Obama to host Middle East allies for talks on the Syrian crisis

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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House April 5, 2013 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

President Barack Obama will host leaders from key U.S. allies Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the coming weeks, amid turmoil in Syria, the White House said Friday.

The U.S. administration said Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet with Obama on April 26 for talks "Jordan's political and economic reforms, the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and additional regional issues of mutual concern."

Obama will then host Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 16 for talks on "Syria, trade and economic cooperation, and countering terrorism.

"As friends and NATO allies, the United States and Turkey are partners in addressing a range of critical global and regional issues," a statement said.

Jordan is a key U.S. ally in the region and, as one of two Arab states at peace with Israel, has been involved in past efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The meeting with Erdogan will be the first since Obama helped restore ties between Israel and Turkey during his visit to the Jewish state last month.

During that visit, Obama convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to Turkey over a deadly Israeli raid on an aid ship bound for Gaza in 2010, which had soured relations between the two U.S. allies.

Turkey and Jordan have strongly backed the two-year-old revolt against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and both countries host large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Obama will host Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan of the United Arab Emirates on April 16, and will meet with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on April 23.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meanwhile head back to the Middle East early next week for his third trip in a month to see if there might be a way to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Expectations are growing that the U.S. administration is ready to resume some kind of shuttle diplomacy to rekindle the moribund peace process, which has stalled since late 2010 amid bitter recriminations on both sides.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/05/Obama-to-host-Mideast-allies-for-talks-on-Syria.html
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Time for the U.S. to shut Guantanamo Bay: U.N.’s right chief

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Time for the U.S. to shut Guantanamo Bay: U.N.'s right chief

U.N.'s human rights chief Navi Pillay says U.S. is breaking international law by holding detainees indefinitely at Guantanamo. (AFP)

Washington is breaking international law by holding detainees indefinitely at Guantanamo and must honor a pledge to shut the controversial jail, the U.N.'s human rights chief said Friday.

"I am deeply disappointed that the U.S. government has not been able to close Guantanamo Bay, despite repeatedly committing itself to do so," Navi Pillay said in a statement.

"The continuing indefinite incarceration of many of the detainees amounts to arbitrary detention and is in clear breach of international law," she said.

"It severely undermines the United States' stance that it is an upholder of human rights... When other countries breach these standards, the U.S. – quite rightly – strongly criticizes them for it."

The jail, in a U.S. Navy base in Cuba, was opened in 2002 to hold prisoners taken in the "War on Terror" waged by President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks.

His successor, Barack Obama, moved to close it in 2009, but plans to try suspects in U.S. civilian courts were stymied by Congress, leaving many inmates in limbo.

"It is time to bring an end to this situation," said Pillay.

Dozens of detainees are staging a hunger strike which started in February amid claims – denied by US officials – that guards mishandled Korans during searches.

Its scale is disputed, with U.S. officials putting the strikers at 37, while rights lawyers acting for detainees say a majority of the estimated 130 prisoners at Guantanamo's Camp 6 wing are involved.

"Given the uncertainty and anxieties surrounding their prolonged and apparently indefinite detention in Guantanamo, it is scarcely surprising that people's frustrations boil over and they resort to such desperate measures," said Pillay.

She said that half of the 166 remaining detainees at Guantanamo were declared to be "cleared for transfer" to their home countries or third countries, yet they remain imprisoned.

Others reportedly have been "designated for further indefinite detention," with some of them languishing in the facility for more than a decade, she said.

"No one is suggesting that the U.S .should be 'soft' on people who have planned or carried out crimes or atrocities. Indeed, international law requires that there must not be impunity for such crimes," Pillay insisted.

But human rights apply to all, including those suspected of the most serious crimes, she underlined.

06 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/05/Time-for-the-U-S-to-shut-Guantanamo-Bay-U-N-s-right-chief.html
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Abbas demands two-state map from Netanyahu: aide

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Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas demands the Israeli PM present a map for a future Palestinian state before any peace talks can resume. (AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has demanded that Israel's prime minister present a map for a future Palestinian state before any peace talks can resume, an aide said on Friday.

Abbas "wants to know, through a map to be presented by Benjamin Netanyahu to [U.S. Secretary of State John] Kerry, what the prime minister's view of a two-state solution would be, especially the borders," political adviser Nimr Hammad told AFP.

The remarks came just days ahead of a visit by Kerry, who will hold fortnightly meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, local media say, as he tries to revive the stalled peace process.

"Any return to negotiations requires Netanyahu to agree on 1967 borders," Hammad said.

Abbas has insisted that participation in new talks be conditioned on using the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War as the basis for negotiating future borders.

Abbas also repeated to Barack Obama, on his first visit to the region as U.S. president in March, that a halt to Israeli settlement building in the Palestinian territories was a precondition for any peace negotiations.

Netanyahu has on several occasions said he would not accept a return to the 1967 borders.

06 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Abbas-demands-two-state-map-from-Netanyahu-aide.html
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Russia's Putin urges peace talks to end the Syrian 'massacre'

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Russian President Vladimir Putin says the civil war in Syria has become "a massacre" that must be stopped through peace talks. (Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin said the civil war in Syria has become "a massacre" that must be stopped through peace talks between the government and the opposition, and repeated Russia's firm rejection of calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

Speaking to the German ARD television in remarks released by the Kremlin on Friday, he rejected the Western criticism of Russia for continuing to supply weapons to Assad's regime. Putin said that such shipments don't violate international law, and he criticized those who send weapons to the Syrian opposition fighting a "legitimate government."

Russia has been Assad's main ally, shielding him from the U.N. sanctions over his crackdown on an uprising that turned into a civil war that has killed some 70,000 people.

In recent months, it has sought to distance itself from the Syrian strongman and shown a resignation to him losing power. At the same time, it has refused to back calls for Assad to step down, insisting that the opposition should be persuaded to sit down for talks with the regime.

"What is going on is a massacre, this is a disaster, a catastrophe," Putin said. "It has to be stopped."

He added, however, that "when they say that Assad is fighting against his own people, we need to remember that this is the armed part of the opposition."

Putin said that negotiations between the government and the opposition are necessary to provide guarantees to all parties and prevent the country from sliding into chaos.

"We do not think that Assad should leave today, as our partners suggest. In this case, tomorrow we will have to decide what to do and where to go," Putin said

He said that Russia doesn't want to see Syria plunge into a turmoil, which befell Libya, Iraq and Yemen.

"Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to bring everyone to the negotiation table so that all warring parties could reach an agreement on how their interests will be protected and in which way they will participate in the future governance of the country," he said. "And then they will work together on the implementation of this plan with due guarantees of the international community."

He said that French President Francois Hollande offered "some interesting ideas that can be implemented" on his February's visit to Moscow, but added that it will require some diplomatic work.

"We are ready to support these ideas," Putin said without elaboration. "We need to try and put them into practice."

06 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Russia-s-Putin-urges-peace-talks-to-end-the-Syrian-massacre-.html
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Cairo ultraconservatives protest Iranian tourists

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Police try to remove an Islamist protester, who is chanting slogans, from the fence of the Iranian ambassador's house during a protest against Iran in Cairo April 5, 2013. (Reuters)

Dozens of ultraconservative protesters threw rocks at the residence of Iran's top diplomat in Cairo to protest the Egyptian government's attempt to improve ties with Tehran.

The protesters are upset about Iranian tourists who arrived in Egypt this week on the first commercial flights between the two countries in 30 years.

Violence erupted Friday after protesters hung a green-striped Syrian rebel flag on the gates of the diplomat's residence. The protesters chanted against Shiite Tehran's support of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

The Salafi protesters in Cairo, like other hard-liners in the region, consider Shiites heretics and fear Iran is trying to spread its practices among Sunnis.

Dozens of riot police stood guard around the diplomat's residence to prevent protesters from storming the building.
 

06 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Cairo-ultraconservatives-protest-Iranian-tourists.html
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Rebels say take army post near Syria’s southern border

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A boy holds a banner during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Bustan al-Qasr district in Aleppo April 5, 2013. The banner reads "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Messenger." (Reuters)

Syrian rebels said they overran an army garrison that defends the main southern border crossing with Jordan on Friday and vowed to press on to take control of the major transit route.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army said they captured the Umal-Mayathen post on the main Damascus-Jordan highway in heavy fighting overnight that ended a siege that lasted more than a week. Dozens died in the clashes they said.

"It (the garrison) is a major defense and now we will lay siege to the border crossing and cut their (the Damascus government's) supply lines," Abu Omar, commander of the Lions of the Sunna Brigade, told Reuters by phone.

The army post is several kilometres (miles) from Syria's 'Nassib border crossing which, before Syria's two-year-old civil war broke out, funneled billions of dollars of trade between Gulf countries, Turkey and Europe.

Syria's southern provinces bordering Jordan and Israel have become an increasingly significant battleground as the capital comes under pressure, with President Bashar al-Assad's forces and his loyalist militias hitting back hard.

The intensified fighting has also led to an unprecedented influx of refugees through Jordan's 370 km (230 mile) border with Syria this year.

Rebels have stepped up fighting for control of the border area and the nearby town of Deraa in the last two months, gaining territory and capturing several bases.

They have also overrun several towns near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, fuelling tensions in the sensitive military zone.

Only two weeks ago they seized an air defense base near the strategic southern international highway, bolstering access to supply routes to the capital Damascus.

Rebels say their capture of large amounts of weapons, ammunition and vehicles has helped them to maintain an offensive after a long period in which the southern border area was quiet compared to northern and eastern parts of Syria.

"The latest gains have given us more weapons, helping the free army to mount even more attacks on key army positions," said Abu Salim, from Liwa Tawheed al-Janoob brigade.

Jordan has stepped up security and deployed more troops to the border, a Jordanian army source said.

Diplomatic and regional intelligence sources also said Amman was allowing limited supplies of light arms to moderate rebel groups opposed to the Nusra front, an Islamist militant group suspected of links to al Qaeda and blacklisted by the United States as a "terrorist group."

 

06 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Rebels-say-take-army-post-near-Syria-s-southern-border.html
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Israeli police on high alert as tension escalates over prisoners’ death

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Israeli police stand guard in front of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, following clashes with Palestinian protesting the death of a Palestinian prisoner on April 2, 2013. (AFP)

Israel's police was put on high alert and reinforcements were deployed in Jerusalem Friday amid fears that the violent protests triggered by the death of two prisoners in Israeli jails would spread to the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound after weekly Muslim prayers.

"There is heightened security in and around the Old City. Extra police officers from different areas have been brought in to prevent any incidents from occurring today," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Access by Palestinian men to the compound, which houses the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques, had been limited to those over the age of 50 and with Israeli-issued Jerusalem residency cards. There were no restrictions on women.

"We received indications that there would be incidents on the Temple Mount immediately after prayers," Rosenfeld added, using the Jewish name for the compound.

The violence that followed the prisoners' death, four Palestinian youths threw firebombs at an Israeli checkpoint near Tulkarm in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, the army said.

Soldiers returned fire and killed two teenagers from the nearby town of Anabta - Amer Nassar, 17, and Naji Belbisi, 18.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel's use of lethal force showed that it wanted to "provoke chaos" in the Palestinian Territories and avoid any moves toward a peace deal.

The wave of violence erupted two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama paid his first official visit to the region, urging the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume long-stalled peace talks but offering no initiative to break the deadlock.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to travel to Jerusalem again next week to review the stalemate.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Israeli-police-on-high-alert-as-tension-escalates-over-prisoners-death.html
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Attacking Azhar would undermine Egypt security: Grand Mufti

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Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam warns against targeting Azhar institution and its head. (Al Arabiya)

Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam has warned that any attack on al-Azhar Institution or its head Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb would "undermine Egypt's security," Ahram Online reported Thursday.

Allam said Azhar will remain independent of political divisions and that it will not be drawn in to a "political game."
He said the institution "will always remain an institution dedicated to the nation at whole," in addition to standing "at equal footing from all political factions."

We call on all Egyptians to refrain from dragging al-Azhar into political matters and grievances because this is the only way in which the moderate version of Islam and our institution's independence will persist," Allam said.
His statements came amid calls to overthrow Grand Imam el-Tayeb following a food poisoning of more than 500 Azhar students.

Some opposition forces accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of having concocted the mass poisoning scandal in an attempt to control the famed institution.

"The Muslim Brotherhood's attempts have been exposed; the ferocious attacks on Azhar by Islamists and by the Brotherhood in particular are meant to control the institution," Alaa Thabit, an Egyptian journalist and political analyst said.

"Azhar is a moderate Islamic institution and is well-respected throughout the world and the Brotherhood want the institution to be under their control,' Thabit said.

Tthousands of Egyptians are expected to protest in defense of Azhar on Friday.
 

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Attacking-Azhar-would-undermine-Egypt-security-Grand-Mufti.html
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Angelina Jolie pledges $200,000 for girls’ education in Pakistan

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Actress Angelina Jolie honors Pakistani teen Malala Yousufzai who was shot in the head by the Taliban last year for her advocacy for girls' education in Pakistan. (Reuters)

Angelina Jolie paid glowing tribute to the Pakistani teenager who was shot by the Taliban for advocating for girls' education, introducing Malala Yousafzai to the Women in the World summit via a new video from Britain.

"Today I'm going to announce the happiest moment of my life," the 15-year-old said, at one point shyly covering her face with her hands. She said a new school in Pakistan would be built for 40 girls. "Let us turn the education of 40 girls into 40 million girls," she said.

Jolie committed $200,000 to the new "Malala's Fund" for girls' education in Pakistan.

Malala was already known for her activism when she was shot in the head in October by Taliban attackers angered by her outspokenness in a deeply conservative society.

She was brought to Britain for treatment, including skull reconstruction. She was released last month and has started attending school there. She was shortlisted for Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" in 2012 and recently signed a deal to write her memoir.

"Here's what they accomplished," Jolie said of Malala's attackers. "They shot her point-blank range in the head - and made her stronger. The brutal attempt to silence her voice made it stronger."

Jolie, a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, said Malala's father had shown his daughter in the hospital a poll that said she was the sixth most influential person in the world, and that President Barack Obama was seventh. But the teen said she didn't think people should be categorized like that.

"So we can learn a lot from this girl," Jolie said with a grin.

Jolie was not the only Hollywood star on the stage at the conference. Meryl Streep was there to honor another activist, Inez McCormack of Northern Ireland, who died in January of cancer. At the first Women in the World summit three years ago, Streep had played McCormack in a short play, called "Seven," with McCormack watching from the audience.

The conference continues on Friday, with a speech by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Eva Longoria and Tom Hanks.

The evening began with a dance performance by Michaela DePrince, who grew up as an orphan in war-torn Sierra Leone, where her father was killed and her mother starved to death. She was adopted by a U.S. family and now dances with the Dance Theater of Harlem.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/05/Angelina-Jolie-pledges-200-000-for-girls-education-in-Pakistan.html
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Moncef Trabelsi, brother-in-law of Tunisia's Ben Ali, dies in jail

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Last Update: Friday, 5 April 2013 KSA 12:17 - GMT 09:17

Moncef Trabelsi, brother-in-law of Tunisia's Ben Ali, dies in jail

Friday, 5 April 2013

Moncef Trabelsi (AFP)

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AFP, Tunis -

 Moncef Trabelsi, brother-in-law of the ousted Tunisian President Ben Ali, has died in jail, a prison official said on Friday.
 

[Developing story]

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2013/04/05/Moncef-Trabelsi-brother-in-law-of-Tunisia-s-Ben-Ali-dies-in-jail.html
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Iran, world powers resume nuclear talks in Kazakhstan

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Iran's Chief negotiator Saeed Jalili (L) shakes hands with Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov before talks in Almaty April 5, 2013. (Reuters)

Iran and six world powers resumed a new round of negotiations in Kazakhstan on Friday, aiming to resolve a decade-long dispute over an Iranian nuclear program the West suspects aims to give Tehran the capability to build an atom bomb.

"The plenary session just began this morning at the Rixos," an official told AFP, referring to a five-star hotel in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

In what is the second such meeting this year, the six powers- the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany- hope Iran will accept their offer of modest relief from economic sanctions in return for curbs in its most sensitive nuclear work.

"The plenary session just began this morning," a Western official said.

For years, Iran has refused to meet international demands for it to stop enriching uranium, arguing it does so only for peaceful purposes such as medical research and generation of energy.

The Almaty meeting is expected to last until Saturday and diplomats say any breakthrough is unlikely.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2013/04/05/Iran-world-powers-resume-nuclear-talks-in-Kazakhstan.html
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Two Iranian pilgrims killed in accident at Jeddah airport

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A water truck crashed into Saudi Arabia's Jeddah airport Hajj Terminal, killing two Iranian pilgrims and wounding four others. (Al Arabiya)

Two Iranian women were killed and four others were wounded when a water truck crashed into a gate lounge at Saudi Arabia's Jeddah airport Hajj Terminal on Thursday, the General Authority of Civil Aviation announced.

The victims were waiting to board Saudi Airlines' flight number 2842 to Tehran when the truck crashed into the lounge at the terminal's gate 13 situated in the ground floor, the aviation authority added in a statement.

Two of the wounded pilgrims were immediately treated and were able to board the flight. The other two were hospitalized.
King Abdulaziz International Airport is Saudi Arabia's busiest Airport and the region's second busiest after Dubai International Airport.

The Jeddah airport receives millions of Muslims throughout the world who travel to Mecca to perform the Hajj or Umra.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Two-Iranian-pilgrims-killed-in-accident-at-Jeddah-airport.html
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Iranian soldiers are fighting alongside Assad army: captured soldier tells Al Arabiya

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Iranian soldiers are fighting alongside Assad army: captured soldier tells Al Arabiya

A man, who is reportedly an Iranian officer in the custody of the rebel Free Syrian Army, spoke to Al Arabiya Thursday and said he used to train snipers for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He said that he used to train the men in the western province of Idlib, in which – he added – he stayed for months.

"My name is Hamid Wothouq, amd I'm from Shiraz city. I stayed in al-Fouaa and Kafriya for five month to work with snipers. In Iran, I worked for the Basij [Iranian paramilitary organization]. I want help from the Islamic republic," he told Al Arabiya's cameras.

Wothouq allegedly entered Syria from Turkey and said there were Iranian soldiers spread in the country to help the Assad regime in fighting rebels.

"In al-Fouaa and Kafriya, Bousra, Tartous and Damascus, there are Iranian soldiers fighting alongside the Assad army."

Rebel Free Syrian Army leaders described Wothouq's capture as a "precious find" and formidable proof against the Syrian regime's claim that no Iranian soldiers or members of Lebanon's Shiite movement, Hezbollah, were present in the country.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/04/04/Iranian-soldiers-are-fighting-alongside-Assad-army-Captured-soldier-tells-Al-Arabiya.html
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Potential new PM emerges in Lebanon amid political vacuum

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Lebanese politician Tammam Salam emerged as a potential new prime minister on Thursday. (Reuters)

Lebanese politician Tammam Salam, a former minister from a prominent Sunni Muslim political dynasty, emerged as a potential new prime minister on Thursday.

He solidified his standing when he was endorsed by the country's pro-Western March 14 coalition.

Lebanon faces a parliamentary election in June but was plunged into uncertainty two weeks ago by the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, after a dispute over the electoral law and an extension to the term of a top security official.

Mikati, who had called for a "national salvation" government to ensure stability in a country shaken by the conflict in neighboring Syria, said on Thursday he would not put his name forward again because he could not win consensus backing.

Salam - a Sunni Muslim as all prime ministers must be under Lebanon's confessional distribution of power - is the son of a former prime minister. His grandfather served under the Ottoman Empire and the French colonial mandate.

He won endorsement from March 14, which has 60 seats in the128-seat parliament, at a meeting of the political alliance in central Beirut after a lightning trip to Saudi Arabia for talks with March 14's leader, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

His nomination by opposition chief and ex-Premier Fouad Siniora was seen as an effort to build bridges across Lebanon's political divide which has been inflamed by the fighting just across the eastern border.

"We wish Mr. Salam good luck in leading the country through the present circumstances," Siniora told an opposition meeting in Beirut. "It's a big responsibility to the nation."

March 14 groups mainly Sunni and Christian parties which pushed, with U.S. and European support, for Syria to end nearly three decades of military presence in Lebanon in 2005.

Supporters and those on the fence

Salam also won the support of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, whose seven seats hold the balance of power.

The other main political bloc is the March 8 coalition, which dominated Mikati's government and is made up of Shi'ite parties Hezbollah and Amal and their mainly Christian allies, including the Free Patriotic Movement of Michel Aoun.

Sources in March 8 said it had not decided whether to support Salam, but that on its own it could not block him.

President Michel Suleiman will hold formal consultations on Friday and Saturday before nominating a prime minister to form the new government.

Political sources said that if Salam is nominated he would head a neutral government tasked with preparing for the election and would not be expected to stand as a candidate himself.

The vote, set for early June, is likely to be delayed after disputes over whether it should be a winner-takes-all election or follow proportional representation - or be a hybrid of both.

The disputes add to tension in a country struggling to deal with over 400,000 Syrian refugees - equivalent to 10 percent of the population - street battles in the northern city of Tripoli, violence in border areas and a spiraling budget deficit.

Mikati championed a policy of "dissociation" from the crisis in Syria but struggled to insulate his country from the turmoil. Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies in his cabinet are strong supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while most Sunni Muslims support rebels battling to topple Assad.

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/05/Potential-new-PM-emerges-in-Lebanon-amid-political-vacuum.html
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U.N. aid agency suspends Gaza distribution over riot at HQ

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U.N. aid agency suspends Gaza distribution over riot at HQ

Some 800,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of Gaza's population, depend on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. (Image courtesy: UNRWA)

The main U.N. humanitarian agency for Palestinians said on Thursday it was suspending operations in the Gaza Strip after demonstrators angered by aid cutbacks stormed its headquarters.

Some 800,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of Gaza's population, depend on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the suspension could exacerbate hardship caused by Israeli and Egyptian controls on the isolated enclave's borders.

Citing budget shortfalls, UNRWA said it had suspended some of its cash handouts and that this provoked violent protests this week, culminating in Thursday's breach of its Gaza headquarters.

"What happened today was completely unacceptable: the situation could very easily have resulted in serious injuries to UNRWA staff and to the demonstrators. This escalation, apparently pre-planned, was unwarranted and unprecedented," Robert Turner, head of the agency's Gaza operations.

"All relief and distribution centers will consequently remain closed until guarantees are given by all relevant groups that UNRWA operations can continue unhindered," he said in a statement.

Gaza security officials had no immediate comment.

Turner said that despite the trimming of cash disbursements, UNRWA's food distribution in Gaza "will continue unchanged."

05 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/04/U-N-aid-agency-suspends-Gaza-distribution-over-riot-at-HQ.html
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