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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Shamakhi Turkish cemetery in Azerbaijan being renovated

06 June 2011, Monday

Turkey's ambassador and the Turkish military attaché in Baku have initiated work for the renovation of a Turkish cemetery in Shamakhi region of Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijani governorates have also been lending support to the renovation works.

Turkey's ambassador to the neighboring country Hulusi Kılıç and Baku Military Attaché Brig. Gen. Özhan Ayaş were informed by Security Counselor İsmail Çalışkan, the Anatolia news agency reported late on Sunday. Later, Ambassador Kılıç and the accompanying delegation planted trees at the Shamakhi Turkish Cemetery where a Turkish officer who fought under the Islamic Army of the Caucasus in the early 20th century is also buried.

Security Counselor Çalışkan told Anatolia that Gobustan Governorate, the Shamakhi Governorate, CSOs and charitable businessmen have been lending financial support to renovations. Last year, 3,000 trees were planted at the Shamakhi Turkish Cemetery through a campaign led by Ambassador Kılıç, Anatolia noted.

Source: Today's Zaman.
Link: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-246399-shamakhi-turkish-cemetery-in-azerbaijan-being-renovated.html.

Turkey says almost 7,000 Syrians settled in four tent-sites

13 June 2011 Monday

The number of Syrian citizens staying at four tent-sites in southern Turkey reached 6,817, executives of the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Situation Management said on Monday.

Executives said almost 1,000 Syrian citizens crossed into Turkey since Sunday, and they settled in four tent-sites set up in Yayladagi and Altinozu towns of the southern province of Hatay.

Thus, the number of Syrians staying in the tent-sites reached 6,817.

Hundreds of people have been killed during pro-democracy protests in Syria since January 2011.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=75032.

Turkish FM to visit Syrian refugees in Hatay

15 June 2011 Wednesday

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will travel to southern province of Hatay on Wednesday to observe the living conditions of Syrians who fled to Turkey escaping violence in Syria.

Sources told the AA that Davutoglu would depart for Hatay in the next hour.

Davutoglu will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's special representative Hasan Turkmani in Ankara on Wednesday evening.

Davutoglu's meeting with the Turkish ambassadors commissioned in the Middle East to discuss the latest developments in the region and in Syria is expected to be postponed to Thursday.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=75113.

Crowds Attack AFP Offices in Amman

2011-06-15

AMMONNEWS - A group of unidentified individuals on Wednesday evening attacked the offices of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Amman less than a day after hundreds of Jordanians demonstrated outside the news agency's office calling for its closure.

The crowd surrounded the AFP Bureau office, located near the Second Circle in Amman, threw rocks and vandalized contents of the office vicinity while AFP journalist Kamal Taha was inside.

"I was watching TV at the [AFP] office shortly after 7 PM, and suddenly rocks started hailing on the windows and office entrance," Taha told Ammon News, adding that he rushed to lock the indoors of the office, but "a number of attackers were able to get into the outside hall of the office and vandalized its contents, he added.

The attack comes less than a day after around 300 Jordanians demonstrated on Tuesday outside AFP's office, calling for its closure after the agency reported earlier that King Abdullah's motorcade was attacked with rocks and empty bottles during the king's visit to the southern governorate of Tafileh.

AFP's Bureau Chief, veteran journalist Randa Habib, received several threats since the Tafileh report was published.

AFP's team and offices were not provided with adequate security despite the threats they received, while some security officers were present near the office vicinity on Tuesday night during the crowd's protest.

AFP had reported on Tuesday that a security official told the agency on Monday that "(the rear) part of King Abdullah's motorcade was attacked with stones and empty bottles by a group of men in their 20s and 30s after the king's car entered Tafileh."

Other local and international media carried similar stories about Monday's incident.

The statement reported by AFP was denied by the palace, government and MPs from the city. AFP published the official's statements denying the reports.

Crowds on Tuesday night, which included several members of parliament headed by MP Yahya Saud, called for closing the news agency's office in Amman, and demanded that the State Security Court, a special military tribunal, try AFP's Bureau Chief and "expel her from Jordan.

Saud accused AFP Bureau Chief in Amman of "falsified claims" in her report on Monday's violence in Tafileh, which left over 25 citizens injured, with one person in critical condition after gendarme forces used excessive force to disperse the crowds.

Source: Ammon News.
Link: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=12409.

'Iranian military can detect stealth aircraft'

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN - Iran has developed a technology that can detect radar-evading aircraft, Brigadier General Farzad Ismaili said in Tehran on Monday.

“The Khatam-ol-Anbiya Air Base has the capability of detecting, identifying, pursuing, and targeting any kind of stealth planes and any kind of cruise missiles of the enemy,” explained Ismaili, who is the commander of the air base.

“It has been 32 years that we have been hearing the threats of the United States and its allies, but we have not lost sight of these threats, and the more we are threatened, the more vigilant we become, and the more sanctions are imposed on us, the more progress (we) make,” he noted.

Iran has manufactured highly advanced missile and radar systems and the country has no problems in this regard, he added.

He went on to say that the U.S. always threatens nations that do not act in its interests, but Iran has no enmity toward any country.

However, the Islamic Republic will respond to any country that seeks to take aggressive action against it, he added.

In January, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced that the Iranian military forces had downed two foreign spy planes over the Persian Gulf.

He also stated, “We have constant clashes with the enemy’s surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=242424.

Syrian refugees say Iranian forces involved in crackdown

06/11/11
Source: Radio Zamaneh

AFP reports that Iranian troops are in Syria supporting the regime of Beshar Assad, according to injured Syrian refugees in Turkey. The refugees say they were victims of "Iranian military forces," but Iran has dismissed the allegations as "baseless."

Mostafa, an injured Syrian refugee, said: "There were both plainclothes and uniformed Iranian soldiers. I saw them with my own eyes. We asked them not to attack us, but they didn't speak Arabic."

The 23-year-old man added that his attackers wore black shirts, which is uncommon in Syria, and wore beards. He added that the Syrian military is forbidden to wear beards.

A 17-year-old Syrian student named Akram reported: "Most of these people are snipers. They do not speak Arabic and, most significantly, they carry weapons that are unfamiliar to us."

In May, the Washington Post cited U.S. officials saying Iran is supporting Beshar Assad's regime during the recent uprisings. They claimed Iran is sending advisers and training personnel to suppress Syrian protests.

On Tuesday, British Foreign Minister William Hague accused the Islamic Republic of cooperating with the Syrian government to extinguish the protests, saying: "Iran is combining brutal suppression of opposition leaders at home with the provision of equipment and technical advice to help the Syrian regime crush protests in Syria."

He added: "This is unacceptable, and compounds our concern about Iran's behavior and its intentions over its nuclear program."

Yesterday Iran summoned the British charge d'affaires to explain Hague's statements. Press TV reported that the head of the West Europe division of Iran's Foreign Ministry told the top British diplomat: "The remarks [by the British Foreign Secretary] are completely unfounded and part of a series of false claims."

He added: "The British government is not qualified to make such comments about other countries due to its negative influence and meddling in the region, especially by helping to train some countries' military forces so they can crack down on the people."

Source: Payvand.
Link: http://www.payvand.com/news/11/jun/1103.html.

Jordanian hard-liner says jailed Salafis go on a hunger strike, demand their release

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

By The Associated Press – Jun 12, 2011

AMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian Islamic leader says 300 jailed militants have begun a hunger strike to press the government for their release.

Last week, Jordan's King Abdullah II pardoned hundreds, but not hard-liners and those convicted of serious crimes, like manslaughter and rape.

Police confirm that 46 men from the ultraconservative Salafi stream of Islam — banned in Jordan — went on a hunger strike Saturday.

Wesam Omoush insists that the number was 300, including 100 detained for armed attacks that wounded 83 policemen in April. The rest were convicted in terror plots or links to al-Qaida.

On Sunday, tens of veiled wives and children of the jailed Salafis protested outside the prime minister's office demanding freedom for the prisoners.

Omoush said Sunday that the Salafis plan daily protests.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Jordan's king unhurt in attack on motorcade

Attack by stone and bottle throwing youths hours after King Abdullah II announced political reforms is denied by government.

Mark Tran and Associated Press in Amman
Monday 13 June 2011

The motorcade of King Abdullah II of Jordan has reportedly come under attack from protesters throwing bottles and stones during a visit to a town in the country's south.

Abdullah was unhurt in the attack, which came hours after he bowed to popular demands for political reform, agreeing to have an elected prime minister from a parliamentary majority replace the current method of appointing the cabinet.

An unnamed security official said young people attacked the motorcade in two different areas in Tafila, 125 miles south of the capital Amman.

A government spokesman, Taher Edwan, later rejected the account.

"This news is totally baseless," he said. "There was no attack whatsoever with empty bottles and stones.

"What happened is that a group of young Jordanians thronged the monarch's motorcade to shake hands with him."

He said that when police "pushed them away, there was a lot of shoving".

A palace official who accompanied Abdullah gave a similar account: "It was a gesture of welcome, not an attack."

Abdullah was on a fact-finding trip to inspect infrastructure projects and hear his subjects' demands.

The king has agreed to elected cabinets but gave no timetable, saying that sudden change could lead to "chaos and unrest".

The move represented a big concession to demands from activists who have taken to the streets in six months of protests to demand a greater political say.

Many Jordanians want the king to loosen his absolute grip on power, which includes appointing prime ministers and cabinets.

In the televised speech on Sunday, marking his 12th year as Jordan's ruler, Abdullah said future cabinets will be formed according to an elected parliamentary majority.

He also promised further changes without giving much detail, saying that a royal commission is now exploring "possible amendments" to the constitution appropriate for Jordan's "present and future".

When Abdullah became king in 1999, he floated the idea of a constitutional monarchy similar to the British system, but little has been said on the subject since.

Jordanians have been demanding a new elected parliament that would replace one widely seen as docile.

However, a small group of activists says it wants the king to relinquish all his power and become only a figurehead.

But major political parties such as the powerful Muslim Brotherhood have rejected such proposals, calling the king a "stabilizing influence".

Abdullah said the changes would be implemented based on the recommendations of a national dialogue committee, which recently proposed laws governing elections and political parties.

The committee is also reviewing economic legislation to tackle official corruption, nepotism and bureaucracy.

The Jordanian government has lifted restrictions on public assembly, allowing protesters to demonstrate freely.

But it has said it needs time to enact laws on political freedoms, including those addressing election and political parties.

Abdullah sacked his prime minister in February, responding to protesters' complaints that he was insensitive to their economic hardships.

Protests in Jordan have been relatively smaller and generally more peaceful than elsewhere in the Middle East, although one person died during a protest in March.

One man burned himself badly in April after setting himself on fire outside the prime minister's office.

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/king-abdullah-of-jordan-motorcade-attack.

Yemenis agree to hold talks on transfer of power

June 14, 2011
By Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press

SANA, Yemen — Yemen's acting president agreed yesterday with opposition parties to begin discussions about how to transfer power from the country's embattled president, an opposition spokesman said.

The official, Abdullah Oubal, said the agreement provides for the opposition and President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party to open a dialogue to find a way to ease Saleh out of office, in accordance with proposals put forward by Yemen's Gulf neighbors. Saleh has publicly accepted the proposals in the past, but has been evasive about implementing them.

The agreement may not end the country's political impasse or prevent renewed clashes between forces loyal to Saleh and armed tribesmen opposed to his rule. However, it suggests that the acting president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, is exercising his constitutional powers, despite the vast influence wielded by Saleh's inner circle and family.

The meeting was the first between an alliance of opposition parties and Hadi, who has been acting president since Saleh left for Saudi Arabia on June 5 for medical treatment from wounds he suffered in an attack on his compound in Sana, Yemen's capital.

A senior Yemeni official in the Saudi capital, where Saleh is hospitalized, said the president's condition was stable but not improving. The official spoke by telephone and on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Yesterday's meeting, thought to have been convened under Western pressure, took place at Hadi's Sana residence, which witnesses said was surrounded by members of the special forces, an elite outfit led by Saleh's son and onetime heir apparent, Ahmed.

Two top ruling party officials, Sultan al-Burkany and Ahmed Ben Daghr, joined Hadi on the government side for the negotiations, said opposition spokesman Oubal.

Tensions remain between forces loyal to Saleh and armed tribesmen led by Sadeq al-Ahmar, a onetime ally of the president who switched sides in March to join protesters staging mass demonstrations to demand the president’s ouster.

The two sides fought fierce street battles in Sana in late May and early this month, causing extensive damage to several neighborhoods. Officials close to Ahmar said 100 of their fighters were killed and another 325 wounded in the fighting between May 23 and June 4.

In Sana, news of the agreement between Hadi and the opposition appeared to have no immediate impact. Witnesses said troops loyal to and opposed to Saleh have been significantly reinforced, with more checkpoints and plainclothes gunmen visible on the streets.

Beside the armed tribesmen, troops from the elite First Armored Division, whose commander mutinied and joined the protesters in March, have been squaring up in the capital against the presidential guard and the special forces, both under the command of the president's son.

Airstrikes, meanwhile, targeted Muslim militants in control of a southern Yemeni town, killing three suspected extremists yesterday, military and medical officials said.

Jordan

Stone-throwing youths in a poor southern town exploded in anger at rough handling by police during a visit by King Abdullah II yesterday, a symptom of simmering popular frustrations in Jordan even as the monarch moves toward a more democratic system.

The spurt of violence, rare in Jordan while other Arab states were rocked by turmoil in recent months, pointed up Jordanians' resentment of heavy-handed control by the Hashemite kingdom's security forces.

Along with steps toward political liberalization, “we have the task to dismantle the security's grip in order to have democracy and rule of law,’’ said a democracy activist, Laila Hamarneh.

The trouble in Tafila came a day after Abdullah went on national television to announce a major concession to months of peaceful protests, accepting the idea of elected governments, and replacing Cabinets appointed by him.

Yesterday, he traveled to Tafila on what palace officials described as a fact-finding inspection of infrastructure projects and to hear people's grievances. But Tafila residents said their mayor had barred young unemployed people from taking part in a town meeting with the king.

When some 60 youths tried to line sidewalks as the king's motorcade approached, to hand-deliver petitions and tell him about their difficulty in finding jobs, antiriot police pushed them away savagely, and the crowd responded with stones, said a Tafila shopkeeper, Yazan Abu Yousef, 26.

Government officials said the violence was not directed at the king and he was unharmed, but 26 police officers were injured. There was no word on injuries among local residents.

They said Abdullah, in his Tafila meetings, pledged new funding for local development projects and other help for people in the town, who are suffering through high unemployment and inflation. But the security apparatus that many say has turned Jordan into a police state generates as much antigovernment resentment as the poverty afflicting much of the kingdom’s population of 6 million.

Source: boston.
Link: http://articles.boston.com/2011-06-14/news/29657703_1_rabbo-mansour-hadi-opposition-parties-ruling-party.