Hamas wants to control and rule over 1.5 million Palestinians in the coastal Gaza strip. On Saturday, in retaliation to earlier bombing, Hamas attacked the Hilles clan, whose chief had been associated with Fatah. Interestingly, the clan members sought refuge at Israeli border. More intriguing part unfolded when Fatah too tried to distance itself from this clan. So, members of Hilles, who fled during the attack by Hamas, had no option but to be at mercy of Israel!

This twisted drama unfolded after clash between the Hilles clan and Hamas on Saturday which left 11 people dead. Scores of clan members ran towards Israeli border to escape death. Israel, which is negotiating peace with Fatah in West Bank in order to isolate Hamas, allowed some 181 people to cross into Israel. Twenty two of them had to be hospitalized and rest had to be put up in military base. The basic understanding was that they’ll be transferred safely to West Bank, but Fatah leaders in West Bank did’t want these 181 people, making it clear that the relation between the Hilles clan and Fatah is not good. Officially, though Fatah leaders in West Bank are not making any such statement.

Israel tried sending clan members back to Gaza in groups. But the moment first group entered Gaza it was arrested by Hamas. After uproar from human rights groups, the rest were not sent back. Later right wing groups within Israel urged to detain these people. Hence some of them are being questioned at military base in Israel itself. They now face charges of being terrorists, of having engaged in anti-Israel activities and for having shot Israeli soldiers and launched rockets at Israeli town. In short Hilles,clan got saved and arrested by Israel while trying to escape death from Hamas.

In a way, Israel did gain a moral advantage for respecting the negotiations with Fatah and letting in 181 fleeing people from Palestine. Infighting in Gaza is making Israel-Palestine conflicts more complex to resolve through peace negotiations mediated by Egypt.

source: IHT

Over the past few years, Yemen has become a battlefield for western tourists with suicide attacks and shooting incidents getting frequent. The aim is to destabilise and shatter the tourism industry in the country which acts as the lifeblood for the country’s economy. The attacks on western tourists have become so common that the Yemeni foreign minister Abu Baker Al-Qirbi, in an interview with the Guardian, was quoted as saying that,

It is alarming. You can never predict when or where the attacks will happen. Al Qaeda’s tactics is to undertake these actions to prove that they are still there.

Al Qaeda is desperately trying to regroup after the massive setback it suffered in neighbouring and more powerful Saudi Arabia. The strategy of this group in Yemen has come to light. Given the bitter experience in Saudi Arabia, the radical Sunni group is not going on an all-out war against the Yemeni government rather it is keeping a low profile concentrating on building its internal structure, recruiting new members and focusing on terror training. Furthermore, the depressed political and economical situation inside Yemen is conducive to Al Qaeda’s resurgence.

Yemen cannot match Saudi Arabia’s financial investment in security to tackle terrorism. As rightly pointed out by Faris Sanabani, an aide to President Ali Abdullah Salih,

If the Saudis need to buy $200 million worth of communications and equipments, they can. But if we need to spend $1million we have to sqeeze and save.

Via: Guardian

Wild passion can be dangerous, especially when it comes from extremist groups like the al-Qaeda. Their latest weapon, according to The US Army is to deploy women for terrorist attacks, as women have the advantage of becoming almost sure shot live weapons, both emotionally and physically! Captain Matthew Shown, the intelligence officer for Sabre Squadron, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, which is based in southeast Diyala, Baghdad, says,

Some Women are easy prey because their husband or children have been killed or detained by US forces. They will try to use whatever works best for them to attempt to exploit whatever political or cultural restrictions we have. Now they’ve adapted to try to use female suicide bombers.

It is to be noted here that it is almost impossible to frisk females for carrying weapons or bombs due the cultural and religious bindings by the male security staff and there are very few women in the army to be always present wherever needed! Moreover, these women attackers are generally so emotionally charged in the name of Jihad, blackmail, lust or love that they are able to camouflage their evil plan so well, that no one can make out what lies beneath their innocent faces.

To exploit their services, the al-Qaeda members even go to the extent of marrying women and then letting other men rape them. The dishonoured women have no options but to end their lives and they easily fall prey to becoming suicide bombers! The terrorists even kidnap their children and threaten them to kill the children if they refuse to help them. In such a situation, these women have no option left but to be an active aid in their terror plan.

However, the US Military is trying hard to combat this problem. It is hiring women guards to stand at every check post so that they can do a full body search of these women and thus avert attacks. The women guards will join about 80,000 men. They protect their neighbourhood under a programme that has lured many former Sunni insurgents to turn against al-Qaeda.

Source: TimesOnline

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In Baghdad, people now can be found roaming on the streets, going to bars and generally conducting the normal peace time activities, though restricted to aware confines of their own districts. Tension, though, is prevalent across the land. The usual kidnapping, suicide attacks, and assassinations still occur but added to that is the question of what after the US withdrawal? The internal and difficult question over the distribution of power in the future is as yet unsettled and unanswered and thus, a cause of uneasiness among the competing groups.

The US invasion has brought out the communal divides of the region into an open and seemingly unending chaos. The Shias and the Sunnis are still hammer and tongs at each other. Their fear and resultant hatred is deep and historic, though hopefully not permanent. The issue of Kurdish nationality has not yet been resolved and then there are these various armed militia including the Al Qaeda which are now omnipresent in Iraq. Even the state armed forces are no less than local mobs.

Also, this temporary thaw cannot be a permanent one unless the international power play that is operational in the region is resolved. America is debating its claim on Iraqi oil in lieu of the price it paid to bring ‘freedom’ to the Iraqis. Its recent proposal to control Iraq’s skies and establish its troops forever in Iraq was rejected by the Maliki government. Iran also has its interest involved in Iraq being vacuumed of American presence and Turkey is actively involved in the Kurdish question.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday. It didn’t forget to add that Israel and U.S. assets were within missile reach. Iran has sent a strong and clear warning that it’ll retaliate if there is any military attack on its nuclear projects. Now US is left with no choice but to brainstorm on how to rein in this country. Iran’s nuclear ambitions can be reined-in only by long-term policies, recommends a study report by Rand Research Organisation. Any military action will only make things worse. It’ll create widespread ill-will against US and will not make Tehran change its mind about pursuing nuclear weapons programs.

What the report strongly recommends is only long term policy dealings with Iran. There could be more civilian co-operation between the two countries. US should not advocate ‘regime change’ and maximum it could do is penalize Iran government and officials for pursuing policies which harm US interests.

U.S has for long has suspected Iran of developing nuclear weapons. While Tehran has officially maintained that their nuclear program is purely for civilian energy purposes. Meanwhile, US intelligence reports says that Iran has been arming insurgents in Iraq and influencing Iraq government and there are counter media reports of US trying to destabilize Iran’s leadership by some covert cross border operations from southern Iraq border.

US and Iran are making moves and countermoves. Hope the situation doesn’t escalate into military confrontation. These wars serve no purpose. It is in the interest of the two countries and the world that they have a duel armed only with long-term policies and diplomatic measures.

source:Reuters

Iraqi Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has an unenvious job. He has to keep the Americans as well as his countrymen happy. Lately there have been increasing voices in the Iraqi parliament against any deal with the US to enable its forces to continue staying in Iraq after the UN mandate ends. That is why Maliki is hoping for a memorandum of understanding with the Americans rather than a deal. He need not have to take the MOU to the country’s parliament.

Moreover for the first time the PM has asked for a clause about a timetable for ending US military presence in Iraq. This clearly points to the increasing dislike to continued US presence amongst Iraqis. Maliki had to make the demand to safeguard his political interests.

The Americans are not clearly not happy. They do not want any timetables. Bush is clearly against any talk of withdrawal till the US is sure that Iraq is stable. But Maliki does keep making defiant statements from time to time for public consumption. Like he had said earlier,

We have reached a deadlock because, when we started these talks, we found that the US demands hugely infringe on the sovereignty of Iraq, and this we can never accept.

The Iraqi-US talks have run into rough weather over another issue too; the ‘Blackwater’ type security consultants. The Iraqis want them accountable to them. The Americans want them to be above the purview of the Iraqis. Because of these issues the talks are stalled for now.

Source: Al Jazeera
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First of all, it has been impossible to initiate the peace process between non-Arab rebels and pro-Arab Sudanese government (which has militia support). Between these, the life of people of Darfur stands totally displaced and destroyed. Darfur has access to UN peace-keeping force and WFP but the condition in camps set up for the victims of conflicts and displaced is shocking. Camps are overcrowded and regularly attacked by rebels and dacoits in search of food and more recruits. Instead of 2,000 calories per day, people are being forced to survive on 1,400 calories due to ration-cuts. Malnourished children with big bellies are common sight at the ZIM ZAM camp sheltering nearly 62,000 people just outside Darfur. Surplus food products are available in Darfur markets but prices are too high due to rising inflation. These markets cater mainly to UN personnel, militia and the rich and unaffected.

What mainly ails UN’s operation is lack of troops, funds and proper logistics of the relief operation. They are unable to provide protection to its own personnel, food stocks and people in the camps. WFP has been forced to cut rations. Instead of much needed and available 1,800 metric tons of food, it is able to distribute only 900 metric tons. Why? It is difficult to airlift large food stocks due to lack of funding and transportation by trucks is difficult because of bad roads and rebel attacks on food convoys. They are unable to protect food convoys because UNAMID has to manage with 9,000 troops instead of allotted 26,000 troops. Sudanese government and UN agreement insist that troops should come from African countries only. This diplomatic and bureaucratic issue is unlikely to be resolved soon.

Since 2003, conflicts have left nearly 2 lakh people dead and more than 2.5 m people homeless. Hundreds of women and girls have been abused and raped. Just strong UN presence in the form of peacekeeping force, International Aid agency, WFP is not enough to heal scars of Darfur. Root cause of the problem needs to be addressed urgently. Rebel attacks and conflicts must stop. Peace process must begin. More troops should be deployed unconditionally. Food rations should not be cut. UN must operate in full capacity or else UN will fail in its own mission.

source: reuters

‘U.S. attack cannot stop Iran’s N-program’ - Better late than never, finally White house is banking on diplomatic measures instead of military action to act as deterrent for Iran’s nuclear program. Speaking on behalf of President Bush, White House Spokesperson dismissed prospects of military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Is it that Bush administration waking to reality that violence begets only violence and military attack is an expensive futile exercise? Experts have warned that any attack will only delay Iran’s nuclear plans and encourage them to acquire some more nuclear expertise and nuclear weapons. US also lacks intelligence information on number of nuclear facilities the country has throughout Iran. Mulling military action will make Iran bury its facilities too to be detected from air. So is it lack of intelligence information and precise evidence that’s forcing Bush to use diplomacy here?

Why is Bush toeing a soft line for Iran? That too while US troops are still parked in Iraq and it hounded and hanged Saddam for precisely being a nuclear threat. There are doubts looming large that U.S lacked intelligent information justifying Iraq war as well. With truth leaking out of White House, maybe Bush doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake and act like global superhero trying to wipe out evil forces. Hope US accepts its limitations that it cannot be global police on nuclear facilities.

Modern civilization needs to be free from weapons of mass destruction. We are still haunted by Hiroshima and Nagasaki memories. But wars only justify need of weapons. World needs more of negotiations and diplomatic measures to resolve conflicts.

source:Presstv

Syria has suddenly become the centre of attention amongst the US and European nations. The IAEA team is now in the country to inspect the alleged damaged nuclear plant bombed by Israel. The US says the Syrians have cleared the site and rebuilt it, so one doubts if anything concrete will come out of the inspection.

But the west has understood that Syria can do much nuclear mischief if it keeps co-operating with Iran and North Korea. Another important factor is that it has influence over Hamas in Gaza and the Hezbollah in Lebanon. So the Europeans have changed tactics. Now instead of treating Syria as a rogue, efforts are on to woo it. The belief is if Syria is drawn away from Iran, the latter country will be considerably weakened.

What are the baits? Europe has offered big money and an end to the Hariri assassination probe. Syria in return will have to do as the west wants on Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah (in Lebanon).

The French president Sarkozy has taken the initiative to woo Syria as part of his Middle East ambitions of bringing peace in the region. He wants Syria and Israel to get talking again.

The Europeans have other reason to want Syria on its side. Gas and oil. Russian supply is steady but is giving Putin enormous clout. An alternative could be Iraqi oil to Europe through Turkey, Jordan and Syria. Syria could be appropriately rewarded for the transit facilities.

With all this at stake it seems unlikely the IAEA will confirm Syria’s nuclear activities. That is if Syria reacts positively to the European flirting. Otherwise it is back to the harsh US line again.

Source: LA Times Blogs
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The dwindling patches of common ground between Tehran and the West - a 560 mile long stretch of dikes and trenches along Afghan border - may soon look desolate. This would be the dream-turn-true situation for the international drug lords of Afghanistan. Since Iran has repeatedly refused to back off from its uranium enrichment program, it is time to break the deadlock. Under the twist-or-break-arm tactics, European Union is now considering to link the fight against drug menace to making Iran uranium-free.

Prez Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s love of rhetoric supported by an unflinching support of the Islamic clerics only now can be seen as a grave threat to the ambition of a drugs-free world. Without western assistance Iran would not be able to fund its fight against drug lords. A ‘heroin tsunami’ in Europe is predicted by none other than United Nations Organization. Going by official revelations, 900 tons of narcotics were seized in the Iran-Afghanistan border area last year - a whopping 80 percent of total opium seized worldwide.

However, it is still not sure whether it can really be implemented as Washington has praised Iran’s anti-drug steps. The Iranian fight against drug cartels has cost it the lives of more than 3,500 officers in clashes with heavily armed drug traffickers. It has definitely earned Iran many credit points. Roberto Arbitrio, head of the U.N. drugs and crime office in Iran, said the war on drugs should be viewed as ‘a non-political area of mutual interest.’

This credit can not be discounted by any European country as they are the most vulnerable ones to drug abuse.

Source : Fox News

Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, due to face parliament dissolution bill, has lost last chance to make ceasefire negotiations with Hamas mediated by Egypt work in his favour. A rocket attack on Israeli border town of Sderot from Hamas controlled Gaza strip not only violated ceasefire within five days, but is also likely to cost Ehud Olmert his office. Knesset, Israeli Parliament, is set to vote for a bill for its dissolution today. Faced with growing opposition demand to step down or face the bill, the Israeli Prime Minister tried his best to overcome domestic troubles by forging new diplomatic openings and dialogue to give peace a chance in Middle East.

He was hopeful that six-month ceasefire with Hamas and dialogue with Syria and Lebanon will get more votes for him. But the rocket attack violating truce might change it all. Now nothing can bail him out of the situation. His main coalition partners Labour and Shas are now likely to go along the opposition. The opposition needs two third of 120 MPs to vote in favour of dissolution. Israel looks all set for new elections and new Prime Minister before the end of this year.

Islamic Jihad of Hamas attacked because one of its local militant commanders was killed in West Bank. Israel has kept West Bank out of preview of truce negotiations and ceasefire and Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate President of the Palestinian Authority, retains total control over it.

Peace in West Bank and Gaza strip has forever eluded Middle East. It can slip through small loop-holes in the negotiations of ceasefire and truce with all factions. It was wrong of Ehud Olmert to bank on elusive peace and ceasefire to work for him to overcome domestic woes.

Source: TimesOnline

Cuba has welcomed the European Unions decision to lift sanctions against the Communist nation. Cuba was always convinced that ‘truth’ and ‘reason’ would prevail over the measures taken against them. This is one of the first positive reactions that are coming out of the regime of Raul Castro after Fidel Castro transferred power recently. The move however, was not welcomed by the US.

Fidel Castro had his own opinions after the sanctions were lifted. He felt that the EU had no right to critic human rights in Cuba while keeping a blind eye towards the abuses by the Bush administration.

Cuban dissidents are getting the feeling that there might be some disagreement within the Communist party which is the reason why Fidel had to make his opinion be heard publicly instead of going through the party mechanism. I feel that sanctions are used by big developed countries to bully developing nations. The moment the developing nation becomes an important resource, the sanctions are lifted.

Source: TheRawStory, Javno

While this report warrants a serious scrutiny, media assigned it a form that demonstrated Israel’s serious concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The result was that senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami warned Israel of a strong repercussion if it nurtured armed designs against Iran. Most probably, the report of this joint military exercise brought the June 6 statement of Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz to the fore of his brain, in which Mofaz had warned that Iran would face attack if it did not halt its nuclear weapons program.

To prevent this scenario from collapsing into a state of international political conflagration, the UN too switched into its hyperactive mode. However, the impression of the US ambassador in the UN Zalmay Khalilzad made one suspect the whole issue. He referred simply to media reports while making his point in the house. Speaking to media, he improvised, “We’re in the phase of diplomacy, we want a diplomatic settlement of this issue.”

The US administration too subtly whipped up unpleasantries by its behaviour. Veiled indecision of President George Bush was clear when he murmured that he prefers a diplomatic solution though he did not ruled out using force (against Iran). Back at home, spokesman Sean McCormack of the State Department in Washington was circumspect.

Sensing acrimony in the air, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was gurgling his nation’s marked dichotomy of “no-proof-Iran-is-developing-nuclear-weapons” in a Moscow speech.

In the meantime, a strong talk about what happens if Israel really attacks Iran is raging the world. A strategy analysis says that If force is used by Israel, their options would be several raids on the scale of Operation Eldorado Canyon or the Osirak Raid with almost no chance of permanently stopping the Iranian nuclear program or even significantly delaying it. Then, blocking Iranian trade and preemptive nuclear attacks too have been reached at with the conclusion that the first two will not stop Iran and the third will likely be too politically costly for Israel.

This whole episode needs to be discussed in a class of the political art of whipping up mutual hatred and distaste among nations. No one can say that such exercises of reading unnecessary messages between the lines have helped anyone since the days of German unification under Bismarck.

Image Credit: Doctorbulldog

Source: The Raw Story

While it is too early to say with certainty the intention of these countries, but besides nuclear threat from Iran, soaring energy prices is seen as a major reason for these countries to explore possibilities of building nuclear reactors. For Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, it is the desire for acquiring energy independence, but for countries like Egypt and Turkey, besides the energy need it is a way of asserting their prominence in the region that is creating interest in developing nuclear programs. However, for the oil-rich Saudi Arabia nuclear projects would mean development of nuclear arsenals to act as a deterrent against archrival Iran. However, for most countries of the Middle East the huge cost of the nuclear projects, environmental concerns and the long time span required in developing nuclear reactors from the scratch means that none of these countries could develop their nuclear capabilities to rival that of Iran’s in the near future.

Despite all the brouhaha over Iran’s atomic energy programs created by White House, experts say that much of the dangers are over hyped. Although dangers of nuclear bombs cannot be ruled out, but nonetheless it is true that Iran needs a nuclear weapon to protect itself. This is the very reason that made U.S.A, Russia, China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea develop their weapon programs. In fact, while U.S.A and its allies are pointing their fingers at Iran for triggering a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, they are overlooking the fact that Israel has build an estimated 100 to 200 warheads, much larger than what Iran could marshal for years to come.

Source: msnbc
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To bring peace to Sadr City a truce has been signed between Sadr and Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki brokered by the Iranians who now seem to enjoy as much influence on the Iraqi government as the Americans. However, the battle is continuing and shows to sign of abating. The Shiite cleric is not prepared to disband his army and surrender its medium and heavy grade weapons. It now wants the Iraqi government to demolish the wall. With the Maliki government, still being unable to garner wide spread popular support and with US remaining a predominant power in the country, no concrete barrier can bring peace in the city.

via:New York Times