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Friday, April 18, 2014 |
Excerpts: Thailand foils Hezbollah-planned attack. Rival jihadist |
Excerpts: Thailand foils Hezbollah-planned attack. Rival jihadist groups = in conflict. Jordan and Israel in state security law Canada re Syrian = involvement. : Iran's missile program remains secret.Iran nuclear deal. = Blast in Hamas 'training camp' kills and maims. Jordan destroys = 'Camouflaged' vehicles from Syria.Egypt court bans Brotherhood from = polls.Saudi urges 'stern 'world action against Syria.Deputy replaces Saudi = intelligence chief April 18, 2014 +++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 18 April =9214:=94Report: Hezbollah planned atta= Israeli tourists in Bankok=94, by Staff Writer QUOTE:=94the authorities are trying to track down Hezbollah operatives in = Thailand=94 FULL TEXT:Thai police said the two Hezbollah suspects were arrested at = different locations in Bangkok after it received intelligence from Israel = about a planned plot targeting Israeli tourists. One of the men suspected of belonging to Shiite Lebanese movement Hezbollah = has admitted to planning an attack on Israeli tourists in Bangkok, a Thai = newspaper reported on Friday[18 April]. Bangkok Post, citing a source involved in the investigation, reported that = the men have been identified as French-Lebanese Daoud Farhat and = Lebanese-Filipino Youssef Ayad. The newspaper said Farhat and Ayad arrived days before the start of a = festival called Songkran on April 13, but were arrested on suspicion of = links to Hezbollah. Both were born in Lebanon but authorities have to confirm if their travel = documents are genuine. Assistant national police chief Winai Thongsong told the newspaper that the = two were arrested at different locations in Bangkok after Thai police = received intelligence from Israel about a planned plot targeting Israeli = tourists. The source said Ayad has admitted that Hezbollah entered Thailand to carry = out a bomb attack against Israeli tourists and other Israeli groups on Khao = San Road during Songkran. =93Now we can seize materials, such as nails and bolts, used in making bomb= from their homes in Bangkok,=94 the source said, adding =93we are taking th= holder of the Philippines passport to Rayong province to search for more = bomb-making material kept there.=94 The source also said that authorities are trying to track down Hezbollah = operatives in Thailand. =93If we had been unable to arrest the men during Songkran, a bomb attack = would certainly have taken place somewhere on Khao San Road,=94 said the = source, according to the newspaper. +++SOURCE:Naharnet (L ebanon) 18 April =9214:=94Rival Group Accuses Qaida o= Betraying Jihadist Cause=94,Agence France Presse QUOTE:=94Al-Qaida today is no longer a base of jihad(holy war)=94 FULL TEXT:A powerful rival organization has accused Al-Qaida leaders of = betraying the jihadist cause, in the latest widening of divisions rooted in = Syria's civil war. "Al-Qaida today is no longer a base of jihad (holy war)," Islamic State of = Iraq and the Levant spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said in a statement = posted on jihadist forums. "Its leadership has become a hammer to break the project of the Islamic = State," Adnani said, adding that "the leaders of Al-Qaida have deviated fro= the correct path." "They have divided the ranks of the mujahedeen (holy warriors) in every = place," he said. Powerful rebel groups in Syria, including Al-Qaida's designated affiliate = Al-Nusra Front, have been locked in fierce fighting with ISIL since January = that has killed thousands of fighters. ISIL was initially welcomed by other rebels, who have been fighting to = topple Syrian President Bashar Assad since 2011, but allegations of brutal = abuses against civilians as well as rival opposition fighters sparked a = backlash. Some critics of ISIL have gone so far as to accuse it of serving the = interests of Assad's regime by splitting rebel ranks and tarnishing the = image of the uprising in the West. Both Al-Nusra and ISIL have roots in Al-Qaida's onetime Iraqi affiliate, th= Islamic State of Iraq. But the two have never merged, with Al-Nusra's leader rejecting a union = proposed by ISIL, and Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri urging ISIL to retur= to Iraq after its fighters moved into Syria +++Subject: Jordan's State Security Law. Canada re Syrian involvement. : = Iran's missile program remains secret.Iran nuclear deal. Blast in Hamas = 'training camp' kills and maims. Jordan destroys 'Camouflaged' vehicles fro= Syria.Egypt court bans Brotherhood from polls.Saudi urges 'stern 'world = action against Syria.Deputy replaces Saudi intelligence chief April 18, 2014 SOURCE: Jordan Times 18 April =9214:=94Lawmakers agree to keep =91resistanc= against Israel =92off State Security Law=94 by Khaled Neimat Lower House to the law, excluding =91acts of resistance=92 against Israel = the bill=92s jurisdiction=94 Court (SSC) Law after both chambers agreed to remove an addition made by th= Lower House to the law, excluding =93acts of resistance=94 against Israel f= the bill=92s jurisdiction. . . . The Upper House has recommended that the government submit a draft = anti-terrorism law that specifies the crimes falling under the category of = terrorism, suggesting that the =93resistance=94 issue can be discussed in t= context. The amended SSC Law limits the jurisdiction of the court to five crimes = specified in the Constitution: treason, espionage, terrorism, drugs and = money counterfeiting. Parliamentary sources and observers say it is very likely that His Majesty = King Abdullah will summon Parliament to convene for an extraordinary sessio= to discuss and endorse reform-related bills. . . . +++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 7April =9214:=94Scenarios of possible Canadian = involvement in Syria revealed=94, By Dina al-Shibeeb QUOTE: =94Ottawa has drawn up at least five scenarios in which it could be = involved in the three-year Syrian conflict=94 FULL TEXT:Internal documents obtained by a Canadian newspaper show that = Ottawa has drawn up at least five scenarios in which it could be involved i= the three-year Syrian conflict, including the deployment of Canadian Forces. The Ottawa Citizen paper said on Monday[14 April] that while Canada=92s = federal government has no official plans so far for the country to be = dragged in the conflict, the National Defense has developed five scenarios = to address the problem of =93rapidly deteriorating conditions in Syria, its = impact on neighboring countries and =85 the importance of Middle East = stability.=94 Military intervention is included in one of the potential scenarios, per th= existence of is =93a legitimate armed opposition group has been recognized= Canada. The scenarios rest on the several assumptions, such as the Syrian governmen= remains =93defiant,=94 and include possible outcomes for each plan, includi= those =93most likely=94 and the =93worst case.=94 Worst case scenarios include extremist groups getting ahold of advanced or = chemical weapons or the conflict spilling beyond Syria=92s borders. Further specifics about the remaining scenarios have been censored. Theodore Karasik, the Dubai-based Director of Research and Consultancy at = the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), reasons = that the conflict affects a myriad of countries not just in the region but = globally. =93Many countries face the threat from the Syrian theater because jihadists = there have gained incredible battlefield experience and were further = indoctrinated of jihadist violence,=94 he told Al Arabiya News. Karasik urged all countries prepare adequately if they intervene in the = conflict which must include a contingency plan. =93Not only militaries but police forces have to be prepared as well,=94 he = added. While the United States and its main ally, the United Kingdom, have both ha= their parliaments veto a military airstrike against the Syrian regime over = chemical weapons accusations last year, a source who spoke to Al Arabiya = News on the condition of anonymity said =93in [neighboring] Jordan, the Bri= are on ground already, in special operations forces.=94 Hinting at additional covert support from other nations, the source added: = =93It is to varying degrees of how these [NATO] countries are involved and = under what circumstances.=94 Additional documents show that Canada has already started training = anti-sectarian activists, journalists and others so they can provide a = political alternative to Islamic extremist groups if the fighting stops. +++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 17 April =9214:=94Iran will not discuss its missil= program, says official=94, by Associated Press SUBJECT: Iran=92s missile program remains secret QUOTE:=94U.S. State Department nuclear negotiator. . .said Iran=92s ballist= capabilities should be addressed as part of a comprehensive agreement with = Iran=94 FULL TEXT:TEHRAN =97 Tehran will not discuss its ballistic missiles as part= ongoing talks with world powers on a final agreement to curb the Iranian = nuclear program, the country's defense minister said Wednesday[16 April]. The remarks by Gen. Hossein Dehghan came as a rebuff of recent comments by = US State Department's nuclear negotiator, Wendy Sherman, who said Iran's = ballistic capabilities should be addressed as part of a comprehensive = agreement with Iran. Iran's ballistic program has also been a concern for the West since = ballistic missile can be used to deliver nuclear warheads. Iran insists the = missile program has no nuclear dimensions but is also adamant that its = defense industry is a "red line" as a topic at the nuclear talks. The US has argued that a UN Security Council resolution bans Iran from = "undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of = delivering nuclear weapons." But Dehghan said Iran's missile program has "nothing to do" with the nuclea= negotiations and that it has no nuclear dimensions. "Iran's missiles are not up for discussion under any circumstances," he tol= the semiofficial Fars news agency. "Iran's missiles are only our concern ..= We don't accept any intervention on this issue." Tehran has developed a series of missiles, some of which have a range 2,000 = km =97 enough to reach much of the Middle East. Military commanders have = described them as a strategic asset and a strong deterrent, capable of = hitting US bases or Israel in the event of a strike on Iran. The Pentagon = released a rare public report in 2012 noting significant advances in Iran's = missiles technology and acknowledging that Tehran has improved their = accuracy and firing capabilities. Iran and six world powers =97 the five permanent members of the Security = Council plus Germany =97 reached an interim deal in November that put limit= on Iran's uranium enrichment program in return for the easing of some = sanctions. Core sanctions, however, remain in place =97 including measures = targeting Iran's oil exports, the pillar of its economy +++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 16 April14:=94(Iranian F.M.)Zarif: no fear of = hardliners on nuclear deal=94 by Michelle Moghtader, Reuters Abu Dhabi opposition from hardliners as he leads negotiations to reach a comprehensiv= agreement about Iran's nuclear program with world powers by the end of July. =93I am optimistic=94 that a deal will be reached in three months, he told = Reuters in Abu Dhabi. =93There is the political will to get an answer,=94 h= added as he boarded a plane back to Tehran on Tuesday[15 April]. Iran and six world powers - the United States, France, Germany, Britain, = Russia and China - struck an interim deal in November under which Tehran = agreed to limit parts of its nuclear work in return for the easing of some = sanctions imposed on Iran for its disputed atomic program. They have set a = July 20 deadline to clinch a long-term deal that would lead to a gradual = lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions. Iranian hardliners, unsettled by the shift to a more moderate foreign polic= since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August, have repeatedly = criticized the agreement. However, Iran's most powerful authority, Supreme = Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has backed the negotiations. =93The domestic audience will be satisfied if we have a good deal,=94 said = when asked if he feared domestic pushback. =93Of course some people will ne= be satisfied but that is fine because we have a pluralistic society.=94 In their latest criticism of the interim agreement, some hardliners have = said Iran has had difficulty receiving billions of dollars of oil revenue = unfrozen under the agreement. Majid Takht-Ravanchi, an Iranian deputy = foreign minister, rejected the assertion on Tuesday[15 April], saying Iran'= central bank has no problem accessing the funds, according to state news = agency IRNA. Iran and the six powers ended their latest round of talks in Vienna last = week and said they would start drafting an agreement ahead of their next = meeting there on May 13. The Islamic Republic denies accusations by Israel, Western powers and their = allies that it has tried to develop the capability to produce atomic weapon= under the cover of a civilian nuclear energy program. +++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 16 April =914 =93Gaza blast kills three Palestin= wounds 5, medics say=92, Agence France Presse wounded five=94 wounded five on Wednesday[16 April], a medical official said, but the reaso= for the blast was unclear. The three killed were already dead on their arrival at hospital, and all = were in their 20s, Hamas's health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told = AFP. The other five were in serious condition, he said. Witnesses said the blast took place at a training camp belonging to Hamas's = armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades east of the city of Khan Yunis i= the southern Gaza Strip, but it was unclear what caused the explosion. A blast during a "training session in bomb-making" killed a Qassam Brigades = member and injured six others last month in the southern town of Rafah, on = the Egyptian border, the group said. +++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon)16 April =9214:=94Jordan Destroys =91Camouflag= vehicles Crossing from Syria=94, Agence France Presse Wednesday[16 Apri] as they tried to cross into the kingdom from war-ravaged = Syria, in the first such strikes since the conflict erupted three years = ago.A Syrian military source, cited by state television in Damascus, said = the vehicles struck did not belong to Syria's armed forces, while Amman sai= an initial probe showed they were being used by arms dealers. Damascus has accused Amman of backing the uprising against President Bashar = Assad by training and arming rebels, a charge denied by Jordan, which says = it has tightened border controls and jailed dozens trying to cross illegally Wednesday's [16 April]air strikes were the first time Jordan has used = fighter jets against such infiltrations."Royal air force jets fighters toda= at 10:30 am (0730 GMT) destroyed a number of vehicles that attempted to = cross into Jordan from Syria," the Jordanian army said. "The camouflaged vehicles tried to enter from an area with rugged terrain," = it said in a statement. "The fighter jets fired warning shots, but they were ignored, prompting the= to destroy the vehicles. The army will not tolerate such actions." A military official told AFP in Amman that "Three wheeled vehicles tried to = enter the kingdom" near Ruwaished in northern Jordan. In Damascus, a military source said the vehicles did not belong to the = Syrian army. "No military or armored vehicles belonging to the Syrian army moved towards = the Jordanian border, and so what was targeted by the Jordanian air force = does not belong to the Syrian army," it said. Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Momani said the vehicles apparently = belonged to arms traders. "Initial probe shows that those who were inside the vehicles were = infiltrators who tried to smuggle weapons and other things," Momani, who is = also government spokesman, told AFP. "They were all killed," he said without specifying their number. Amman says arms smuggling across the border with Syria has risen by 300 = percent in the past year. "They were arms smugglers, who also seek to smuggle drugs sometimes," a = military official said. Jordan says it has foiled hundreds of trafficking attempts, while the = military state security court is examining several related cases. Border guards have in past clashed with and arrested several people as they = tried to cross from Syria into the kingdom. "By using the air force, Jordan wants to send a message to terrorists and = groups that seek to exploit the Syrian situation that it will respond in a = very tough way against any threat to national security,=94 said analyst Ora= Rantawi, head of Amman's Al-Quds Center for Political Studies. "Jordan also wants to ... respond to accusations that Amman is involved in = facilitating the entry of jihadists into Syria who are considered a threat = to the kingdom itself." The country has struggled to cope with hosting more than 500,000 Syrian = refugees uprooted by the conflict. It has repeatedly expressed fears that the bloodshed could spread and = concern over the regional impact of anti-Assad jihadist fighters. The United States also fears a possible spillover of violence to Syria's = southern neighbor Jordan, a key U.S. ally and one of only two Arab states t= have signed a peace treaty with Israel. King Abdullah II has vowed to protect Jordan from the Syrian war, while the = United States kept F-16 fighters and Patriot missile interceptors in the = kingdom after joint military exercises last year. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict broke = out in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a = Britain-based monitor. SourceAgence France Presse +++SOURCE: Jordan Times 16 April =9214:=94Egypt court bans Brotherhood memb= from polls=94, Agence France Presse QUOTE: =93Key leaders of the group (Brotherhood) have been based in London= FULL TEXT: CAIRO =97 An Egyptian court on Tuesday[15 Apri] banned members o= ousted president Mohamed Morsi=92s Muslim Brotherhood from running in upcom= elections, a lawyer and state media said. Egypt=92s military-installed authorities are engaged in a deadly crackdown = against the Islamist movement, which swept elections in Egypt after the = overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 but is now blacklisted as a = =93terrorist group=94. A court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria ordered authorities to bar = any candidacies from Brotherhood members or former members in presidential = and parliamentary elections The ruling came after a group of private citizens who have protested agains= the Brotherhood filed a petition calling for the ban. =93It is illogical to receive such candidacies after the government designa= the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation,=94 Tareq Mahmoud, a lawyer from t= group, told AFP. =93We submitted videos, photos and documents showing terrorist acts carried = out by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is why it is illogical that they lead = the country or represent its people in elections.=94 In December, the authorities blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a = =93terrorist group=94 after blaming it for a deadly bombing north of Cairo = was claimed by a jihadist group. Former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, whose popularity has soared since h= deposed Morsi last summer following massive protests, is widely expected to = win the May 26-27 presidential election, which is to be followed by = parliamentary polls. Authorities have waged a brutal crackdown on the Brotherhood since Morsi=92= overthrow, with Amnesty International estimating that more than 1,400 peopl= have been killed, mostly Islamists. More than 15,000 Islamists, mainly Brotherhood members, have been jailed, = while hundreds have been sentenced to death following often speedy trials. The 85-year-old Brotherhood, Egypt=92s most well-organised opposition group = during decades of dictatorship despite being banned, stepped out of the = shadows after the 2011 uprising. It won a string of polls culminating in the 2012 presidential election, whe= its candidate Morsi became Egypt=92s first freely elected leader. Under Mubarak=92s rule, the group was banned but tolerated, and had candida= run as independents. In 2005, Brotherhood candidates won dozens of seats in = parliament. In March, Saudi Arabia declared the movement a =93terrorist group=94, while = earlier this month Britain ordered a probe into it amid concerns of links = with violent extremism. Key leaders of the group have been based in London since the toppling of = Morsi and the police crackdown. +++SOURCE:=94Saudi Arabia renews demand for =91stern=92world action on Syri= Agence France Presse Syrian President Bashar Assad=94 action against Syria after the regime=92s decision to hold presidential = elections and its alleged use of toxic gas against civilians. Saudi Arabia is one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian = President Bashar Assad in a civil war increasingly seen as a proxy battle = between it and regional rival Iran. Syria=92s plan to hold elections is =93an escalation and undermines Arab an= international efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis based on the = [outcomes of] the Geneva I conference,=94 said Foreign Minister Prince Saud= Faisal. A 2012 peace conference in the Swiss city called for a transitional = government ahead of free and fair elections, with no mention of Assad=92s r= in the transition. Syrian daily Al Watan reported Tuesday[15 April] that the date for the = presidential elections will be announced next week and is expected to be = around June. The international community has criticised Syria=92s plan to go ahead with = vote, which would likely see Assad win another seven-year mandate. This decision, =93as well as dangerous information on the regime=92s recent= of toxic gases against civilians in the town of Kafr Zita=94, in the centra= Hama province, represent =93clear defiance=94 of the UN Security Council, F= said in Riyadh. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residents choking from = poisoning in the rebel-held town of Kafr Zita were hospitalised after = bombing raids on Friday[11April] Activists in the area accused the regime of using chlorine gas, saying it = caused =93more than 100 cases of suffocation=94. But state television claimed that Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front, a key = force in the revolt, had released chlorine in an attack on the town. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict broke = out in March 2011, according to the Observatory. . . . No negotiations with Qatar . . . Last month, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recalled = their ambassadors from Doha after accusing the fellow Gulf Cooperation = Council state of interfering in their internal affairs and of supporting th= Muslim Brotherhood. GCC countries =93are free in their policies, provided they do not harm = interests of other members=94 of the regional grouping, said Prince Faisal. =93As long as these countries adhere to this principle, there will be no = problems among GCC states.=94 Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies are hostile to the Brotherhood, = fearing its brand of grassroots activism could undermine their authority. +++SOURCE: Jordan Times 16 April =9214:=94Saudi intelligence chief replaced= his deputy=94, Reuters Sultan, the architect of Riyadh=92s policy on Syria, has been removed from = post, a royal decree carried by state news agency SPA said on Tuesday]15 = April]. Prince Bandar, a former ambassador to Washington, was appointed to the post = in July 2012 and given the task of helping Syrian rebels fighting to bring = down President Bashar Assad. =93Prince Bandar was relieved of his post at his own request and General = Youssef Al Idrissi was asked to carry out the duties of the head of general = intelligence,=94 SPA said. It did not give any further details. Idrissi had been serving as Prince = Bandar=92s deputy. Prince Bandar has been on medical leave since early this year and was = reported to have undergone surgery in the United States and a convalescence = period in Morocco. Prince Bandar had warned of a =93major shift=94 away from Washington in Oct= after President Barack Obama, who visited Riyadh in March, decided against = bombing Assad=92s forces following a chemical weapons attack in Damascus. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= ________________________________________ Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on A= Website: www.imra.org.il For free regular subscription: For free daily digest subscription: IMRA is now also on Twitter |
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