MIDDLE EAST
Palestinians push back ISIS in Damascus camp: monitor
AFP, Damascus
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Palestinian fighters and Syrian rebels retook control Thursday of large parts of a refugee camp in Damascus that had been seized by ISIS group jihadists, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a number of armed groups in the Yarmuk camp in south Damascus “were able to regain control over all of the areas that ISIS had taken over.”
The militants had overrun the camp on Wednesday, raising fears for thousands of civilians inside and giving ISIS a potential beachhead inside Syria’s capital.
But armed Palestinian groups, backed by local rebels, launched a fightback later in the day.
“Syrian rebel groups entered the camp and helped the Palestinians push back ISIS in fierce clashes,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory.
Anwar Abdel Hadi, director of political affairs for the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Damascus, said ISIS had been pushed “to the periphery” of the camp.
He said Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, a group loyal to Palestinian movement Hamas, had clashed with IS overnight.
Six people were killed and 17 injured, he said, but he could not provide details on the toll.
The Britain-based Observatory said ISIS still controlled “some areas” in the camp and put the death toll at three.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it was “extremely concerned” about the safety of civilians in Yarmuk.
“UNRWA estimates that there are some 3,500 children among the 18,000 civilians living in Yarmuk. The intense armed clashes put these children at risk of serious injury and death,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said.
Yarmuk, located only about six kilometers (four miles) from downtown Damascus, was once a thriving home to 160,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrians.
But it has been devastated by fighting and a tight blockade imposed by the army nearly two years ago that created dire humanitarian conditions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a number of armed groups in the Yarmuk camp in south Damascus “were able to regain control over all of the areas that ISIS had taken over.”
The militants had overrun the camp on Wednesday, raising fears for thousands of civilians inside and giving ISIS a potential beachhead inside Syria’s capital.
But armed Palestinian groups, backed by local rebels, launched a fightback later in the day.
“Syrian rebel groups entered the camp and helped the Palestinians push back ISIS in fierce clashes,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory.
Anwar Abdel Hadi, director of political affairs for the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Damascus, said ISIS had been pushed “to the periphery” of the camp.
He said Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, a group loyal to Palestinian movement Hamas, had clashed with IS overnight.
Six people were killed and 17 injured, he said, but he could not provide details on the toll.
The Britain-based Observatory said ISIS still controlled “some areas” in the camp and put the death toll at three.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it was “extremely concerned” about the safety of civilians in Yarmuk.
“UNRWA estimates that there are some 3,500 children among the 18,000 civilians living in Yarmuk. The intense armed clashes put these children at risk of serious injury and death,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said.
Yarmuk, located only about six kilometers (four miles) from downtown Damascus, was once a thriving home to 160,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrians.
But it has been devastated by fighting and a tight blockade imposed by the army nearly two years ago that created dire humanitarian conditions.
Last Update: Thursday, 2 April 2015 KSA 11:09 - GMT 08:09
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Turkey offers support to Saudi-led operation in Yemen
Andrius Sytas, Reuters
Friday, 3 April 2015
Friday, 3 April 2015
Turkey wants a political solution to the crisis in Yemen but has offered support to a Saudi-led coalition that has carried out air strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi fighters, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.
Turkey's support for the Saudi-led operation - in words if not action - puts it at odds with Iran. President Tayyip Erdogan last week accused Tehran of seeking to "dominate" the Middle East and called on it to stop supporting the Houthis.
"Turkey announced that we can give logistics support and intelligence support (to the Saudi-led operation), but we are for political solutions," Cavusoglu told a news conference during a visit to Lithuania.
Turkey, which has the second-largest army in the NATO military alliance, has not taken an active role in the Saudi-led operations.
Turkey's support for the Saudi-led operation - in words if not action - puts it at odds with Iran. President Tayyip Erdogan last week accused Tehran of seeking to "dominate" the Middle East and called on it to stop supporting the Houthis.
"Turkey announced that we can give logistics support and intelligence support (to the Saudi-led operation), but we are for political solutions," Cavusoglu told a news conference during a visit to Lithuania.
Turkey, which has the second-largest army in the NATO military alliance, has not taken an active role in the Saudi-led operations.
Cavusoglu said no demands had been made of Ankara beyond political support.
But he criticized the Shiite Houthi militia, who with their allies seized a central district of the southern city of Aden on Thursday, the last major holdout of fighters loyal to Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
"What the Houthis are doing in Yemen is unacceptable. It's destabilizing the country," Cavusoglu said.
Iran supports the Houthi campaign against Hadi but denies giving them military aid or sending in its own troops. Iran summoned Turkey's envoy to complain about Erdogan's comments, although the Turkish president is still expected to visit Tehran next week.
But he criticized the Shiite Houthi militia, who with their allies seized a central district of the southern city of Aden on Thursday, the last major holdout of fighters loyal to Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
"What the Houthis are doing in Yemen is unacceptable. It's destabilizing the country," Cavusoglu said.
Iran supports the Houthi campaign against Hadi but denies giving them military aid or sending in its own troops. Iran summoned Turkey's envoy to complain about Erdogan's comments, although the Turkish president is still expected to visit Tehran next week.
Last Update: Friday, 3 April 2015 KSA 13:37 - GMT 10:37
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Russia says ready to process Iranian nuclear fuel
By AFP | Moscow
Friday, 3 April 2015
Friday, 3 April 2015
Russian diplomats involved in the historic framework accord limiting Iran’s nuclear program said Friday Moscow’s atomic energy agency, Rosatom, was ready to provide Tehran with new reactor fuel and process spent rods.
“The Russian Federation and Rosatom are ready to supply new fuel and process irradiated fuel in existing reactors, and those Iran will be building,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov according to Russia’s Interfax press agency.
Ryabkov added the offer applied “to reactors constructed in Iran with a Russian project involving Russian participation.”
“The question remains very difficult for other reactors (whose construction) Russia was not involved in, and we are not ready to provide our position on it.”
Last November Moscow concluded accords with Iran to build two new reactors at its Bushehr plant - which was officially delivered to Tehran in 2013 - and signed protocols to construct an additional four reactors on other sites.
Despite questions still hovering over that issue and several others in the framework accord concluded Thursday, Ryabkov hailed the accomplishment of hammering out agreements on most aspects of the deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program to strictly civil purposes.
“We can be proud of ourselves,” he said, urging that between now and the final accord due by July, economic sanctions against Iran should be lifted “immediately.”
The agreement marked a major breakthrough in a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West - which has long feared Tehran wants to build a nuclear bomb - and raised hopes the deal could help stability in the Middle East.
Under the deal Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium will be cut by 98 percent for 15 years, while its unfinished Arak reactor will not produce weapons-grade plutonium.
It will also commit Iran to reducing by roughly two-thirds - to 6,104 from around 19,000 - the number of uranium centrifuges, which can make fuel for nuclear power but also the core of a nuclear bomb.
“The Russian Federation and Rosatom are ready to supply new fuel and process irradiated fuel in existing reactors, and those Iran will be building,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov according to Russia’s Interfax press agency.
Ryabkov added the offer applied “to reactors constructed in Iran with a Russian project involving Russian participation.”
“The question remains very difficult for other reactors (whose construction) Russia was not involved in, and we are not ready to provide our position on it.”
Last November Moscow concluded accords with Iran to build two new reactors at its Bushehr plant - which was officially delivered to Tehran in 2013 - and signed protocols to construct an additional four reactors on other sites.
Despite questions still hovering over that issue and several others in the framework accord concluded Thursday, Ryabkov hailed the accomplishment of hammering out agreements on most aspects of the deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program to strictly civil purposes.
“We can be proud of ourselves,” he said, urging that between now and the final accord due by July, economic sanctions against Iran should be lifted “immediately.”
The agreement marked a major breakthrough in a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West - which has long feared Tehran wants to build a nuclear bomb - and raised hopes the deal could help stability in the Middle East.
Under the deal Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium will be cut by 98 percent for 15 years, while its unfinished Arak reactor will not produce weapons-grade plutonium.
It will also commit Iran to reducing by roughly two-thirds - to 6,104 from around 19,000 - the number of uranium centrifuges, which can make fuel for nuclear power but also the core of a nuclear bomb.
Last Update: Friday, 3 April 2015 KSA 12:51 - GMT 09:51
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Qaeda seizes heart of city in southeast Yemen
By AFP | Aden
Friday, 3 April 2015
Friday, 3 April 2015
Al-Qaeda militants controlled large parts of a provincial capital in southeastern Yemen on Friday, a day after freeing 300 inmates in a jailbreak in the chaos-wracked country, residents said.
Several hundred armed militants flying the black banner of the extremist network were seen patrolling and setting up roadblocks in central and western areas of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province.
"Fighters of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) control districts in Mukalla but not the whole city," a local official told AFP.
Key state facilities in the east of the city, including army camps, the airport and the port, "are still under the control of government forces," he added.
The Sunni extremists launched calls from mosques in the city for "jihad against Shiites", according to residents.
Yemen has sunk further into chaos since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on March 26 against Shiite rebels and their allies who have seized large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.
Senior Al-Qaeda figure Khalid Batarfi was among more than 300 prisoners who escaped from a jail in Mukalla on Thursday that was stormed by militants, according to security officials.
Al-Qaeda gunmen also attacked the local adminstration complex, a branch of the central bank and the police headquarters, the officials said.
Observers have warned that AQAP, which Washington considers the network's deadliest franchise, could exploit the unrest to expand its foothold in Yemen.
Before the latest chaos erupted, Yemen had been a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda, allowing Washington to carry out drone attacks on its territory.
Several hundred armed militants flying the black banner of the extremist network were seen patrolling and setting up roadblocks in central and western areas of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province.
"Fighters of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) control districts in Mukalla but not the whole city," a local official told AFP.
Key state facilities in the east of the city, including army camps, the airport and the port, "are still under the control of government forces," he added.
The Sunni extremists launched calls from mosques in the city for "jihad against Shiites", according to residents.
Yemen has sunk further into chaos since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on March 26 against Shiite rebels and their allies who have seized large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.
Senior Al-Qaeda figure Khalid Batarfi was among more than 300 prisoners who escaped from a jail in Mukalla on Thursday that was stormed by militants, according to security officials.
Al-Qaeda gunmen also attacked the local adminstration complex, a branch of the central bank and the police headquarters, the officials said.
Observers have warned that AQAP, which Washington considers the network's deadliest franchise, could exploit the unrest to expand its foothold in Yemen.
Before the latest chaos erupted, Yemen had been a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda, allowing Washington to carry out drone attacks on its territory.
Last Update: Friday, 3 April 2015 KSA 14:18 - GMT 11:18
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France: No deal yet on when to lift Iran’s sanctions
AFP and Reuters
Friday, 3 April 2015
Friday, 3 April 2015
France’s foreign minister warned Friday that the tricky issue of when crippling sanctions on Iran would be lifted following a framework deal over its nuclear program was “not yet solved.”
“The Iranian want sanctions to be lifted immediately,” Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio station.
“We say to them: we will ease the sanctions as you respect what you have agreed to and if you don’t live up to your commitments, of course we can return to the situation we had before.
“On this point, there is not yet a deal,” said Fabius.
Fabius spoke after Thursday’s agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear drive, hailed as “historic.”
Under the framework, Iran agreed to sharply curtail its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy.
France, which presents itself as one of the more hawkish of the world powers negotiating the deal, has warned that sanctions will be re-imposed if Tehran fails to live up to its side of the bargain.
“We are going in the right direction ... but we are not yet at the end of the road,” stressed Fabius.
The main outlines agreed after eight days of talks that sometimes went through the night in the Swiss city of Lausanne now have to be finalized in a highly complex agreement by June 30.
“The Iranian want sanctions to be lifted immediately,” Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio station.
“We say to them: we will ease the sanctions as you respect what you have agreed to and if you don’t live up to your commitments, of course we can return to the situation we had before.
“On this point, there is not yet a deal,” said Fabius.
Fabius spoke after Thursday’s agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear drive, hailed as “historic.”
Under the framework, Iran agreed to sharply curtail its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy.
France, which presents itself as one of the more hawkish of the world powers negotiating the deal, has warned that sanctions will be re-imposed if Tehran fails to live up to its side of the bargain.
“We are going in the right direction ... but we are not yet at the end of the road,” stressed Fabius.
The main outlines agreed after eight days of talks that sometimes went through the night in the Swiss city of Lausanne now have to be finalized in a highly complex agreement by June 30.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday welcomed the deal, but said he hoped Tehran would go further by the deadline for a final deal at the end of June.
“When we look at the positions (of the) P5+1 right now, Iran is still below the line we were able to bring in (previous negotiations) in 2010, but we hope Iran will come to that line,” Cavusoglu said during a trip to Lithuania.
On Friday, Israel re-iterated its warning that a deal with Iran was “very dangerous,” accusing Tehran of seeking an atomic weapon.
“This framework (agreement) is a step in a very, very dangerous direction,” government spokesman Mark Regev told journalists, adding that Iran’s “single goal” behind the accord was to build a nuclear bomb.
“When we look at the positions (of the) P5+1 right now, Iran is still below the line we were able to bring in (previous negotiations) in 2010, but we hope Iran will come to that line,” Cavusoglu said during a trip to Lithuania.
On Friday, Israel re-iterated its warning that a deal with Iran was “very dangerous,” accusing Tehran of seeking an atomic weapon.
“This framework (agreement) is a step in a very, very dangerous direction,” government spokesman Mark Regev told journalists, adding that Iran’s “single goal” behind the accord was to build a nuclear bomb.
Last Update: Friday, 3 April 2015 KSA 11:42 - GMT 08:42
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