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Israel Says “No” to IAEA Conference on Nuclear Arms-Free Middle East
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Breaking ranks with the Obama administration, the Netanyahu government told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Wednesday that it will not go along with a proposed conference to discuss turning the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free zone. The international parley was tentatively scheduled for early 2013 and to the surprise and chagrin of Israel, had the backing of the US government. While Israel is universally believed to have nuclear weapons, its policy of nuclear ambiguity is the backbone of its defense strategy and has been protected by all American administrations since it first obtained nuclear power. When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton first endorsed the Arab initiative -- albeit in theory and with the caveat that the time was not ripe -- Israel’s defense echelon was shocked and angered. President Obama himself promised to endorse the concept as early as 2010. In Vienna this week, Israel’s representative to the IAEA conference told the assemblage that the “volatile and hostile” situation in the region at the present time makes the idea even less appropriate. Brig. Gen. (Res.) Shaul Horev, director of the Israeli Nuclear Energy Committee, said, “Nuclear demilitarization in the Middle East, according to the Israeli position, will be possible only after the establishment of peace and trust among the states of the area, as a result of a local initiative, not of external coercion.”
Iran Arming Syria via Iraqi Airspace
Western intelligence officials have proof that Syria has been receiving large quantities of arms from Iran, flown in on private aircraft transiting Iraqi airspace according to a report the Reuters news agency claims to have seen. Military advisers are also being sent to Syria to support the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. The intel report disputes Iraqi denials regarding Iranian use of its airspace. According to Reuters, the report – obtained from a United Nations source – states that the flights are almost daily and carry Revolutionary Guard personnel and “tens of tons” of weapons. The Iranian trans-Iraqi flights have long been suspected and talked about, but the report provides a factual basis that governments, including the US, will have to deal with head-on. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, has threatened to call for a cut-off of aid to Iraq if it is shown to be facilitating the transfer of arms to Assad. On Thursday, Iraq’s deputy interior minister for intelligence denied the report, saying, “There is nothing like this happening.” Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign minister met in Damascus with Syrian President Assad on Thursday and seemingly issued a rejection of Egyptian President Morsy’s overture to Iran to drop its support of Assad in return for building its relations with other Arab nations. Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi said the solution to the 19-months of carnage lies “only in Syria and within the Syrian family.”
Fatah – Hamas Rift Widens with New Palestinian Authority Arrests of Hamas Members
The already strained relations between the Fatah and Hamas Palestinian factions widened another notch with new arrests of Hamas members by the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday. Sources in the West Bank indicated more than 70 were detained by the Abbas-led government which claimed the reason for the sweep was crime, not politics. Nevertheless, the timing of the round-up was suspect to some who juxtaposed it against rising anger in the PA over increasingly warm relations between Gaza-based Hamas leaders and Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Morsy. A delegation of Hamas Gazans was in Cairo on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Hisham Kandil. The parallel diplomacy is seen as perpetuating the Palestinian bifurcation – Fatah-run West Bank and Hamas-led Gaza – which is arguably the greatest obstacle to statehood. A reconciliation agreement reached in 2011 has floundered since, with virtually no apparent movement on the settling of differences between the two factions. Ironically, Hamas’ rejection of the Abbas UN gambit – the Palestinian Authority seeking non-member status – places the Gaza-based faction in-line with the American and Israeli positions.
Egyptian Coptic Christian Sentenced to Jail for Posting Satirical Cartoons of Prophet Mohammed
An Egyptian Coptic Christian was sentenced to six years in jail for posting satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and for allegedly insulting Egyptian President Morsy on Facebook. Bishoy Kamel, a school teacher, was attacked by Salafists as he was led from the courtroom following the sentencing. The case was reported by the website of the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper. The defendant, who will appeal to another court, claims he is the victim of hacking and did not post any of the cartoons. Meanwhile, France has ordered the closing of twenty embassies located throughout the Middle East in anticipation of anti-French violence following the release on Wednesday of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, containing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed naked. Violent demonstrations are expected to follow prayers on Friday.
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