Nigeria slams Gaddafi's 'partitioning' remarks

Fri Mar 19, 2010

Nigeria has reacted angrily to the recent comments by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in which he suggested “partitioning” of the country between Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria summoned its envoy to Tripoli yesterday, after Gaddafi referred to the recent deadly violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria and suggested that the Muslim majority in the north follow Pakistan-style separation from southern areas with more Christian population.

"The only thing that could put an end to the bloodshed ... is the appearance of another Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Pakistan's founder) who established a state for the Muslims and another for the Christians," AFP quoted Gaddafi as saying earlier.

The comment drew Nigerian government's fire, with the country's foreign ministry censuring the Libyan president for his "irresponsible utterances."

"Our ambassador in Tripoli has been recalled for urgent consultations," said foreign ministry spokesperson Ozo Nwobu.

He also expressed his government's 'serious concerns' over the remarks that had "diminished" Gaddafi's "status and credibility."

Last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross said about 8,000 Nigerians had fled their homes following sectarian clashes that killed over 100 people in the key central city of Jos, which is considered a buffer zone between the Muslim and Christian communities.

Despite deployment of government forces, violence over land, livestock and water disputes has claimed hundreds of casualties in the worst sectarian clashes of recent months.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/121187.html.

Israeli soldiers arrest five Palestinian children

Israeli soldiers detain five Palestinian children in the West Bank city of Hebron (al-Khalil) after clashes break out.

The soldiers claim that the children were pelting stones at a building inside the Beit Romano settlement on Thursday during clashes in the West Bank city of al-Khalil.

But the parents of the arrested children complain that "the children were playing football in front of their house when suddenly the soldiers came and arrested them."

"They say they have pictures of them throwing stones. The army are liars [sic]," one al-Khalil resident was quoted by Reuters as saying. The soldiers have detained the children at a military watch tower.

After two consecutive days of protests in Jerusalem (al-Quds) and across the Palestinian territories, Israeli soldiers fired anti-riot ammunition at the demonstrators.

The Palestinians were protesting at Israel plans to build 1,600 settlements in the East Jerusalem (al-Quds).

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121178§ionid=351020202.

Poll: Americans oppose Israeli settlements

In the US, a survey suggests that nearly 50 percent of Americans think Israel should be forced to stop building new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A national telephone survey conducted by Rasmussen says 49 percent of Americans believe that “Israel (should) be required to stop building new settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.” This is while only 22 percent believe it should not.

Earlier this month, Tel Aviv announced plans to build 16,000 new settlements units in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).

The opinion poll also suggests that over 70 percent of Americans think it is unlikely that there will be a lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israelis in the next decade.

US-Israel ties have been strained over Israel's approval of the new settlements, announced during an official visit by US Vice President Joe Biden last week.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded by telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the plan was a "deeply negative signal."

Tel Aviv's Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren later commented that "Israel's relations with the US are facing the most severe crisis since 1975."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121175§ionid=3510203.

Turkey offers Somalia anti-piracy help

Fri Mar 19, 2010

Turkey has called on Somalia to carry out a more serious fight against piracy in the Gulf of Aden, offering help in the process.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul received Somali Parliament Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur in Ankara on Thursday to discuss piracy off the Horn of African nation's coast.

Last April, Gul had promised Somalia President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to assist his country in establishing and training its security forces after years of bloody conflict and political turmoil in the African country.

The Turkish president reaffirmed that his country was willing to help Somalia regarding piracy.

On Wednesday, Nur met Turkey's Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin, who said Turkey feared that piracy could spread to other African coasts if it was not dealt with effectively.

"Turkey will continue to help Somalia to overcome this problem," he said.

Sahin underlined the great importance Turkey attached to Somalia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and independence, and said internal conflicts in Somalia should come to an end and stability should be restored as soon as possible.

Turkey has dispatched six frigates to Somalia since February 2009, to serve international anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.

Turkish underwater assault commandos captured seven pirates on a skiff boat in the Gulf of Aden on March 6.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/121165.html.

Obama slams Palestinian protests, rejects Israeli row

US President Barack Obama condemns Palestinian protests in Jerusalem al-Quds over Israeli provocations near al-Aqsa Mosque as 'destructive to peace' while downplaying reported row with the Israeli regime over Tel Aviv's continued settlement expansions, denying reports that US-Israeli ties are in a state of crisis.

In a quick turn of face, under reportedly intense pressure from the wealthy Israeli lobby in the US, Obama, whose top administration officials described Israeli settlement expansion plans as 'insulting and destructive to peace efforts,' rejected tensions with Tel Aviv as 'friendly disagreements' and, instead, denounced the Palestinians for reacting against intimidating Israeli moves to Judaize al-Quds.

"Friends are going to disagree sometimes," said Obama Wednesday in his first official reference to Tel Aviv's plans to erect 1,600 new settlement units near East al-Quds, in grave violation of the regime's past commitments to freeze settlement expansion.

"Israel's one of our closest allies, and we and the Israeli people have a special bond that's not going to go away," Obama reiterated in a rare interview with ultra-conservative Fox News Channel, a prime critic of the Obama Administration.

Last week, Israeli Interior Minister Yishai announced Tel Aviv's green light for the settlement expansion plan while US Vice President Joe Biden toured Israel to supposedly facilitate indirect "proximity talks" between Palestinians and the Tel Aviv regime.

"The actions that were taken by the interior minister in Israel weren't helpful to that process, said Obama.

"There is a disagreement in terms of how we can move this peace process forward, and obviously, when I sent Vice President Biden there it was at a moment where we were trying to restart talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis."

The Israeli decision led to a series of criticism from US officials who described the move by the Tel Aviv regime as offensive, cautioning that the expansions could derail the peace process.

However, critics took the row with some skepticism arguing that it was intended to avert international attention from Israeli "Judiazation" of East al-Quds which hosts a number of major Islamic sanctities, including the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Some 50 Palestinians were wounded on Tuesday, dubbed by Hamas as Palestine's day of rage, as thousands of protesters poured into streets across al-Quds to condemn Tel Aviv's falsification of history and efforts to take away the city's Palestinian and Islamic identity.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, top US commander Gen. David Petraeus described the Arab-Israeli conflict as one of the "root causes of instability" and "obstacle to security" in the Middle East, warning that it would further the anti-American sentiments in the region and limit America's strategic partnerships with Arab governments.

"Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of US partnerships with governments and peoples in the [Middle East] and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world," he said in a written testimony.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121101§ionid=351020202.

Putin clarifies Iran nuclear plant launch date

Russia has announced that it plans to start up Iran's long-delayed 1,000 megawatt Bushehr nuclear plant “this summer.”

"The start-up of the first reactor of the Bushehr atomic power station is planned for this summer," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

The construction of the Bushehr plant started in 1975 when Germany signed a contract to build a nuclear plant in Bushehr. Berlin, however, pulled out of the project following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran then reached an agreement with Russia in 1995. Under the deal, the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999 but completion of the $1 billion project has been frequently delayed.

Putin's remarks come two days after Russian Energy Minster Sergei Shmatko said "technical reasons" are the only obstacles in the way of the long awaited launch of the Bushehr power plant.

Putin noted that Moscow will “continue work on developing atomic energy capacity both at home and abroad.”

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran also announced earlier in March that the Bushehr nuclear plant will come on stream by June this year.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121137§ionid=351020104.

Jundallah members killed in Iran

Iranian security forces have killed several members of the terrorist group, Jundallah during a clash southeast of Iran.

The clash took place when the terrorists tried to enter Iran from Pakistan.

Among the dead is a key member of Jundallah, Barekat Zamrani, who was behind the assassination of Brigadier General Nur-Ali Shoushtari, a top commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

Zamrani accompanied other Jundallah members during terrorist operations.

Two other terrorists were also captured during the clash.

On February 23, the leader of the Jundallah, Abdulmalek Rigi, was on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan when he was tracked down and captured by Iranian security forces.

Rigi and one of his deputies were captured after Iranian security forces pulled down the plane they were traveling in and forced it to land at Bandar Abbas airport.

Following his arrest, Rigi also confessed on television that the US administration had promised to provide him with unlimited military assistance and funding to conduct terror operations inside Iran.

The US along with a number of European countries were quick to deny any links to Rigi and paying for the many acts of terrorism he committed against Iranians over the past few years.

The Pakistan-based terrorist group is responsible for a series of terrorist attacks inside Iran, which have claimed over 140 lives.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121126§ionid=351020101.