UAE recognizes Libya's Transitional National Council

June 12, 2011

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Sunday announced that it recognizes the Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legal and sole representative of the Libyan people.

The announcement was made by UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"This recognition comes out of the UAE’s keenness to its good relations with the Libyan people and its Arab commitment to Libya’s territorial unity and the future of its people,” Shaikh Abdullah said.

Shaikh Abdullah said the UAE will open a representative office in Benghazi soon.

General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Sunday received Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Head of the Libyan Transitional National Council (NTC) and his delegation.

They discussed the latest developments in the Libyan arena and ways to support aspirations of the Libyan people, as well as the outcome of the third meeting of Libya Contact Group, which was held recently in Abu Dhabi.

The meeting was attended by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, and Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, and other senior officials.

Abdul Jalil thanked the UAE, under the leadership of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for its great efforts and unlimited support extended to the Libyan people.

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/uae-recognises-libya-s-transitional-national-council-1.820876.

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.