moscow’s thumb.
Recent Comments