Ansar Jerusalem is a Salafi jihadist group that operates in the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula

The group consists primarily of local Bedouins, but also recruits members in Egypt and beyond. According to its statement, Ansar Jerusalem wants "to liberate our Ummah and Muslim people from the slavery of the oppressive, apostate regimes, and establish justice, dignity and freedom for them, and that is only through servitude to Allah alone and implementing His proper Shariah.

" It argued that "an army of Muslims that helps the Ummah and the religion is the way to liberate Jerusalem and the rest of Muslim lands and live in freedom, dignity and honor under the shade of the Shariah of the Lord of the Worlds."

Egypt: the jihadist group Ansar Beyt el Makdes (Ansar Jerusalem, supporters of Jerusalem) has claimed via Twitter the responsability for the attack against the police headquarters in Cairo. The security sources said.

Cairo rocked by two deadly explosions 

 

Almeno cinque persone sono state uccise in due attentati al Cairo questa mattina, il maggiore dei quali ha distrutto la facciata della sede di direzione della sicurezza della polizia. La prima esplosione al quartier generale della polizia, alle 6:15 ora locale, ha ucciso quattro persone e ferito altre 70. L'esplosione, secondo quanto riferito, é stata causata da una bomba in un veicolo; l'esplosione ha danneggiato anche il vicino edificio del Museo islamico. In una seconda esplosione, alcune ore più tardi, un IED è stato fatto esplodere accanto a veicoli della polizia nei pressi della stazione della metropolitana Behooth nel quartiere Dokki, uccidendo un poliziotto e ferendone otto.

The attacks come a day before the anniversary of the January 25 revolution in 2011 that removed Hosni Mubarak.
The blast at the directorate building shattered glass from shops hundreds of metres from the site.
"It was around seven this morning. I heard shots and then the ground shook, the windows shattered," Mohamed Taher, a shopkeeper who owns a cafe 100 metres from the blast, told Al Jazeera.
The Reuters news agency reported gunfire after the explosion. State television quoted witnesses as saying gunmen opened fire on buildings after the blast.
Smoke was seen rising over the city centre and a large number of ambulances were seen on their way to the blast site.
Pictures on Twitter and state television showed the exteriors of buildings damaged by the blast.
The explosion destroyed a metal gate outside the multi-storey building and badly damaged its facade, and damaged the nearby Islamic Museum.
While no one has said they carried out the attacks, the Ansar Bait al Maqdis group issued an audio statement late on Thursday that explicitly threatened the police.

Source Al Jazeera

Hezbollah, Army set up checkpoints in Beirut suburbs

Hezbollah e l'esercito libanese hanno eretto una serie di posti di blocco nella periferia meridionale di Beirut dopo le voci circolate riguardo un doppio attentato suicida che sarebbe stato progettato nella zona.

Unarmed Hezbollah members were searching vehicles and checking the IDs of drivers at several points along the Hadi Nasrallah highway.
The Lebanese Army also set up separate checkpoints in the area.
The heightened security comes days after a suspected suicide bombing killed four people in the neighborhood of Haret Hreik, where the party enjoys broad support.
Tuesday’s bombing was the fourth deadly blast targeting the southern suburbs. Radical Syrian rebel groups have claimed most of the attacks, describing them as retaliation for Hezbollah’s military role alongside President Bashar Assad's forces in Syria.

Source Daily Star

Breaking News
One killed in second Cairo bombing near metro station: state TV

Iran ready to transfer its experiences to Azerbaijan Republic

 

Il Presidente Hassan Rouhani, in un incontro con il suo omologo della Repubblica dell'Azerbaigian, il Presidente Ilham Alyiev, a Davos, in Svizzera, ha discusso in merito a questioni di reciproco interesse...

The president told Alyiev that Iran and Azerbaijan Republic are similar in many ways, adding that the two countries have many commanilities and progress of Azerbaijan Republic is very important for Iran .

President Rouhani called for more trade and economic relations between Tehran and Baku, addig that Iran is ready to transfer its experiences in different fields including petroleum and petrochemicals to Azerbaijan Republic.

President Alyiev, for his part, congratulated President Rouhani on his election and said common points between the two countries in culture, religion, and social affairs are strong points in bilateral relations.

The two presidents also officially invited each other to visit Tehran and Baku.

Source IRNA

Libya, renewed fighting in Warshefana

Notizie di scontri e di combattimenti giungono da Janzour e dall'area di Warshefana... L'accordo iniziale di ieri, tra il governo e il Consiglio della Shura di Warshefana, sembra così destinato a fallire.

The agreement, under which security forces would be pulled out of the district in return for a promise by the Council that suspected criminals wanted by the Prosecutor General would be handed over within a week, saw government forces start to withdraw last night.
Nine people have been killed and a further 20 injured so far in the clashes, according to Warshefana Shura Council spokesman, Abuejila Saif Annaser. He said the casualties included the wife of the Head of Alazizia Local Council, who is now in Zahra hospital in a critical condition. Her son was also reported killed yesterday.
Part of yesterday’s agreement with the government apparently included providing medical supplies for Zahra hospital and sending the most critically-injured abroad for treatment.
A Janzour resident said that late this afternoon explosions and heavy fire could be heard from some ten kilometres away.

Source Libya herald

 Car bomb hits Cairo police HQ, killing three

 

Un'autobomba ha colpito il quartier generale della polizia egiziana nel centro del Cairo Venerdì mattina, uccidendo almeno tre persone e ferendone decine. L'esplosione, sentita in varie parti della città, ha innalzato un'alta colonna di fumo sulla capitale egiziana. Un gran numero di ambulanze sono accorse sul posto. I Fratelli Musulmani alzano il tiro della ricolta contro il governo dei militari.

State news agency MENA quoted an unnamed security official as saying the explosion was caused by a car bomb. At least three people were killed and 47 were wounded, according to the state radio.
The bombing came on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising that toppled Egypt's longtime autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak.
A Muslim Brotherhood-led coalition plans protests after Friday prayers across the country as part of their near-daily demonstrations against the July overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the recent vote on the country's rewritten constitution.
Shortly after the explosion, the state TV aired footage showing several wrecked and charred floors of the high-rise security building with the pavement outside littered with shuttered glass, pieces of bricks and rocks.
According to the report, gunfire resounded from the area immediately after the blast, but there were no other details.
About two hours later, rescue teams were still trying to extract victims trapped inside the security building, MENA said. The agency said the blast had also shattered windows and damaged the facades of a museum and a court house nearby.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Friday's bombing but Egypt has seen a sharp rise in attacks targeting police and the military in the aftermath of the July 3 coup that ousted Morsi.
The most prominent attack was a failed assassination attempt on the interior minister in Cairo in September and the December suicide car bombing that targeted a security headquarters in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, leaving nearly 16 dead, most of them policemen.
The military-backed government has blamed the Brotherhood group, from which Morsi hails, for the attacks, and designated it as a terrorist organization. The group has denied the accusations as baseless.
An al-Qaida-inspired group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or the Champions of Jerusalem, has claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks, saying they aimed to avenge the killings of Morsi's supporters in the months-long heavy security crackdown on protesters demanding his reinstatement and denouncing the coup.

Source Daily Star

Iran will continue with nuclear program for civilian purpose

 

Il presidente Hassan Rouhani ha dichiarato oggi che la repubblica islamica dell'Iran avrebbe continuato con il suo programma nucleare per scopi civili.  In un discorso al World Economic Forum di Davos, Rouhani ha detto che il suo paese non avrebbe nessuna intenzione di rinunciare al suo diritto di esercitare una tecnologia pacifica.

The President reiterated Iranˈs desire to engage with its international partners.

Rouhani, the architect of brokering a deal to end a decade-long confrontation with the western governments, over the national nuclear program in November said it was part of his drive to rapprochement with the western governments and improve relations with the countryˈs neighbors.

ˈWhat we have achieved is not merely a temporary agreement but a prelude to future agreement and engagement,ˈ Rouhani said.

In Thursdayˈs speech, he said he would push for greater engagement with the world as part of his drive to make the Iranian economy one of the top 10 within the next three decades.

ˈI view Iranˈs economy as the most congruent, capable and closest to that of successful emerging economies, and I see Iranˈs place alongside them in the future.ˈ

Rouhani said the country intended to reopen trade and industrial and economic relations with its neighbors.

In response to a question from World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab on whether that included all countries, Rouhani said: ˈAll countries that Iran has officially recognized are inside the circle.ˈ

ˈEast and West, North and South -- there are no exceptions.ˈ

Iran does not recognize Israel and believes it is an occupying and illegitimate entity.

Syria hot topic at day one of Davos

He said Iran ˈbelieves that everyone, all of us, should try our best to put a stop to the bloodshed in Syria, and later push terrorists out of Syria.ˈ

Rouhani said the next step would be to ˈpave the way for the opposition to sit around a table with the Syrian governmentˈ and for free and fair elections to be held.

Source IRNA

Yemen: security forces accuse interior minister of bowing to tribal pressures

Yemen: security forces accuse interior minister of bowing to tribal pressures

 

Alcuni uomini, responsabili della sicurezza dei veicoli della polizia, hanno sparato colpi di arma da fuoco in aria presso il Ministero degli Interni nel quartiere di Al-Hasaba, nel nord di Sana'a. Gli uomini hanno dichiarato di aver sparato in segno di protesta, chiedendo che il generale Mohamed Qahtan, ministro degli Interni dello Yemen, si dimetta dal suo incarico.

The protestors have accused Qahtan of directing security forces not to arrest armed tribesmen believed to have been involved in the shooting of two policemen, according to Mohamed Ali, a Special Security Forces soldier who participated in the protest.

Last Monday, police attempted to prevent a group of men from constructing a building they did not have a permit to build, Ali said.  The men shot at the policemen, killing one, eyewitnesses eyewitnesses told the Yemen Times. This Monday, the police returned to the site again to arrest the men for the shooting.  The armed men allegedly opened fire again, killing another officer, said Ali, who was present at the time of both shootings. 

However, Ali says orders came down from Qahtan not to pursue the men accused of shooting the officers.

“After we surrounded the tribal leader's house, we were surprised to receive Qahtan's order to leave the place,” he said.

This provoked the troops who were on service besieging the house to go directly to the Headquarters of the Interior Ministry to protest the minister’s alleged instructions.

“We were shocked by his [unjust] order,” said Ali. “He is supposed to back and encourage us— not to let us down.”

“The lives of policemen and soliders were put at risk and the interior minister has done nothing,” said Mohamed Al-Jilah, a policeman and guard at the Interior Ministry's headquarters.

In a press release, the Interior Ministry says the tribesmen were arrested.

Source Yemen Times

 S. Sudan government dragging feet on ceasefire agreement, say rebels


Hopes to sign a cessation of hostilities agreement between the South Sudanese government and the rebels, who are referred to as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Opposition, have slipped away with the rebels blaming the government for the “intransigence.”

The two factions representing the government of Salva Kiir Mayardit and the rebels led by former vice-president Riek Machar Teny have been negotiating in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for the last three weeks under the mediation of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), but with no progress.
The expected agreement on the cessation of hostilities has been delayed because the two parties could not yet agree on attaching the release of the political detainees as part of the immediate implementation of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the Ugandan UPDF forces, said James Gatdet Dak, the spokesperson for Machar.
"A final draft on the cessation of hostilities has been worked out by the two parties in Addis Ababa. The draft calls for the withdrawal of the foreign troops of the neighbouring Uganda who were illegally invited to participate militarily in the internal affairs of South Sudan by non-other than the president Salva Kiir," Dak said.
He however decried the intransigent position of the president who appeared to maintain his refusal to neither withdraw the Ugandan forces nor release the political detainees.
"However, the clear messages we receive from the side of the government indicate that Kiir is not willing to agree on the withdrawal of the UPDF troops. He also doesn’t want to release the SPLM leaders whom he wrongfully detained in the capital," he further charged.
The spokesperson of the former vice-president added that both the withdrawal of the UPDF forces and the release of the detainees were genuine demands that should be effected simultaneously with the coming into effect of the cessation of hostilities agreement.
In Addis Ababa where the mediation struggle to finalise the cessation of hostilities deal, the government negotiating team did not come to the venue of talks Wednesday morning.
Sudan Tribune sought to get some explanation from the mediation but they refused to comment.
However, diplomatic sources in Addis said the parties were expected to sign the cessation of hostilities deal on Thursday afternoon.
Observers say the recent military advances by the South Sudanese army in Bor and Malakal give the government delegation greater leverage at the negotiating table.
South Sudanese officials say that government forces are now control all of the major towns previously under the rebels control and that the latter have lost the war.
REBELS REFUTE CLAIMS OF WEAKNESS
Dak refuted allegations that the rebels have been weakened and may not fight back against the government.
He further said the rebels have been reorganising their ranks and preparing for a big thrust against the government’s strategic positions, including the capital, if Juba continue to reject a ceasefire based on its clear, simple demands and terms.
"It would be a wrong assumption and regrettable mistake on the side of the government to reject the demands of the pro-democracy SPLM/A forces, putting it on the false hope and excitement that the democratic forces had lost the war," he said.
He claimed that the rebels tactically withdrew without a fight from the towns they previously captured, saying this was in order to reorganise for the next move if the cessation of hostilities agreement was not insight.
The rebel official went to accuse the government forces of killing civilians and destroying public and private properties.
"The pro-Kiir forces and their Ugandan mercenaries did not fight any body in those towns of Bentiu, Bor and Malakal. They just came in and went on rampage killing civilians, destroying the houses, burning them down, including dismantling the phone network system in the case of Malakal. That was the fight they did on the properties," he said.
South Sudanese president spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, told a news conference in Juba on Wednesday that the rebels killed 127 patients in Bor hospital and destroyed houses and shops.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, South Sudanese president Salva Kiir refused to issue a presidential pardon to release the 11 political detainees indicating that he prefers they face justice.
"You cannot arrest somebody, release him without showing him or showing the world the mistake he committed, which led to the arrest," he said.

Source Sudan Tribune

Libya: Qaddafi supporters heading to Ajilat killed in Sabratha

Cinque uomini, presunti sostenitori di Gheddafi, sono stati uccisi in uno scontro a fuoco a Sabratha dopo che il gruppo era stato scoperto dalle forze di sicurezza locali. Il gruppo si stava dirigendo in direzione Ajilat. Secondo una fonte dell'esercito, altri sette presunti sostenitori dell'ex Rais sono stati catturati e arrestati.

It has not been disclosed where the group came from or how many men were in it, other than “a lot”, according to the source .  The rest managed to escape.
The source told the Libya Herald that the fighters were caught moving through the town just before 5am. The gun battle lasted over two and a half hours. 
On Saturday, when the Tamenhint airbase near Sebha was taken over by Qaddafi supporters, other pro-Qaddafi elements came out in Ajilat with green flags and pictures of the former dictator. They were confronted by local military council but it was unable to contain the situation and asked for support.
Yesterday, forces from Zintan arrived and after heavy fighting managed to gain the upper hand. 
It is claimed that the group heading through Sabratha this morning were heading to Ajilat to help the beleaguered Qaddafi sympathisers there.
It is not clear yet if what happened at the Tamenhint airbase and in Ajilat, together with the various other appearances of Qaddafi symathisers with green flags in the past few days, are part of a coordinated movement. If so, it does not appear to well organised, let alone have any significant or measurable support. 

Source Libya Herald

 Exclusive photos: Morsy appears in white prison suit, smiling

 

 

Egypt Independent ha ottenuto le foto esclusive del deposto presidente Mohamed Morsi, sorridente nella sua cella. Le foto, scattate da funzionari, fanno parte della procedura standard al momento dell'arrivo in prigione e sono allegate alla fedina penale del soggetto.

 

Morsy has been detained since 4 November of this year, accused of inciting violence against protesters during clashes outside the presidential palace in Ittihadiya, which left seven protesters dead. The Brotherhood has allegedly called supporters to gather around the palace to protect it from being overrun after the police failed to intervene and control the escalation of violence.

 

On Friday, Morsy was transferred to a single prison cell where he was banned from performing the Friday prayers for “security reasons” according to the Interior Ministry.

 

Many Brotherhood members, such as Mohamed al-Beltagy and Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, have appeared smiling in photographs as authorities apprehend them. Khalid Kamal, a specialist in human development and an expert on body language, said the Muslim Brotherhood leaders’ smiles during arrest are forced and do not reflect their real psychological state.

 

Kamal added that these leaders want to send several messages of reassurance to their followers and the Egyptian people in general by making a number of smiles on regular basis in order to counter the sense of victory from their opponents who are watching them being arrested.

 

In a press conference on Saturday, the Muslim Brotherhood-led National Alliance to Support Legitimacy proposed a serious dialogue to agree on future arrangements without the exclusion of any political faction. 

 

The initiative involves “an end to the military coup, the return to constitutional legitimacy and retribution for martyrs,” said the statement.

 

“Any serious dialogue requires an environment that is suitable for the political process, as well as halting hatred campaigns broadcast by the media, releasing post-30 June detainees, the return of satellite channels that had been closed, confronting thuggery, securing vital facilities in a way that does not conflict with the right to peaceful protests and adopting openness,” said the alliance, explaining that its call is directed to the Egyptian people.

 

More exclusive pictures will be published in the print edition of Al-Masry Al-Youm on Sunday.

 

Source Egypt Independent

 Lebanon: Al-Qaeda-linked suspect dies in military chase
 

Un uomo, che sosteneva di essere un membro di Al-Qaeda legato alle Brigate Abdullah Azzam è stato ucciso durante un inseguimento da militari nella zona est del Libano. Ibrahim Abdul-Moti, un palestinese noto come Abu Jaafar, è morto Mercoledì per le ferite riportate durante una sparatoria con i militari ad un posto di blocco dell'esercito nella Bekaa.

The statement said the Army, who has recently been on a manhunt for members of Abdullah Azzam Brigades, erected a temporary checkpoint in the area to detain the wanted man.
Abdul-Moti failed to stop at the checkpoint and opened fire at soldiers, wounding an officer, the statement said.
The Army fired back and wounded Abdul-Moti who later died from his wounds in a local hospital while a second man who accompanied the suspect was able to escape, the Army said.
Abdul-Moti was also linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), a radical Syrian rebel group which claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Jan. 2.
The group said the bombing was in retaliation to Hezbollah’s military involvement in Syria.
Abdul-Moti coordinated with the emir (head) of ISIS to transport suicide bombers from Syria’s Qalamoun into Lebanon and carry out terrorist attacks, the Army said.
The suspect’s car was confiscated and an identity card in the name of Ahmad Omar Solh was found in the vehicle.
Lebanon has been subject to several car bombings targeting residential and commercial areas in the country, mainly pro-Hezbollah neighborhoods.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades has claimed responsibility for a twin suicide attack against the Iranian Embassy in Beirut last year. The head of the Al-Qaeda offshoot was arrested in December but later died of natural causes at a military hospital.

Source Daily Star

Spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry announced Monday that the Islamic Iran is planned to take part in the upcoming conference on Syria to be held in the Swiss city.

Marziyeh Afkham said Iran will attend the conference without accepting any pre-condition.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced few hours ago that he has invited Iran to the Syrian talks.

Geneva II conference on Syria is slated for January 22.

Source IRNA

 S. Sudanese army pursuing rebel forces in Warrap state

 

L'esercito sudanese del Sud (SPLA) ha dichiarato di aver schierato truppe nello stato di Warrap, dopo che le forze dissidenti che si oppongono all'attuale governo hanno ucciso diverse persone a Tonj Nord e in altre contee orientali durante la scorsa settimana.

Those who carried out the attack, in which two others were wounded, reportedly possessed heavy weapons. Survivors of the attack said several herds of cattle were driven away while a number of women and children went missing.
Local residents and government officials have expressed fears that those at large since the Thursday attack may have eventually been killed.
Over the years, the lack of a border control mechanisms coupled with the army’s ineffectiveness have largely turned the region straddling three states of Lakes, Warrap and unity over the past years into a hub for cattle raiding activities between communities and successive rebel groups.
Recently, however, the SPLA third division covering Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Warrap states responded to pleas from the local population and deployed a battalion to provide protection, pursue and flush out rebel elements allegedly using swampy areas as their hiding grounds.
"I learned today that comrade Santino Deng Wol, who commands our forces in division three, has responded positively to the pleas by our people, especially those in the areas bordering unity state to be accorded maximum security attention. He deployed a battalion to the effect", Kuot Deng Kuot, a Member of Parliament representing Gogrial East county in Warrap said Sunday.
Kuot gave no details of the military operation, but blamed forces loyal to South Sudan’s former vice president, Riek Machar for the violence.
Police spokesman, Colonel James Monday said they had increased the number of police forces in the area so as to provide security and protect lives of civilians as well as their properties.
"The current security situation in that area has opened a chance for some criminals. Some of the activities are carried out by the armed civilians and others are carried out by rebel forces to exploit this and to attack the area", Monday told Sudan Tribune.
The SPLA and police have now deployed joint force to provide protection to the civil population living in that triangle region, he added.
The senior police officer, however, acknowledged that there have been some hostile movement and activities destabilising civilian life over the past years, despite the numerous peace conference organised by authorities in these regions.

Source Sudan Tribune

Eleven killed in west Tripoli criminal roundup fighting

Undici persone sono state uccise in scontri tra presunti criminali e forze di sicurezza; queste ultime stavano effettuando una operazione di rastrellamento in un'area a sud e sud-ovest del sobborgo di Tripoli di Janzour.

The dead included Mohamed Kara, brother the former SSC commander Abdul Raouf Kara. One other member of the security forces was also killed in the fighting. The other nine are said to have been members of criminal gangs operating from farms in the area between Zahira, south east of Zawia, and Najila, some five kilometres south of Janzour. 
Another former member of the SSC who was involved in the operation told the Libya Herald that half the target area had been swept today and that 30 people had been arrested, nine of whom had been injured in the fighting.  They had been taken to Abu Sleem Hospital.
Mohamed Kara’s death was confirmed to this newspaper by Hashim Bishr, head of the now disbanded SSC.  
The dragnet was undertaken by the capital’s Joint Operations Room and the Libyan Revolutionaries Operation Room. They were looking for a number of alleged criminals wanted by the public prosecutor who were believed to be operating from the area. The operation started early this afternoon near Zahra but there was fierce resistance from gang members, particularly around Najila. Heavy weapons, including RPGs, were used and the sound could be heard in much of west Tripoli as well as near the international airport, some 15 kilometres away.
Fighting was reported to be still taking place this evening in Najila as well as at two other nearby locations.   
As a result of the fighting the streets in nearby Janzour were almost deserted, with most people staying indoors.

Source Libya Herald

 A draft resolution within 3 weeks to support Egyptian government: Congressman

 

American Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican and member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and the head of the Congress delegation currently visiting Egypt, announced that he intends to submit a draft resolution to the Congress, upon his return, aiming to support the Egyptian interim government and its roadmap for the future.

 

Rohrabacher said during a meeting of the congressional delegation accompanying him on Sunday evening, with a limited number of journalists, that it may take about three weeks.

 

The Congress delegation also includes Loretta Sanchez, a member of the Armed Services Committee, and Paul Cook and Steve Stockman, members of the Foreign Relations Committee.

 

Rohrabacher said that the delegation is content with the progress it has witnessed, in addition to advances made towards democracy and stability.

 

He noted that there is no need for a new revolution as long as there are free, fair polls and a freely elected government, while Egyptian officials stressed their commitment to achieve this while sticking to the political roadmap.

 

Though political views vary widely among elected representatives in the US Congress, those hailing from the more conservative Republican party tend to support the new Egyptian government as a means of countering the Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, the more liberal Democrats have voiced much more critique of the new Egyptian government in terms of its human rights abuses.

 

Source Egypt Independent

Syria's Assad: Hariri trial tool to 'pressure Hezbollah'

Il presidente siriano Bashar Assad ha accusato la Corte di essere "politicizzata" e che la sua natura é finalizzata ad effettuare pressioni sul suo alleato Hezbollah.

"Nine years have passed since the beginning of this trial. Has justice been served? Every accusation was made for political reasons," he said on Sunday, days after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon began hearing evidence in the 2005 killing of Rafiq Hariri.
"We have not seen any tangible proof put forward against the parties involved in the case," added Assad, whose regime came under suspicion in the killing, along with Lebanon's powerful Shiite group.
"The real question should be: why the timing? Why now? This court was set up nine years ago," he added.
"I believe that the whole thing is politicized and is intended to put pressure on Hezbollah in Lebanon in the same way that it aimed at putting pressure on Syria in the beginning, immediately after al-Hariri's assassination," he said.
Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut in February 2005.
His supporters accused both Syria and Hezbollah of carrying out the attack, which also killed 21 others.
Four members of the group are on trial in absentia for the killing before the special UN-backed court in The Hague, which has taken years to gather evidence and begin hearing the case.
Anger over Syria's alleged involvement in Hariri's death erupted into popular demonstrations in Lebanon that forced Damascus to withdraw its troops from the country after nearly 30 years.
Hezbollah has dismissed the court as a political tool for the United States and Israel, and refused to turn over its members for trial.
The group is a key ally of the Damascus regime and has dispatched fighters to battle alongside Syrian troops against a rebel uprising.

Source Daily Star

Ex-ambassador: Iran can potentially play stronger role in Lebanon’s national solidarity

 

L'ex ambasciatore iraniano a Beirut, Mohammad Ali Sobhani, ha dichiarato  che l'Iran potrebbe svolgere un ruolo più attivo nel rafforzare la solidarietà nazionale in Libano, relazionandosi maggiormente con i diversi gruppi politici libanesi. Intervistato dall'agenzia IRNA in merito alla visita in corso in Libano del ministro degli Esteri iraniano, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Sobhani ha sottolineato che i due paesi possono fare molto per aumentare lo stato attuale delle relazioni bilaterali.

Referring to the harsh political and security situations in Lebanon and Syria, he described Zarif’s visit to Beirut as important saying that the foreign minister has to offer new plans and schemes to promote iran’s role to stop growing disputes and violence in Lebanon.

Iran’s foreign minister arrived in Beirut late Sunday at the top of a political and parliamentary delegation on the first leg of his regional tour of four countries. He is in Beirut upon an invitation by his Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour.

Zarif is also to visit Iraq, Jordan and Syria after his visit to Lebanon.

Sobhani said he believed the deteriorating security situation in Lebanon and deepening political gap among Lebanese groups have rooted from the critical conditions in Syria.

He said Iran should play stronger role in dealing with the existing crisis in Lebanon through dialogue with regional countries as well as various Lebanese groups.

The former ambassador further expressed his opinion that Iran should try expand relations with all Lebanese groups.

Commenting on the arrest and suspicious death of Majid Al-Majid the terrorist behind the fatal blasts near the Iranian embassy in Beirut on November 19, 2013, Sobhani said the incident proved how serious is the danger of extremism in the region.

He said that extremism and terrorism could be fought and beaten by cooperation among governments and their firm intention.

Some 25 people including Iranˈs Cultural Attaché to Lebanon Ebrahim Ansari were killed by the fatal bombings and over 150 others were injured.

Majid al-Majid who had claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack was captured and then died in Lebanon.

While in Beirut, Zarif is to hold separate meeting with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Tamam Salam and also confer with the Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry and a number of other Lebanese officials and personalities.

Bilateral relations, regional and international cooperation, the Syrian crisis and the Geneva II International Peace Conference are among the topics to be discussed during the meetings.

Source IRNA

Top S. Sudan army commander escapes assassination attempt: sources

 

Più fonti militari hanno dichiarato che un progetto per assassinare un comandante dell'esercito del Sud Sudan (SPLA), rimasto fedele al governo centrale, è stato sventato ieri (domenica).

Gunmen reportedly attacked Lt. Gen. Johnson Gony Biliu’s convoy while he was conducting an assessment of the general security situation in areas around Upper Nile state capital. Malakal. Biliu is the commander of the SPLA’s sector II in Malakal.
According to sources, the incident occurred in an area between Anakdiar and Baliet county, some 54 kilometres east of Malakal town.
It remains unclear who masterminded the attack, and Sudan Tribune was unable to independently verify the claims as no official statement has been released from the office of the army spokesperson.
Calls by Sudan Tribune to the cell phone of the army’s spokesperson on Sunday were not returned.
Meanwhile, local officials claimed fighting had occurred in Doleib Hill, a former a mission station established by the American Inland Mission, located about 16kms south of Malakal town, on the northern bank of the Sobat River.
“Doleib Hill had fallen to the rebel control. The fighting between the two groups of soldiers divided over tribal allegiances and personal interests and connection broke out yesterday (Saturday) evening. It started at 9pm (local time) and stopped at around 10pm. It did not take long before it fell”, a government official told Sudan Tribune on Sunday from Malakal, adding that police and security forces had fled the area.
He also confirmed another attempt to take Baliet county by armed elements loyal to the former vice-president, Riek Machar.
“Our forces fought them today (Sunday) in Baliet. They attempted to advance but they were repulsed. Their intention is to overrun the area so that it becomes the opportunity for them to close the oil. This is where they are heading now, but I don’t think they will succeed. We have a huge force there and we are getting reinforcement tomorrow”, the official said.
In a separate interview with Sudan Tribune, Baliet county commissioner James Tor Monybuny confirmed that there have been several attempts by armed civilians from neighbouring counties - predominantly inhabited by the Nuer ethnic group - to take control of the area since Friday.
“There have been several attacks to create chaos in the area and harming the stability and national security of the country. There are people who do not value peace”, Monybuny said.
He claimed the group currently attempting to take control of the area has come from Nasir and the surrounding areas. Nasir is a known stronghold for hardline supporters of Machar and was the former deputy’s headquarters during the 1991 split.
Conflict erupted in South Sudan on 15 December after rival members of the Nuer and Dinka tribes in the presidential guards clashed in the capital, Juba.
President Salva Kiir, who hails from the Dinka tribe, has accused Machar, a Nuer, of orchestrating a coup attempt to overthow the government.
The violence has since spread throughout the country, including Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states.

Source Sudan Tribune

Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood plans protests at referendum committees

 

Una fonte della Fratellanza Musulmana ha dichiarato di aver preparato "sorprese" ai comitati referendari, con lo scopo di disturbare il referendum, e mettere in scena un sit-in in piazza Tahrir.

 

 

 

The source, who wishes to stay anonymous, said that pro-Muslim Brotherhood students at Cairo and Al-Azhar universities will try to protest in Tahrir Square Monday evening and raise images for toppled President Mohamed Morsy and Rabaa signs.

 

The source added that crowds will come suddenly from Ramses and the Abdel Moneim Riad streets and Qasr al-Nil Bridge, on Tuesday afternoon, to start an open-ended sit-in in Tahrir, beside besieging referendum committees.

 

Leader of the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy Mohamed al-Qoddousy said the Muslim Brotherhood agreed with other anti-military rule and revolutionary forces in a meeting that lasted for seven hours to seize the opportunity as the security forces will be preoccupied with the referendum. He added they had innovative means to fail the referendum.

 

“What we have agreed on will be remembered globally and immortalized in human history,” Qoddousy wrote on his Facebook account.

 

Qoddousy warned voters saying the response of the security forces to protests at committees may harm them.

 

“Staunch your blood, we promise to be peaceful, but we cannot ensure what the criminals might do as they would have no other choice but to attack everyone,” Qoddousy wrote.

 

The National Alliance leader and head of the Fadila Party Mahmoud Fatehy said current protests were not enough to bring down the regime. He added that the alliance plans to escalate its protests to overburden the security forces and bring down the draft constitution.

 

“We are well aware that the deep state had acquired immunity from peaceful demonstrations after a long experience since January 25 and the next revolutionary moves will be influential and painful to the body of state and head of the coup,” Fatehy added.

 

Source Egypt Independent

Lebanon politicians silent on Sharon’s death

Mentre i palestinesi e molti libanesi hanno "festeggiato" la morte dell'ex primo ministro israeliano Ariel Sharon, la maggior parte dei politici libanesi, compresi gli ex alleati di Israele in Libano, hanno mantenuto un silenzioso riserbo, mettendo in luce l'ombra lunga di uno degli aspetti più controversi della guerra civile in Libano.

 

Lebanese Christian groups refused to comment on the death of the “Butcher of Beirut” when contacted by The Daily Star. Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel's spokesperson said neither he nor the party, known in English as the Phalanges, had any comment on the news. The Lebanese Forces also said it had no comment when contacted.
Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi said his party had nothing to say on the matter.
Chibli Mallat, the lawyer who represented in a Belgian court the victims of the 1982 massacre that took place in the two Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, ascribed the silence of the Christian parties to shame.
“Many actions they took during the civil war are similar to what Sharon did, and they actually did his bidding for him in the camps,” said Mallat, a professor of law at the University of Utah and Beirut’s Université St. Joseph. “They are not in a position to play a great moral authority.”
Sharon died Saturday aged 85 after eight years in a coma. He was widely reviled in Lebanon for his role in the invasion of the country in 1982 and the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
In September 1982, Israel’s ally, Kataeb leader Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated. Christian militiamen, under Israeli cover and led by Elie Hobeika, entered Sabra and Shatila camps and killed hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children. The attack was supposedly in retaliation for Gemayel’s assassination, which was actually carried out by Syrian Socialist Nationalist operative Habib Chartouni. Israeli soldiers sealed the entrances to the camps, and, at Hobeika’s request, fired illuminating flares at night so the slaughter could continue.
Mallat said Hezbollah’s lack of comment was because the group was under indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and that they feared international justice.
He said that in light of the deterioration of Lebanon’s security, the death of Sharon and his role in the refugee camp massacres was not a high priority for Lebanese politicians.
“It would be bizarre if they would be attentive to the passing of Sharon,” he said, pointing to a number of recent car bombs in the capital and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“A massacre that took place 30 years ago against people who have no political say in Lebanon is of no interest,” he said.
Mallat said fear kept Lebanese of all political stripes from openly discussing events that occurred during the war.
“The most important thing to come out of Sharon’s death is this extraordinary international buzz about justice for the victims of Sabra and Shatila” he said.
But with leaders getting away with mass murder every day in Syria and Lebanon, he added, Sharon has become somewhat of a “soul mate” to them.
As defense minister, Sharon led the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which morphed into a long occupation. A U.N. investigation into the Sabra and Shatila massacres the next year concluded that Israel was responsible for the attacks, while the Israeli-run Kahan Commission the same year determined that Sharon was personally accountable.
The Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, Sarah Leah Whitson, said over the weekend it was a “shame” that Sharon “has gone to his grave without facing justice for his role in Sabra and [Shatila] and other abuses.”
News of his death was greeted with delight in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
“He is a butcher, he is a killer, he is a murderer,” said Walid, a Palestinian residing in Shatila.
The mere mention of Sharon’s name in the Palestinian camps inexorably summons frightening memories of the massacre more than 30 years ago.
As Walid remembers it, the massacre began with crowds of screaming women running down the market, after which came the shells. He had been away from home and permitted to enter the camp after the carnage only to discover that his four brothers had been executed.
“There were many murderers like Sharon, but he stood out, his name was notorious,” said Abu Alaa, Fatah’s top representative in the camp. “His greatest crimes were committed in the camps here. He was a good killer. That is how we will remember him.”
But Milana al-Burji, an elderly Lebanese woman living in Sabra, said she was unsure if the death of Sharon should be greeted with delight. Her husband and three sons had been lined up and shot, she said as she showed The Daily Star their photographs hanging on the walls of her tiny flat.
Milana, 70, recalled how she had waited anxiously outside the camp while it was sealed off during the massacre. “The militiamen assumed everyone in the camp was Palestinian,” she said. “I was the first one to enter when it was over ... I passed the bodies of dead people to reach those of my children and husband.”
“Sharon’s death doesn’t bring me peace,” she added. “I will never forgive him.”
Palestinians in the Beddawi refugee camp in north Lebanon also rejoiced at the news of Sharon’s death Saturday, with heavy celebratory gunfire heard throughout the area.
In south Lebanon, Ain al-Hilweh camp’s Palestinian inhabitants celebrated the news with gunfire, dance and revolutionary songs.
Several individuals handed out sweets to pedestrians and passing cars at the camp’s entrance, where Palestinian flags were raised.
Very few Lebanese ministers and MPs had something to say about the former Israeli minister’s death.
Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour said that “with the passing of Sharon, there is now less evil in this world.” While MP Akram Shehayeb of the National Struggle Front said over the weekend the news was a “relief for the martyrs of the Sabra and Shatila camps and for the Arab countries.” – Additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari.

Source Daily Star

Libya, two thousand troops to be trained in Italy this year

340 soldati libici sono attualmente in addestramento in Italia. Questi sono i primi a beneficiare di un accordo bilaterale che vedrà fino a 2.000 truppe libiche addestrate in Italia nel 2014.

 

A representative at the Italian Embassy in Tripoli told the Libya Herald that the programme, organised by the Italian Ministry of Defence, is the second phase of an agreement to help rebuild the Libyan armed forces signed by Libya and Italy in May 2012. Other training initiatives, with Britain, the United States and Turkey, are also underway.
Plans for the training began in November, when military experts from the Italian Army together with the Libyan authorities selected 500 soldiers to travel to Italy. At the end of this 14-week training with the Italian 80th Volunteer Regiment in Cassino, Libyan soldiers will have reached the infantry platoon level.
As well as supporting the armed forces, the Italian government also provides special assistance to Libya in areas of public administration and the local economy, the embassy said.

Source Libya Herald

IGAD mediators claim ‘progress’ on S. Sudan ceasefire talks

 

Il Governo e i ribelli del Sud Sudan, dopo le diverse settimane di violenza che hanno afflitto la nazione più giovane del mondo, hanno fatto pochi progressi diplomatici presso la sede dei colloqui bilaterali nella capitale etiope, Addis Abeba.

Negotiating teams of both sides earlier returned to face-to-face negotiations on Thursday after talks to reach a ceasefire deal stalled over the issue of freeing pro-rebel political figures who remain held in connection with an alleged failed coup attempt in mid-December.
The direct talks resumed Thursday after the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediating team led by Ethiopian former foreign Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, travelled to Juba where it held "fruitful talks" with South Sudan President Salva Kiir and political detainees.
"There is indeed major progress on the issue of cessation of hostilities", said the regional mediators following the two-day visit on 7 and 8 January to Juba.
However, there is no sign of progress in Addis Ababa beyond bringing together the two political actors, as sources close to the talks have dismissed IGAD mediator’s claim of progress.
During their meetings in Juba, the mediators presented a draft proposal on a cessation of hostilities agreement; however Kiir reaffirmed his government’s commitment to unconditional negotiations but refused to release the political detainees that the rebels demand.
Nonetheless, the mediators confirmed that the government and political detainees have committed to unconditional negotiations to end the ongoing hostilities that have claimed the lives over 1,000 people and forced tens of thousands flee their home.
After visiting the political prisoners, the detainees, according to IGAD mediators, said their status as detainees should not be an obstacle for the two parties to seal a ceasefire deal.
This has been welcomed by the regional bloc and seen as a key step forward to reaching an agreement on cessation of hostilities.
However an advisor to the rebel negotiating team in Addis Ababa told Sudan Tribune that the political prisoners have taken neutral positions because they don’t want to be considered as obstacles to the peace process and nor do they want to back government demands.
Different sources said president Kiir proposed to transfer the talks to the headquarters of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Juba, in a way to allow the political detainees to participate in the negotiations and return to the prison where they are detained every night.
The rebel’s negotiating team has not yet commented on whether it will continue to insist on the release of political prisoners before entering into negotiations. But the they rejected to move the talks to Juba
The spokesperson for the US Department of State, Jen Psaki, On Wednesday told reporters that the discussions in Addis Ababa have made some progress on a draft agreement on the cessation of hostilities stressing that "disagreements remain on the issue of the release of political detainees".
However an African official involved in the peace process told Sudan Tribune that there are also some disagreements on the cessation of hostilities, pointing that Juba demands to be able to impose its authority in the rebel held towns.
Juba also refuses a map detailing the positions the rebels claim they are controlling, the African Union source said, underlining that the two parties accepted that international observersbe commissioned with the monitoring of the cessation of hostilities.
UN agencies estimate that 250,000 people are displaced inside the country and thousands of refugees who fled to the neighbouring countries.
UGANDA MILITARY INTERVENTION
A rebel adviser who preferred anonymity told Sudan Tribune on Thursday that Uganda’s military intervention in South Sudan is also likely slow the peace process.
The source said rebels are not happy that a member of IGAD, the regional that is brokering the talks,has deployed troops in South Sudan.
Rebel negotiators are "most likely" to raise that issue in the coming days and might insist that Uganda withdraws its forces before any signing ceasefire agreement, he said.
Uganda has continued this week to deploy troops into South Sudan. Kampala says the reinforcement is to secure major installations such as the airport and not to become directly involved in the conflict, but rebels say the Ugandan troops are actively involved in the fighting.
A spokesman for the rebel delegation in Ethiopia, Brigader General Lul Raui Kong, on Wednesday accused Ugandan Air Forces of attacking rebel positions in South Sudan, an allegation Kampala denies.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, who is considered as a close ally of Kiir, has warned Machar against rejecting the ceasefire offer, warning that failing to agree to ceasing hostilities would result in IGAD member states uniting to defeat him.
The rebels describe such statements as an indication of Museveni’s bias.

Source Sudan Tribune

Yemen, two die and one injured in two separate attacks in Aden

Due addetti alla sicurezza sono stati uccisi da uomini armati non identificati ad Aden. Sempre ad Aden, un ufficiale della polizia politica è stato ferito in un attentato che si ritiene esser stato un tentativo di omicidio.

At around 11:00 a.m., gunmen in Hilux model Toyota pickup truck fired at Officer Mubarak Lashram and Mohammed Ali Hussein, a soldier, in the Sheikh Othman district as they were leaving the Al-Nasr Military Camp, according to a security source who spoke to the Yemen Times on condition of anonymity.

Both men, who were working with the local police force, died at the scene.

Earlier in the morning, at 9:00 a.m., a car bomb attached to high-ranking Political Security Officer Col. Mohammed Al-Qadi’s car exploded in the Saira district in a believed assignation attempt.  

Brig. Sadeq Haid, Aden’s security chief, said Al-Qadi lost a leg in the explosion and is currently being treated in a local hospital.

No one has yet been blamed for the explosion, said Haid.

The anonymous source said that despite incidents like those on Tuesday, “the security situation in Aden is 80 percent stable.”

People are losing faith in the government’s ability to ensure order as a result of such incidents, said Abdulrahman Anees, an Aden-based journalist.

While some have pinned possible blame on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for the car bomb, many security officials shot down such claims.

Last Thursday, Col. Marwan
Moqbel, a member of the Political Security Forces, was assassinated as he was leaving his house in Aden’s Al-Qalooah  area.

No one has been arrested in connection with the crime.

Source Yemen Times

Egypt poll: 87.6% of voters to say 'yes' on draft constitution

Un recente sondaggio del Centro di Informazione e Supporto Decisionale ha rivelato che 87,6 per cento di coloro che intendono partecipare al referendum voterà per il nuovo progetto di Costituzione, con un significativoaumento del 5 per cento rispetto ad una precedente indagine.

More than 70 percent of respondents were aware of the referendum's date. About 23 percent said they were unaware of the voting day, and approximately 4 percent mentioned the wrong date.
According to the results, 78.3 percent said they would cast their vote. The percentage of male participants in rural areas was high, compared to other groups.
The phone survey included 1,341 citizens over the age of 18. It took place between 4 and 6 January 2014.
The center had earlier conducted four polls on the subject on 28 November, 8 December, 21 December and 28 December.

Source Egypt Independent

Lebanon, Sleiman won’t accept Hezbollah isolation

 

Il presidente libanese Michel Sleiman non approverà un governo in cui Hezbollah non è rappresentato, ha dichiarato in un'intervista pubblicata oggi il presidente del Parlamento Nabih Berri

Sleiman “will not accept the isolation of Hezbollah or other political forces from any future Cabinet,” Berri told the local daily An-Nahar.
In response to a question regarding a proposal by the Future Movement-March 14 coalition that Hezbollah should appoint “friends” rather than party members as ministers, Berri said: “This is isolation in itself.”
Berri also outright rejected the Future Movement’s approach to resolving the Cabinet crisis.
“It is not a matter of questions and answers between the parties,” Berri said in reference to the list of questions put forward by the Future Movement.
“This is unacceptable,” he said, while stressing the importance of “dialogue” among the rival political groups “rather than cross-examination.”
The Future Movement has demanded answers to five questions centering mainly on the government’s policy statement, a March 8 demand for veto power and the rotation of ministerial portfolios.
Future MP Nuhad Mashnouq said Wednesday his bloc could not adopt a final stance on the 8-8-8 Cabinet proposal before it received clear answers to these questions. Mashnouq left for Paris Thursday for consultations with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Berri insisted that the policy statement will only be discussed after the government has been formed and said Cabinet portfolios have yet to be tackled.
“President Sleiman and I have agreed to postpone the ministerial statement,” he said.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said he was doing his best to bring together the views of the warring political forces.
“It is important that a government is formed as soon as possible," Jumblatt told the local newspaper As-Safir.
Intensified attempts to break the nine-month Cabinet stalemate have made some progress, a senior March 8 source said Thursday.
Sleiman and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam are determined to form a neutral Cabinet on Jan. 17 if no agreement is reached between the rival political factions on an all-embracing government, sources at Baabda Palace told The Daily Star.

Source Daily Star

Sudan’s army and rebels both claim victory after fighting in Two Areas, Darfur

 

Il vicepresidente Sudanese Hassabo Abdelahman ha invitato i ribelli ad unirsi in un processo di pace con l'esercito, mentre gli insorti hanno sostenuto di aver conseguito una vittoria negli scontri che hanno avuto luogo in due aree del Sud Darfur.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) since last December, launched a comprehensive military campaign against the rebels of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) who established their joint command in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan..
Rebel sources admit that SAF massed for this campaign significant number of troops, claiming they include former rebels who joined the government, and militias from Darfur and South Kordofan.
On Wednesday, SAF spokesperson Al-Sawarmi Khaled released two statements where he spoke about an ambush on a commercial convoy in South Darfur state and a rebel attack on Dalmai area in the Nuba Mountains. In a separate statement, he further announced a military assault on the SPLA-N positions in the Blue Nile.
Khaled said that Sudanese soldiers escorting a commercial convoy managed to repel an attack carried out by the fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) while they were in Fogo Diko area on the road connecting South and Central Darfur states.
He stated that the escort force repulsed the assailants and captured 14 vehicles. He added that the army chased the rebels who fled in direction of Kabkabiya in North Darfur and seized a truck loaded with three machine guns, captured a Land Cruiser vehicle and destroyed two others.
No rebel group released any statement on this attack. Also, it is not clear which SLM faction carried out the attack. The South Darfur state, however, is known for banditry, robbery and attacks on commercial convoys by armed gangs.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N) spokesperson Arnu Lodi said a joint force from his group and the SLM group led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur attacked Dalami town in the northern part of the troubled state.
Lodi said the attack started from six o’clock to midday stressing they withdrew after inflecting heavy causalities on the government forces.
"In the same time our artillery SPLM/A managed to shell the garrison of Umbrambitah to destroy the capacities of the regime army", he further said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
Conversely, SAF spokesperson from Khartoum said the army managed to repulse the attack on Dalami, adding that the shelling killed a number of women and children.
The Armed forces inflicted heavy losses on the rebels and destroyed a truck they had while the army chased the remaining rebels in a combing operation conducted after the attack, Khaled claimed.
The recent fighting between the Sudanese army and the rebels in El-Abassiya and Rashad areas in the South Kordofan displaced some 1000 people who are in need of food and shelter , said the government body, Humanitarian Aid Commission.
Speaking in the capital of South Kordofan, Kadugli the newly appointed vice president Hassabo Abdelahman reaffirmed that SAF will continue its military operations against the rebels, stressing that the current campaign is "the last option to establish security and stability in the state".
He further renewed the government’s call for the SPLM-N and all the SRF groups to join the negotiating table in order to reach a final peace in the country.
On the other hand, SAF spokesperson said in a statement issued on Wednesday night that the Sudanese troops took the control of the strategic area of Malken which is the southern gateway of Ingessana Hills in the Blue Nile state.
Khaled said the army inflected heavy losses on the rebel SPLA-N without elaborating.

Source Sudan Tribune

Yemen, US drone attacks in Yemen protect no one but Al-Qaeda

Lo scorso 5 dicembre, gli yemeniti assistettero impotenti ad uno dei massacri più terribili nella memoria recente del paese. Terroristi vestiti con uniformi dell'esercito attaccarono un ospedale all'interno del compound del Ministero della Difesa nella capitale, Sana'a, uccidendo più di 50 persone e ferendone più di 150.

The victims were men, women and children; patients, doctors and nurses; locals and foreigners. Footage from surveillance cameras showed a gunman attacking a surgeon as he operated on a patient in the emergency room, and another casually lobbing a grenade into a crowd of people cowering on the floor.

The spontaneous public backlash against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was more intense than anything the country has witnessed in decades. AQAP, which has long tried to cultivate an image of fighting on behalf of ordinary Yemenis against foreign aggression, was excoriated on TV, newspapers, radio and social media—all this was even before the group announced responsibility for the attack.

But then, on the following night after the government began broadcasting the videos, and as rage against AQAP was reaching a fevered pitch, an unmanned American military drone flying over the Rada’a province, some 150 kilometers south-east of Sana’a, fired a missile into Yemen. It struck a vehicle in a wedding procession, killing 12 people and wounding dozens more. Almost instantly, the public discourse shifted, the anger redirected. Al-Qaeda had almost destroyed itself but America came to its rescue.

In a country that has suffered almost a decade of U.S. drone strikes and watched them obliterate hundreds of innocent lives, it mattered little that the “official” target in Rada’a were several militants among the wedding goers. Rather, that drone strike reminded Yemenis, once again, that it is American terror that looms over them—constantly. As one Yemeni activist said: “If you escape AQAP, you don’t escape U.S. drones.”

AQAP seized the opportunity. On Dec. 22, the group’s military leader, Qasim Al-Raimi, apologized for the hospital attack in a video statement and promised to pay compensation to survivors and victims’ families. The mistake, he claimed, was that the group had attacked the wrong building, that their actual target had been the drone control center within the ministry of defense compound, jointly run by U.S. and Yemeni military personnel. However implausible this story may be, the apology and promise of compensation are in stark contrast to America’s cold silence for the civilians it killed.

American intervention did years worth of public relations on behalf of AQAP. While this is the latest and certainly the most blatant example, it is far from the only instance of the U.S. indirectly assisting Al-Qaeda’s PR machine—and even its human resources department. It was actually in the Rada’a district that a researcher, who recently visited the area, discovered a local AQAP leader who was complaining about new recruits not carrying out their regular religious prayers—they did not join Al-Qaeda for ideological reasons, but because they saw the group as a means to avenge relatives killed in U.S. drone strikes and for other reasons that have nothing to do with ideology.

In many parts of Yemen, it is not AQAP that is feared, but America. Not long ago, I visited the area of Khawlan, a 30-minute drive from Sana’a, where a U.S. missile struck a vehicle full of passengers, killing everyone, including a local schoolteacher. He’d been with his cousin, the driver, who had picked up other people as a normal fare ride. How were the cousins to know that these people were on the U.S. kill list? Children were waiting in the classroom for two hours the next morning before the news came that their teacher, Ali, was dead. Now, whenever teachers are late for class, students at the school become terrified that the U.S. may have killed them.

U.S. drones also undermine the legitimacy of America’s valuable ally in Yemen, president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. In August, Hadi visited the U.S., and while meeting with CIA director John Brennan a drone was fired into his hometown of Abyan. The president’s return to Yemen was followed by days of intensive drone strikes across the country. Hadi then publicly defended the drone strikes—all of which made him look like more of an American stooge than a man of his people. Hadi is already in an uphill battle to prove himself to Yemenis, as regional and Western powers had selected him as the only name on the ballot to replace former President Ali Abdulla Saleh.

There are also economic consequences for drone strikes. For example, the same month that Hadi was in the U.S., the Yemeni government announced that it qualified 18 international oil companies to bid on 20 onshore exploration blocks, mostly in the provinces of Hadramout and Marib, which hold more than 85 percent of the country’s oil reserves.

Hadramout and Marib also happen to be the sites of regular U.S. strikes that targeted not only suspected Islamic militants but also powerful local leaders, including a prominent religious cleric who preached against Al-Qaeda and many civilians. This has had locals increasingly protesting against U.S. drones and the central government’s complicity. This also exacerbates pre-existing tensions in Hadramout, where many Yemenis have long sought autonomy from Sana’a.

In such an environment, it is unclear how oil companies would mitigate the risk of their staff and operations being held hostage to angry locals after another drone strike.

While the U.S. is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Yemen, Washington has done an excellent job of having itself perceived as the enemy of the Yemeni people while helping Al-Qaeda in ways Al-Qaeda could never have dreamt of itself.

Source Yemen Times