Friday 31 May 2013

Israeli moves


Israeli military moves up to Lebanon border



30 May, 2013

The Israeli military has moved resources and personnel up to the border with Lebanon, installing a barbed wire fence near the occupied Shebaa Farms area on Jabal Al-Shaikh (Mount Hermon). According to a Lebanese security source in Beirut, the Israelis have also sent pilotless drones as well as manned aircraft over Southern Lebanon, including the Beqaa Valley.


The source added that several artillery shells were fired from the eastern edge of the occupied Shebaa Farms. No casualties were reported.

American and British killed in Syria (alongside al-Qaida fighters)


I love this line -


First a big caveat: the following comes from CNN, the world's farce leader, so take it with a quarry of salt.

That said, CNN's household access is pervasive and when it comes to setting the social mood based on a news report, be it completely fabricated or not, the news organization is second to none”


American, British Citizens Killed In Syria




30 May, 2013


First a big caveat: the following comes from CNN, the world's farce leader, so take it with a quarry of salt.


That said, CNN's household access is pervasive and when it comes to setting the social mood based on a news report, be it completely fabricated or not, the news organization is second to none. Which may be precisely why it is CNN that is reporting that in Syria - a place just itching for the proverbial match to be struck on a mountain of geopolitical gunpowder involving all the key actors: from the US, to Russia, Europe, China, and of course Israel, said match may have just been lit.


To wit: "Syrian state-run television reported Thursday that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed three Westerners, including an American woman and a British national, who they claim were fighting with the rebels and were found with weapons and maps of government military facilities."


Syrian TV identified the woman, releasing what it claimed were her Michigan driver's license and U.S. passport. It also released what is said was the name and passport of a British citizen. It did not identify the third Westerner.
The TV report claimed the three were also found with a flag of the al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-linked group.
The United States is aware of the claim that an American was killed and is working through the Czech Republic mission in Syria to obtain more information, a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN.
Citing privacy considerations, "we are unable to comment further," the official said."

Why westerners were fighting the Syrian government alongside Al Qaeda "rebels" is not known. What is known is that tomorrow front pages across the nation will be blasting "American woman killed in Syria" and the ensuing thirst for revenge will be just the missing link needed by the administration, in lieu of having found no weapons of mass destruction, to escalate the conflict even further. 

Especially when the media helpfully reminds that as we reported earlier, Russia has already delivered at least one of the promised S-300 missile shipments to Assad. All the other details: those involving the true nature of the Qatari mercenaries posing as "rebels", the Al Qaeda links, the source of rebel armaments, the UN refutation of the WMD storyine, and most importantly, any mention of the Qatari gas pipeline access to Turkey which this is all about, will be ignored.


Here's confirmation, if needed - 

American Woman Killed In Syria Fighting, Family Says

Iranian statement in support of Syria


We have known this for about 3 years now. We are entering a dangerous phase right now

Iran will not allow overthrow of Syria government: Iran deputy FM
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs says the Islamic Republic will not allow the overthrow of the Syrian government.


30 May, 2013


Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on the sidelines of the Friends of Syria Conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday. The international event was attended by representatives from around 40 countries with the aim of contributing to a political solution to the foreign-sponsored crisis in the Arab country.

We will not allow the Syrian government to be overthrown. We strongly support the Syrian nation and government as well as the opposition that believes in a political resolution,” he added.

Amir-Abdollahian added that Iran will utilize its experiences in the region to prevent the collapse of the Syrian government.

Regarding Iran’s participation in a forthcoming international conference on Syria in Geneva, the Iranian diplomat said the Islamic Republic has been verbally invited to the meeting, but not in writing.

He said Iran will make a final decision on taking part in the conference after receiving a written invitation, adding, "During diplomatic talks, we have announced that because the focus of the Geneva conference is finding a political solution, we will consider any such invitation with a positive attitude."

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012. Russia has highlighted the need for Iran's presence in the forthcoming meeting.

Iran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs, stressing that inclusive dialog and national reconciliation as well as free elections are the keys to resolving the unrest in the Arab country.

The crisis has gripped Syria since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian security forces, have been killed in the unrest. 

Towards World War 111

No idea what the Arabic commentary is saying, but I can vouch for the Russian. 
Call for Russian volunteers to fight in support of Assad
"50,000 volunteers from Russia and Ukraine heading to Syria in supports of Assad"


Record unemployment in France

3.26 million jobless in France in April: Labor Ministry



30 May, 2013

The French Labor Ministry says the number of unemployed people reached a record high of 3.26 million in April.


The ministry said on Thursday that the number of registered jobseekers in the eurozone's second-largest economy increased by 39,800 last month, marking the 24th consecutive monthly rise.

The increase is equivalent to 1,326 new jobseekers per day and represented a 12.5 percent rise over a year ago.

The previous jobless record in the country was in January 1997, when 3.195 million people were unemployed.

The figures are considered as a major challenge for Socialist President Francois Hollande, who has pledged to curb the unemployment rate from the current level of more than 10 percent to a single-digit figure by December this year.

Hollande's popularity, which had already been affected by the poor performance of the economy, is shrinking to record lows. In March, only 30 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed by the polling company TNS Sofres said they were satisfied with the president, down from the 35 percent recorded the previous month.


Europe plunged into a financial crisis in early 2008. The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms. 

Gitmo

Rebel rehab: Former Gitmo prisoners to be ‘de-programmed’ in Yemen




RT,
30 May, 2013

Yemen is demanding $20 million from the US to build a rehab center for former Guantanamo detainees that would be extradited to the country. The facility would be designed to prevent them from returning to militant activities.

Last week President Barack Obama announced the US’s readiness to lift up ban on repatriating Yemeni nationals from Guantanamo Bay top security prison.

Sanaa has put a price tag on the issue, asking Washington and the Gulf capitals to fund construction of a rehabilitation center that will potentially soothe the pains of former extremists and disincline them from armed violence.

"The detainees will be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society,” state news agency Saba quoted Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as saying. On Tuesday, Hadi shared his views with the US Senator John McCain who is touring the Middle East.

Yemen’s Human Rights Minister Houriah Mashhour told Reuters that the government approved the plan, but needs funding, from $18 to $20 million to bring the project into life.

"The [financial] support that the United States would offer to Yemen in this regard will not be more than what it is [currently] spending to maintain Guantanamo prison," Mashhour evaluated in an interview on Wednesday.

She also addressed wealthy Arab states of the Persian Gulf, which promoted the power transfer in Yemen in 2011 and helped to stop months-long political instability in Yemen, to sponsor the rehab project.

A large number, if not the majority of the Guantanamo detainees are from Yemen.

Among the 86 Gitmo prisoners already cleared for transfer or release are 56 Yemeni nationals. The next 80 detainees awaiting clearance for transfer have unaccounted for number of Yemenis as well. Many of them are among the 100+ Gitmo prisoners who are on hunger strike, which began sometime in February, demanding to be let out.

Most of them were detained over a decade ago, following the 9/11 terror acts in the US and the American invasion to Afghanistan.

Washington stopped repatriating Yemeni nationals from Guantanamo prison in 2010, following the 2009 incident of an attempted US-bound plane blast. A man who attempted to bring explosives aboard in his underwear had been trained by Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen.

Yemen is one of the most impoverished countries in the Arabian Peninsula, which definitely helps Al-Qaeda cells, which traditionally recruit new members among poverty-stricken population.

The Arab Spring protests in 2011 hit low-lived Yemen particularly hard, putting the country on the verge of a civil war. In the end President Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted and replaced with his subordinate Hadi.

Though the situation in Yemen has largely stabilized since then, the Islamist insurgency together with Al-Qaeda are still targeting governmental facilities and troops in regular attacks and explosions.

Welcome home

Because of the extended US security concerns Mashhour does not expect the repatriation process to start before the end of 2013. While many of the Guantanamo prisoners were returned to the countries of origin, dozens of Yemeni nationals are still awaiting their fate in Gitmo.

Mashhour stressed Yemen’s government is not going to put such people on trial because "had there been any evidence against them, the United States would have put them on trial," she told Reuters.

So Yemeni authorities are going to concentrate their efforts on rehabilitating the former detainees, Mashhour said, stressing that most of the 21 inmates repatriated before the 2010 ban have managed to return to normal life. She personally talked to some of them, she revealed, and shared that some are employed by Yemeni companies.

As for those who opted to get back to militants, “very few did” the minister said, specifying she has no “precise information” on them.

Mashhour pointed out that “rehabilitating [former Gitmo inmates] is an issue that is not exclusively a Yemeni issue. Saudi Arabia has a similar program which Guantanamo inmates have been put through.”

She named poverty and unemployment as the main reasons for people joining extremists, therefore new jobs for the former militants returning to normal life is crucial.


The Syrian conflict - chemical weapoms

Turkey finds sarin gas in homes of suspected Syrian Islamists – reports


RT,
30 May, 2013




Turkish security forces found a 2kg cylinder with sarin gas after searching the homes of Syrian militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front who were previously detained, Turkish media reports. The gas was reportedly going to be used in a bomb.

The sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamists detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia following a search by Turkish police on Wednesday, reports say. The gas was allegedly going to be used to carry out an attack in the southern Turkish city of Adana.
On Monday, Turkish special anti-terror forces arrested 12 suspected members of the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliated group which has been dubbed "the most aggressive and successful arm” of the Syrian rebels. The group was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in December.
Police also reportedly found a cache of weapons, documents and digital data which will be reviewed by police.
Following the searches, five of those detained were released following medical examinations at the Forensic Medicine Institution Adana. Seven suspects remain in custody. Turkish authorities are yet to comment on the arrests.
In a separate incident in Adana, police reportedly received intelligence that an explosive-laden vehicle had entered the town of Adana on Thursday, the Taraf daily reports.
Ankara has attempted to bolster the Syrian opposition without becoming embroiled in the Syrian civil war, a policy which Damascus claims lead to the deadliest act of terrorism on Turkish soil.
On May 11, 51 people were killed and 140 injured after two car bombs exploded in the Turkish town of Reyhanlı, located near the country’s border with Syria.A dozen Turkish nationals have been charged in the twin bombings, and Ankara has accused Damascus of helping the suspects carry out the attack.
"This incident was carried out by an organization which is in close contact to pro-regime groups in Syria and I say this very clearly, with the Syrian Mukhabarat [intelligence agency]," Interior Minister Muammer Guler said.
Syria’s Information Minister Omran Zoubi denied any link the attack, saying his country "did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that".Zoubi further charged the Turkish government had facilitated the flow of arms, explosives, funds and fighters across the country’s border into Syria, claiming that that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party bear direct responsibility [for the attack]."
Reports of chemical weapons use by both Damascus and the Syrian opposition have surrounded the conflict in Syria for months.
In March, the Syrian government invited the United Nations to investigate possible chemical weapons use in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo. Military experts and officials said a chemical agent, most likely sarin, was used in the attack which killed 26 people, including government forces.

Damascus claimed Al-Qaeda linked fighters were behind the attack, further alleging Turkey had a hand in the incident.
The rocket came from a placed controlled by the terrorist and which is located close to the Turkish territory. One can assume that the weapon came from Turkey,” Zoabi said in an interview with Interfax news agency.
US President Barack Obama has warned any confirmed use of chemical weapons by Damascus would cross a "red line" which would prompt further action. Both Washington and London claimed there was growing evidence that such chemical agents had been used.
A day before the Reyhanlı bombing, Erdogan released a statement claiming he had evidence the Syrian government had had used chemical weapons, crossing the red line set by President Obama.The accusation contradicted a statement made at the time by a leading UN investigator.Carla Del Ponte, who heads
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said there were “concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas” in Syria.
"This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," Del Ponte continued.
Exposure to large quantities of sarin gas, whose production and stockpiling was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, causes convulsions, paralysis, loss of respiratory functions and potentially death.


Bashar Assad warns Israel


Syria's Assad warns Israel on air strikes and Golan
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has warned Israel that it will respond in kind to any future air strikes.



BBC,
30 May, 23.04 GMT, 2013


In an interview with a Lebanese TV channel, he said there was "popular pressure" to open a military front against Israel in the Golan Heights.

He also suggested Syria may have received the first shipment of an advanced Russian air defence system.

Israel has warned it would regard the Russian missiles as a serious threat to its security.

Mr al-Assad was speaking to al-Manar TV, which has close ties to the Lebanese Shia militant movement Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian government.

Israel has carried out three air strikes on Syria to stop the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"There is clear popular pressure to open a new front of resistance in the Golan," Mr Assad said.

Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1967 war. It annexed the territory in 1981, in a move that has not been recognised by the international community.

Syrian shells have hit Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, though it is unclear whether they were aimed at rebels in border areas, and Israel has returned fire.

Syria and Israel have been in a state of war since 1948 but the border had been relatively calm in recent years.


Russian contracts

Excerpts released from the al-Manar interview ahead of broadcast quoted Mr Assad as saying Syria had already received a first shipment of S-300 missiles from Russia.

But in the interview itself, he said only: "All we have agreed on with Russia will be implemented and some of it has been implemented recently, and we and the Russians continue to implement these contracts."

The S-300 is a highly capable surface-to-air missile system that, as well as targeting aircraft, also has the capacity to engage ballistic missiles.

Ahead of the interview, Israeli government minister Silvan Shalom said Israel would "take actions" to ensure that advanced weapons did not reach groups such as Hezbollah, but there was no need to "provoke an escalation".

He told public radio: "Syria has had strategic weapons for years, but the problem arises when these arms fall into other hands and could be used against us. In that case, we would have to act."

The military chief of the main umbrella group of Syrian rebels, the Free Syrian Army, has accused Hezbollah fighters of "invading" Syria.

In a BBC interview, Gen Selim Idriss claimed that more than 7,000 Hezbollah fighters were taking part in attacks on the rebel-held town of Qusair.

More than 50,000 residents were trapped in the town and a "massacre" would occur if it fell, he added.

Talks about talks

Mr Assad also said Syria would "in principle" attend a peace conference backed by the US and Russia, if there were not unacceptable preconditions.

The main opposition group outside Syria said it would not join the talks while massacres continued.

Its interim leader, George Sabra, said talk of diplomatic conferences was farcical while Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah were carrying out heinous crimes.

The opposition has been meeting for more than a week in Istanbul to elect new leaders and devise a strategy.

For his part, Mr Assad said it would not be surprising if the conference failed, and if it did, it would not make much difference on the ground, because what he called the "terrorism" of the rebels would continue.

Russian, US and UN officials will meet next week in Geneva to prepare for the proposed conference in June.




Doubts Cast Over Reported S-300 Deliveries to Syria



30 May, 2013


MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Reports that Syria’s president had confirmed receiving a consignment of Russian-manufactured S-300 air defense systems emerged Thursday, but were quickly brought into question.

In comments widely reported across the world, Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying Damascus had received initial deliveries of the S-300 system.

Assad's remarks were allegedly made during a pre-recorded interview to be aired on Hezbollah-controlled Almanar television channel on Thursday evening at 10:00 p.m. Moscow time.

But a high-level source at Lebanon-based Almanar, who said he had been present throughout the interview, told RIA Novosti by telephone that at no point did Assad explicitly confirm any S-300 deliveries.

When Assad was asked about the delivery of the anti-missile systems, the source – who requested that his name not be printed – said, the Syrian president replied that “everything we have agreed with Russia will be implemented, and a part of it has been implemented already.”

By Thursday afternoon, the Al Akhbar newspaper, which reported Assad's comments as an exclusive, appeared to backtrack on the veracity of its story, which also included a statement attributed to Assad that the rest of the S-300 equipment "will arrive soon."

The Assad quotes were "professionally stolen" through sources at Almanar and any information provided by the television station is more reliable, an Al Akhbar employee told RIA Novosti in a telephone interview, also requesting anonymity.

Documents revealing the existence of an agreement between Russia and Syria to supply the sophisticated S-300 air defense system, which can target ballistic missiles as well as aircraft, were first reported in the Russian press in 2011, but official confirmations have been scant. However, earlier this week Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov mentioned the deal’s existence, according to Russian media, saying a contract for providing Syria with S-300s had been signed “several years ago.”

Reached by telephone Thursday, Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport declined to comment on whether elements of the S-300 system had been successfully delivered to Syria.

The shipment of the S-300s is a source of contention between Moscow and Washington. Last week US Secretary of State John Kerry said the presence of the anti-missile systems in Syria would be “destabilizing” for the region.

Russian officials publicly refuse to confirm or deny the S-300 deliveries, but argue that they would be legal under international law and would help to contain the Syrian conflict.

Steps such as the delivery of S-300s are restraining some "hot heads" from turning the Syrian conflict into an international conflict with the participation of outside forces, Ryabkov said Tuesday.

S-300 missile systems, which are capable of simultaneously tracking up to 100 targets while engaging 12 at a range of up to 200 kilometers and a height of up to 27 kilometers, could dramatically raise the risks of a potential airstrike against Syrian targets.

Israeli jets have reportedly launched attacks on Syria, including the capital Damascus, several times this year. Tel Aviv said recent strikes in May were targeted at weapons being transferred to Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to Western news agencies.

Protests in Istanbul




Protesters #OccupyGezi to save Istanbul park
Activists defy bulldozers to block demolition of city's 'last public green space'.


30 May, 2013
A Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas as people protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 28, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal


Protesters are occupying Istanbul's Gezi Park to prevent a demolition of what many are calling the city's last green public space. Hurriyet Daily News reported that early Thursday morning riot police set fire to several tents and used tear gas and pepper spray attempting to force activists out of the park. Activists are calling on thousands more to rejoin the protest.

The demonstrators occupied the park on May 28 to prevent bulldozers from completing the demolition, part of the government's redevelopment plan for central Taksim Square. 


Unconfirmed reports suggest more than 10,000 people are currently gathered in Taksim's Gezi Park. 
....


The Artist taxi driver - Goldman Sachs and the Royal Mail

This is what we need at the moment! WARNING: Colourful language


**Who rules our world** BBC Sucks O Cocks News





And this, apparently, is what this is about...



Goldman Sachs and UBS to lead privatisation of Royal Mail
Government announces selection of Goldman Sachs and UBS to advise on Royal Mail's sale and collect majority of fees


29 May, 2013

Goldman Sachs and UBS will lead a syndicate of banks collecting about £30m from the £3bn privatisation of Royal Mail.

The government announced that it had selected Goldman Sachs, which has been accused of treating its clients like "muppets", and UBS, which was fined £940m for its role in the Libor rate rigging scandal, as global co-ordinators and bookrunners of the largest privatisation in two decades.

As the lead banks advising on Royal Mail's sale the pair will collect the majority of the fees, understood to be set at about 1% of the target £2-3bn flotation value. Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch will also collect millions in fees from more junior roles in the sale.

The department for business, innovation and skills (BIS), which is in charge of the sale, refused to state how much the banks will collect in fees but said it had "negotiated very hard to get the best value for taxpayers". Banks can collect up to 2.5% for running flotations.

A BIS spokesman said the banks had been selected because of their past experience advising the government on Royal Mail and declined to comment on the banks' roles in recent scandals.

Goldman Sachs hit the headlines last year when one of its British-based bankers resigned in a letter in which he accused his former employer of being "morally bankrupt" and routinely ripping off its "muppet" clients in order to increase its profits

Michael Fallon, the business minister, said the banks' appointments "build momentum" for the sale, which he hopes to complete within a year. Fallon said a float in London, in which staff would be granted shares worth 10% of the company, was still the government's "preferred option" but insisted no final decisions had been made and other sale options "remain on the table".

He has warned the Communication Workers Union (CWU) that the world's oldest postal service could be sold to sovereign wealth funds or other foreign buyers if the CWU continues to fight a flotation.

Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail, has taken the company on an investor roadshow in Canada and the US and said it would be "foolhardy" not consider the sale of the company to foreign buyers.

If the flotation is successful it will be the biggest privatisation since the sell-off of the railways in the 1990s and Royal Mail will enter the FTSE 100 list of Britain's biggest companies.


Royal Mail last week reported a 60% increase in pre-tax annual profits to £324m. Sales, which were boosted by a 30% rise in the price of first class stamps to 60p, increased by more than £500m to £9.3bn.