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Monday, April 12, 2010

Iran to complete peace pipeline

Tehran is to start in early May the design and construction of the remaining part of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline on Iranian soil, a gas official says.

The Head of the National Iranian Gas Export Company told Shana newswire on Sunday that a consultant would be chosen in the near future for the remaining part of the pipeline, also known as the 'Peace Pipeline'.

"We hope that the design of the pipeline will be completed before the current Iranian year ends on 21 March 2011, and the construction of the pipeline will begin during the same Iranian year," he said.

He stressed that Iran's gas will be delivered to Pakistan by March 2014, noting that only 250 km of the pipeline on Iranian side remains unconstructed.

Kasaeizadeh said that Russian and Chinese firms have shown interest in constructing the Pakistani part of the pipeline, noting that Islamabad has other options regarding its construction.

A gas sales contract between Iran and Pakistan was signed last June by the presidents of the two countries.

Around 1,100 kilometers of the pipeline would be built in Iran, while the remaining 1,000 kilometers would be installed in Pakistan.

Kasaeizadeh said in January that according to normal procedures, Iran is supposed to deliver the gas to the Iran-Pakistan border, and then Pakistan would be responsible for conveying the export to any potential customer.

Earlier, in September 2009, Kasaeizadeh mentioned that India also needs Iran's gas and that Tehran has no problem in signing gas deals with New Delhi.

India wants the delivery point of its gas imports from Iran to be on the Pakistan-India border.

The pipeline was originally proposed in 1995, but last year, after almost 13 years of negotiations India decided to step back.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123086§ionid=351020103.

Iran boxers bag 3 medals in Turkey

Iranian boxing squad has earned one silver and two bronze medals at the Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament which was held in Ankara.

Iran's heavyweight boxer Mehdi Qorbani won the silver medal after he was defeated by his Russian opponent in the +91kg category final on Sunday.

Qorbani had reached the final game of the event by beating his Macedonian rival 4-1 at the Ataturk Sports Hall on Saturday night.

Two other Iranian boxers, Mehdi Mazaheri (-91kg) and Omran Karami (-54kg) got home bronze medals on the same day.

A total of 400 athletes from 34 countries participated in the six-day April 6-12 international Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123078§ionid=3510211.

Golden day for Iran's Taekwondo

Iranian taekwondo squad Qavamin has won three gold and four bronze medals to take outright first place in the international taekwondo competitions held in Brussels.

Iran's taekwondo practitioner Reza Naderian from Qavamin team managed to defeat his competitors from the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Poland and Belgium to win the golden honor.

UK's national squad earned two gold and four bronze medals to stand in the second place.

Denmark landed third by achieving a gold and a silver medal.

The 31st Belgian Open Taekwondo Championship was held in Brussels from 10 April to 11 April, 2010.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123079§ionid=3510211.

Iran to replace Persian Gulf radar

Iranian scientists are planning to develop domestic radars to replace a series of aging Russian-made systems currently deployed in the Persian Gulf.

"The systems will be designed and installed chiefly for defense purposes," said Vice President for Science and Technology, Nasrin Soltankhah, in an interview with Fars News Agency on Saturday.

She added that the new radar systems will also feature capabilities to provide meteorological data for weather forecasting and analysis.

This comes only a day after Iran announced that the country's first indigenous air defense system, dubbed Mersad (Ambush), is ready to become operational.

Equipped with sophisticated radar signal processing technology, Mersad features cutting-edge technology to "destroy modern aircraft at low and medium ranges" and contains exclusive electronic equipment for guidance and target acquisition.

According to Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Mersad features capabilities that are superior to those in the US-made Hawk missile, which Tehran purchased in the 1970s.

The country has already begun mass-producing the new medium-range missile and plans to deliver a sizable number to the armed forces by the end of the year.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123083§ionid=3510208.

Theunjustmedia Interview with a commander of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Kandahar Tahir Afghan

Sunday April 11, 2010

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Theunjustmedia.com: We are now hearing from the invaders forces that they are going to be launching an operation in Kandahar, just as they had launched one in Marjah, how do you see this move of the invaders forces.

commander Tahir Afghan: In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.

Alhumduillaah (All praises belong to Allaah), the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Mujahideen have a strong base in Kandahar province, groups of Mujahideen have been disperse in all the districts of Kandahar, specially a strong contingent of Mujahideen have been assigned to the city of Kandahar. The puppet administration plays no role in Kandahar, except sitting in their fortified administrative buildings, while the Mujahideen are freely move in Kandahar.

When we first head from American and NATO forces commander General Stanley McChrystal that they will soon be launching an operation in Kandahar, in response to this news the Mujahideen launched a major operation in Kandahar city, in which the puppets and invaders administration buildings where attacked, this attack was launched to send a clear warning to the invaders that the Mujahideen are ready to face any type of operation launched by the invaders and their puppets; because the help of Allaah (SWT) is with them.

If you remember in 2009, the Mujahideen took control of many areas in Kandahar, which were under the control of the invaders and their puppets, the enemy launched many operations to retake those areas but they failed, with the passing of time Mujahideen hold on Kandahar expanded and fortified.

On the other hand, the world as witnessed the heavy physicals and materials losses which the Mujahideen have inflicted on the invaders in Kandahar, which has forced some of the invading countries to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan, an example of this is Canada, which has indicated that it will be withdrawing its forces in 2011, this is a major accomplishment of the Mujahideen who’s ferociousness have forced the invaders to withdrawn, it is not out of their own whims.

The indication by General McChrystal that they will soon launch a same type of operation as they have lunched one in Marjah is just a propaganda of the invaders to divert peoples attention from their failures in Marjah, because they have not accomplished anything in Marjah, the flag waving drama which was stage by the invaders to dupe people that they have taking controlling of Marjah, however the reality is that the Mujahideen are in control of Marjah, and to prove this to the world the Mujahideen had invited journalists to come and see for themselves to who really is in control of Marjah, but to hide this truth from the world the invaders have blocked journalists from entering Marjah, only those journalists are allowed by the invaders who are on their payroll.

Theunjustmedia: We repeatedly hear from the invaders that the Mujahideen are involved in the opium trade.

Commander Tahir Afghan: Not to long ago the Americans permitted the local farms to grow poppy in their fields, to which Russia protested, because a lot of the Afghanistan opium, which is growing under the watchful eyes’ of the invaders is making its way to Russia. In this regards a complain was launched by the Russians to the NATO about the acceleration in the growth of Afghan opium since the invasion of Afghanistan, the invaders response to the Russian complain was that, if they stop the farmers from growing poppy as this was their only means to provide for their families would create a backlash against the invading forces.

This is an absurd logic giving by America and NATO, to this I ask, does not the cowardly bombardment of the invaders in which thousands of innocent lives have vanished, hundreds and hundreds of villages have disappeared, the daily raids on peoples homes in which invading soldiers have disrespected our mother's, wife's and daughter's, bombing Afghans homes with depleted uranium from which our future generation and land have be contaminated, doesn't all this create backlash for the invaders?.

The reality is that, that the invaders are producing and exporting opium, we have obtain information from our Mujahideen who have infiltrated enemy ranks and translators who are working with the invaders, that when the American invading soldiers are leaving from Afghanistan, they are taking opium in their suit cases, and the world also knows about Ahmed Wali Karzai who is the brother of the puppet president Karzai, that he is a key member of the world drug mafia, which is run by the CIA, these are the realities of the opium trade in Afghanistan, the Mujahideen are not involved in the drug trade, that is invaders propaganda.

To refresh peoples memory, during the Taliban administration the opium trade was completely prohibit, and now under the puppet Karzai and his American bosses Afghanistan is producing 90% of the world opium, so thus, it is crystal clear who are the real beneficiaries of the Afghanistan opium trade.

Theunjustmedia: So, if the Mujahideen are not involved in the drug trade, where are they getting the money to fight the invaders.

Commander Tahir Afghan: As you know the Mujahideen who are fighting the invader are Afghans, for example the Mujahideen who are fighting the invaders in Helmand are from Helmand and the Mujahideen who are fighting the invaders in Zabul are from Zabul, which means that these Mujahideen come out of their homes and launch operations against the invaders and then return home, the Mujahideen have adapted a guerrilla war tactics which means hit and run, thus the Mujahideen do not need a lot of money to continue their Jihad against the invaders and their puppets.

Theunjustmedia: Where are you getting your weapons’, we keep hearing that the Iran and China are providing you weapons.

Commander Tahir Afghan: Lets go back in history when the USSR invaded Afghanistan, at that time USSR brought so much weapons into Afghanistan, during that time the Mujahideen during fighting booty large stocks of weapons, plus when the USSR where kick out of Afghanistan by the Mujahideen they left behind very large stocks of their weapons, which included rockets, rocket launchers, Kalashnikovs, Sakeel guns, anti-air craft guns, bullets, landmines and tanks, also in the last nine years of the current invasion, the Mujahideen have booty many invaders and their puppets weapons, like tanks, rockets, military vehicles, small and large guns.

In today’s fighting in Afghanistan, the main weapon of the Mujahideen is the Improvise explosive device (IED), which has inflicting the most losses to the ranks of the invaders, and these IED's are being manufactured in Afghanistan by the Mujahideen themselves.

Recently, the Mujahideen have made a new IED called Omar which is remotely detonated, this IED has few specialties, on one hand its manufacturing cost is very minimal, while on the other hand it is very destructive, the manufacturing cost of this landmine is only US $100, but it can destroy the invaders million dollar worth military vehicle and one more specialty of this IED is that, the invaders IED detecting vehicles and equipment can not detect this IED, so the allegation against the Mujahideen that they are getting help from Iran or China is a mere propaganda, with a hidden agenda.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan invites journalists to come and see for themselves the weapons which the Emirate Mujahideen are using to fight the invaders and their puppets, this way the fraud of the fraudster can be exposed and the truth can manifest it self.

Theunjustmedia: Thanks for speaking with us.

Commander Tahir Afghan: No problem, May Allaah (SWT) help you in your propagation of the truth.

Source: Theunjustmedia.
Link: http://theunjustmedia.com/Afghanistan/Statements/April10/Theunjustmedia%20Interview%20with%20Tahir%20Afghan,%20a%20commander%20of%20the%20Islamic%20Emirate%20of%20Afghanistan%20in%20Kandahar.htm.

Palestinians face more ethnic cleansing

The Israeli military has issued a new ruling that would allow the mass deportation of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

According to the Israeli media, the new order considers anyone caught in the West Bank who does not hold an Israeli permit to enter and reside in the area as an "infiltrator."

The order, which is due to come into effect on Tuesday, would automatically turn tens of thousands of Palestinians into criminal offenders liable to be severely punished.

They could face seven years in prison and would also have to pay the cost of their expulsion from the West Bank — most probably to the Gaza Strip.

The first Palestinians likely to be targeted under the new ruling would be those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip. Also likely to be targeted are foreign-born spouses of Palestinians.

Israeli media outlets have reported that the generality and ambiguity of the ruling's language may give it a status to be also applied to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem al-Quds.

In addition, the new order puts those found guilty under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts.

Meanwhile, 10 Israeli human rights groups have called on Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to rescind the new ruling.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123067§ionid=351020202.

6.2 magnitude earthquake hits Spain

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake has struck the southern ancient city of Granada in Spain, the US Geological Survey says.

The quake hit about eight minutes after midnight on Monday (22:08 GMT Sunday) some 24 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Granada and about 370 kilometers (230 miles) south of the Spanish capital, Madrid.

It had a recorded depth of 616 kilometers (nearly 400 miles) which means little damage is likely.

No loss of life or property has so far been reported.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123068§ionid=351020606.

Yemen not after US 'hit list man'

Yemen has said it will not hunt down a US-born religious leader who has reportedly been added to the CIA's list of targets to be killed or captured.

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, said on Saturday that his country did not receive any evidence from the US to support allegations that Anwar al-Awlaki is recruiting for al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen.

"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism," al-Qirbi said.

His announcement came after a powerful Yemeni tribe threatened to use violence against anyone trying to harm al-Awlaki.

Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, is beset by serious political and administrative problems.

Tribal threat

In an official statement published on Saturday after a meeting of tribal leaders, the Al-Awalik tribe, which is active in the Abyan and Shabwa regions that are important al-Qaeda strongholds, said it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaqi is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him".

Source: Al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/04/201041115554428358.html.

Algeria, UK to begin economic co-operation meeting in London

2010-04-11

Algeria and the United Kingdom will open their second economic co-operation sub-committee meeting in London on Monday (April 12th), La Tribune reported. Algerian Minister of Industry and Investments Promotion Minister Hamid Temmar and British Trade Minister Lord Davies of Abersoch will co-chair the session. The bilateral sub-committee on economic, commercial, and financial issues was established in 2007.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/11/newsbrief-04.

UN chief seeks year extension to Western Sahara mandate

2010-04-11

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon last week urged the Security Council to extend the UN Mission in the Sahara (MINURSO) mandate by one year to April 30th, 2011, MAP reported on Friday (April 9th). "Given the existing circumstances on the ground…I believe that the presence of MINURSO remains indispensable for the maintenance of the ceasefire," MAP quoted Ban as saying. The UN chief also called upon parties to the Western Sahara conflict "to show the political will required to enter into substantive discussions and ensure the success of the negotiations".

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/11/newsbrief-02.

Tunisian's main opposition party plans local election boycott

2010-04-11

Tunisia's Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday (April 9th) announced a boycott of the May 9th municipal elections, AP reported. In a statement, the country's main opposition party said that the "current electoral system establishes the domination of the ruling party on representative bodies". PDP Secretary-General Maya Jribi is the first woman to head a political party in Tunisia.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/11/newsbrief-03.

Gaza blackout crisis over, power plant back to work

Gaza - The two-day blackout crisis in the Gaza Strip, ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, was resolved and the main Gaza power station was back to work on Sunday night, officials in Gaza said.

Yasser al-Wadeya, head of the block of independents in Gaza, told reporters that the crisis was resolved after Gaza Electricity Company transferred 3 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority treasury in the West Bank.

On Friday, the Hamas-ruled Energy Authority in the salient turned off all the turbines of the Gaza power station due to a lack of industrial diesel that operates the power station.

"The blackout crisis had badly affected all sectors of agriculture, industry and health in the Gaza Strip that basically suffers from more than three years of a tight Israeli blockade," said al-Wadeya.

The independent Gaza-based leader held urgent talks with Palestinian factions' representatives including rival Hamas and Fatah movements, where he urged them to find a solution to the crisis.

Since Hamas movement seized control of the enclave by force in June 2007, the Gaza Strip has been suffering from frequent blackouts, where electricity goes off at least six hours per day.

Since Friday, large areas of the Gaza Strip were in complete blackout for 12 hours a day after the Gaza power station was turned off. Hamas government in Gaza and the government in Ramallah traded accusations over the crisis.

Spokesman of the Palestinian government in Ramallah Ghassan al-Khatib told reporters that the government of Hamas in Gaza collects the electricity bills and doesn't pass it on to the Palestinian Authority.

The EU has been funding the industrial diesel that operates the power station, which provides the Gaza Strip with about 33 per cent of electricity. Israel provides the enclave with around 55 per cent and the rest comes from Egypt.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318141,gaza-blackout-crisis-over-power-plant-back-to-work.html.

Reformist Iran daily reappears after three-year ban

Tehran - Leading reformist daily Sharq (East) reappeared on the streets of Iran on Sunday after a three-year ban for publishing an interview with a gay rights activist.

The judiciary shut down the newspaper in 2007 over an interview with expatriate writer and poet Saghi Ghahreman, who lives in Canada and is also a champion of the rights of homosexuals.

Homosexuality is forbidden in Islamic Iran, and writing about the topic often leads to legal problems, as in the case of Sharq.

Reformist dailies and magazines are usually closed by a governmental press watchdog under the pretext of having insulted religious and political figures.

Other charges include fomenting public discord and working outside the strict press law.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318076,reformist-iran-daily-reappears-after-three-year-ban.html.

Arrests after coal carrier gets too close to the Barrier Reef

Sydney - Three foreign nationals were charged Sunday after a coal carrier took an unauthorized route through the Great Barrier Reef on Australia's east coast.

The arrest of a South Korean and two Vietnamese over the route taken by the Panama-registered MV Mimosa comes as salvage crews work to free another coal carrier stuck on the reef for over a week.

Salvors could start work to drag the China-registered Shen Neng 1 off the reef on Monday, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Pumps are being used to transfer the 950 tons of fuel oil from the Shen Neng 1 to a barge alongside. When that work is complete the task of refloating the ship can begin.

The MV Mimosa is alleged to have intruded into a protected area April 4, a day after the Chinese ship got stuck on the reef.

The three were charged with entering a prohibited zone without permission. Under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act they could each be fined up to 220,000 Australian dollars (198,000 US dollars).

The men will appear in Townsville Magistrates Court on Monday. Police will also allege that the MV Mimosa was not registered with the Reef Vessel Tracking System and failed to provide a pre-entry report.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318079,arrests-after-coal-carrier-gets-too-close-to-the-barrier-reef.html.

German museum confirms loan of disputed statue to Egypt

Hildesheim, Germany (Earth Times) - A German museum confirmed Sunday plans to lend its greatest treasure, the seated statue of Hemiunu, to Egypt for the 2013 opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza near Cairo.

Doubts over the loan cropped up after Zahi Hawass, the flamboyant chief of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities who visited Germany last month, called for the statue and other Pharaonic treasures to return to Egyptian permanently.

Hemiunu is believed to have been the architect of the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza. The life-size statue, depicting him in nothing but a loin cloth, is the top draw at the Roman and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, Germany.

Hawass has regularly insisted he also wants Germany to return the Berlin bust of Queen Nefertiti. The Germans have shrugged off the appeals, saying they know of no official claim by the Egyptian government that the treasures are Egyptian property.

Kristina Zappen of the Hildesheim Museum said there had never been any official request from Cairo to give the statue back. She confirmed an agreement had been reached on the 2013 loan and she added that it provided for the statue to then return to Germany.

Hildesheim was not even considering giving the statue back, she added. The whole museum collection was of honest provenance.

"Every item in our collection arrived in Germany legally," she said. If the Egyptian government were to officially question the statue's ownership, the museum would have to reconsider the loan.

"The whole thing would have to be thought out again," she said.

Hans-Joachim Gehrke, president of the German Institute of Archaeology, has similarly insisted in the past that Cairo has never officially claimed the bust of Nefertiti, an exquisite plaster and limestone head of a woman.

Hemiunu was a vizier under the 4th Dynasty, about 2,500 years before the Christian Era.

Ousted Kyrgyz leader seeks UN action

The deposed Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has called on the United Nations to dispatch peacekeepers to the Central Asian republic.

The former leader said on Sunday that the country's interior and defense ministries had been paralyzed and were unable to deal with any new protests in the country, RIA Novosti reported.

His remarks came shortly after the interim government declared its intention to arrest and prosecute the ousted president for the deaths of those killed during the recent unrest.

However, Bakiyev said, "If an international independent commission, which will carry out a full investigation, says in its conclusion that the president is to blame, I am prepared to bear full responsibility before my people."

The toppled leader also said that he felt responsible for the deadly anti-government protests in which 81 people were killed and more than 1,500 others injured.

"Of course, I feel responsibility for what happened. I am the president and such things happen. I can't say there is no fault of mine. My fault is that I let it happen," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Bakiyev — who fled to the country's south following last week's unrest — has so far refused to resign, arguing that he retains strong support among the people of Kyrgyzstan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123066§ionid=351020406.

Iran builds one-megawatt generator

Iranian experts have succeeded in developing the capacity to produce one-megawatt generators, the head of an Iranian industrial company says.

“The Iranian-made generator has been completely constructed by Iranian engineers and will be unveiled in the near future,” head of Jovain Electrical Machines Industrial Company (JEMCO) Mir Ali-Akbar Asle Khademi told Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

Asle Khademi stressed that the design and production technology of the molders as well as the production of all parts of the “national generator” were completely domestic.

He added that each one-megawatt generator would save the country $60,000. Asle Khademi said that Iranian engineers are working on designing and constructing a two-megawatt generator.

JEMCO is one of subsidiaries of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO).

IDRO has focused its activities on the promotion of local and foreign investments with particular emphasis on new, hi-tech and export-oriented industries as well as the restructuring of existing industries in order to transfer new technologies and to enhance Iran's non-oil exports.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123039§ionid=351020103.

Hungary's center-right wins first round

Hungary's center-right opposition party Fidesz has garnered 52.8% of the vote in the first round of the country's parliamentary elections.

The country's national election office OVI said that after processing 99% of the votes, all other parties have gained considerably less support.

The ruling minority Socialist Party gained 19.3% of the vote.

The final results from the first round have not been announced yet. The second round of the elections is scheduled for April 25.

Fidesz has secured 206 of 386 parliamentary seats and if it manages to increase the number to 258 seats in the second round, it will have a mandate to modify basic laws such as the constitution and change electoral law.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123065§ionid=351020606.

Israel must denuclearize, Erdogan says

The Turkish premier says the international community should take action to disarm Israel as part of the efforts to make the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday before leaving for the nuclear security summit in Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's nuclear program.

Pointing out that Israel is believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Erdogan said, "Until now, we haven't seen any request or intent from the international community with regards to Israel's (armament). We are going to ask the international community: why haven't you addressed this issue?"

The Turkish premier announced that he would raise the issue at the Washington summit and call on all 47 countries attending the forum to pressure Tel Aviv to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.

Erdogan said Iran's nuclear program has come under scrutiny as a result of its membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency whereas Israel, which has not signed the NPT, is "free to do what it wants."

Israel reportedly possesses 250 to 300 nuclear warheads.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to cancel plans to attend the Washington summit after learning that Cairo and Ankara would demand that Tel Aviv sign the NPT at the meeting.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123061§ionid=351020204.

Greece gets 30bn euro safety net

Eurozone nations have unveiled a 30-billion-euro aid package for heavily indebted Greece to restore confidence in the single currency.

Finance ministers from the 16 countries that share the euro currency agreed to offer Greece a three-year financing program at interest rates of around five percent.

After the ministers reached an agreement on the deal on Sunday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said that "nobody can play with" the euro.

"With today's decision, Europe sends a clear message: that nobody can play with our common currency, nobody can play with our common fate," he said from Cyprus.

"Today, with the Eurogroup decision, the safety net has taken shape. European solidarity has been fleshed out," AFP quoted Papandreou as saying.

"The total amount put up by the eurozone member states for the first year will reach 30 billion euros (40 billion dollars)," eurozone finance chief and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters at a press conference after a conference call between the ministers.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123057§ionid=351020605.

'Saudis support unity govt. in Iraq'

The Iraqi president says Saudi Arabia supports a unity government in Baghdad and the Kingdom does not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is on an official visit to Riyadh, said on Sunday that Saudi King Abdullah had informed him that he would like to see all Iraqi politicians included in the new government.

"The aspiration of all Arabs is that all Iraqis will participate in the running of their country," said the king, according to a statement issued by Talabani's office.

"The king said that Saudi Arabia stands at the same distance from all Iraqi parties and that the kingdom supports Iraq without interfering in its internal affairs," the statement added.

The remarks sought to dismiss widespread speculation that the Kingdom supported former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in last month's election in Iraq.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal reiterated King Abdullah's stance, saying "We support all Iraqis, and Iraq's unity, independence, and sovereignty over its territory, and we maintain the same distance from all politicians."

President Talabani is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia for talks with the Saudi king to discuss new developments in the efforts to establish a new government in Iraq.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123056§ionid=351020201.

Iran to attend NPT conference in NY

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency says the Islamic Republic will participate in a conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In May, the parties to the NPT will gather in New York for a pentennial review on the treaty.

"They know that the Islamic Republic of Iran will play a key and active role in the summit," ISNA quoted Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying on Sunday.

The West has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weaponry, and the US administration is pressuring its allies to impose a new round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic through a new UN Security Council resolution.

Soltanieh advised Washington to abandon its anti-Iran agenda during the NPT review conference.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123050§ionid=351020104.