Saturday September 14th 2013
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Syria's chemical weapons must be destroyed or removed by mid-2014, under an agreement between the US and Russia.
US Secretary of State John Kerry outlined a framework document under which Syria must hand over a full list of its stockpile within a week.
If Syria fails to comply, the deal could be enforced by a UN resolution backed by the threat of sanctions or military force.
The US says the Syrian regime killed hundreds in a gas attack last month.
The government of Bashar al-Assad denies the allegations and has accused the rebels of carrying out the attack on 21 August.
In a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Mr Kerry called on the Assad government to live up to its public commitments.
"There can be no room for games. Or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime," he said.
Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov said if Syria failed to comply, then a UN resolution would be sought under Chapter VII of the UN charter, which allows for the use of force.
BEIRUT — Syria's main opposition group in exile was "deeply skeptical" Friday about Damascus signing an international treaty banning the production and use of chemical weapons, saying a U.N. resolution was needed to enforce compliance.
Syrian President Bashar Assad told Russian TV that his government would start submitting data on its chemical weapons stockpile a month after signing the convention.
His ambassador to the United Nations said that as of Thursday, Syria had become a full member of the treaty, which requires destruction of all chemical weapons.
"This gesture comes as too little, too late to save civilians from the regime's murderous intent," said the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Council.
"It is clearly an attempt to evade international action as well as accountability in front of the Syrian people," it said.
It said the regime must not be allowed to use diplomacy "to indefinitely stall international action while it continues its policy of widespread violence against civilians."
Activists say heavy clashes between Syrian opposition fighters and Islamic extremist rebel factions near the Iraqi border have killed at least five people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says the ongoing battles Saturday in the town of Boukamal pit the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq against more moderate rebel brigades.
Infighting among rebel groups, particularly between al-Qaida-linked extremist factions and more moderate units, has escalated in recent months. The violence undermines the opposition's primary goal of overthrowing President Bashar Assad.
It also complicates efforts by the U.S. and its allies to provide greater support to the Syrian opposition.
Russia's Moskva missile cruiser -- called a "carrier-killer" by NATO -- passed through the Straits of Gibraltar this week and is headed toward the Mediterranean to command the Russian naval force, RT.com reported.
The move comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry began a critical set of meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to assess whether Russia can present a credible plan for bringing Syrian chemical weapons under international monitoring and control.
The destroyer is reportedly expected to reach its destination by Sept. 15 or Sept. 16.
A military source told Interfax news agency that the crew is ready to perform combat missions.
Sources also said that the deployment is one of several aimed at "complex monitoring" of the situation in Syria.
At least 30 people have been killed and 25 wounded in a bomb attack on a Sunni mosque on the outskirts of the central Iraqi city of Baquba, officials say.
Two bombs were detonated as worshippers left the al-Salam mosque after Friday prayers in the village of Umm al-Adham.
There have recently been several deadly attacks in Baquba, a religiously mixed city 60km (35 miles) north of Baghdad.
Sectarian violence has surged across the country in recent months, reaching its highest level since 2008.
More than 5,000 people have been killed so far this year, 800 of them in August alone, according to the United Nations.
Shia militia 'remobilising' In Friday's attack, the bombs exploded outside the mosque in Umm al-Adham in quick succession at around 12:00 (09:00 GMT).
The first device targeted worshippers leaving the building, while the second was detonated as a crowd gathered at the scene to help.
The AFP news agency reported that both Sunnis and Shia had attended Friday prayers at the mosque.
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban attacked a U.S. Consulate in western Afghanistan with car bombs and guns on Friday, killing at least four Afghans but failing to enter the compound or hurt any Americans.
The attack in the city of Herat underscored concerns about an insurgency that shows no signs of letting up as U.S.-led troops reduce their presence ahead of a full withdrawal next year.
Within hours of the assault, the U.S. temporarily evacuated many of its consular personnel to the embassy in Kabul, 650 kilometers (400 miles) to the east.
Herat lies near Afghanistan's border with Iran and is considered one of the safer cities in the country, with a strong Iranian influence. Friday's attack highlighted the Taliban's reach: The militants once concentrated their activities in the east and the south, but in recent years have demonstrated an ability to strike with more frequency in the once-peaceful north and west.
In a phone call, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi took responsibility for the assault.
An interpreter and three members of the Afghan security forces were killed, said U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf.
Seven militants, including two drivers of explosives-laden vehicles, also died, according to Gen. Rahmatullah Safi, Herat province's chief of police.
CAIRO -- Al-Qaida's leader on Friday marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by calling on Muslims to strike inside the United States, with big attacks or small, using any opportunity they can to "bleed" America financially.
In an audio message released two days after the 12th anniversary of the attacks, Ayman al-Zawahri said America is not a "mythic power" and that the mujahedeen – Islamic holy warriors – can defeat it with attacks "on its own soil."
Al-Zawahri, the successor to Osama bin Laden, used the anniversary to argue that the United States can be defeated by targeting its economy. At the same time, he also addressed the ongoing upheaval in the Arab world. Pointing to a power struggle going on within the rebellion against Syria's regime, he warned jihadi fighters in that country's civil war not "compromise" with more secular or moderate rebel factions, who he said would eventually turn against the al-Qaida-linked radicals.
The message's authenticity could not be independently confirmed. It was posted on a militant website commonly used by al-Qaida.
Iranian president Hassan Rohani said his government plans to restart nuclear talks with world powers in New York, where he will attend the United Nations General Assembly this month.
The "serious talks" should help lead to a "win-win" final outcome in the dispute over the Islamic republic's nuclear program,Mr Rohani said in an interview on Iranian state-run television yesterday. The negotiations will involve the International Atomic Energy Agency and the so-called P5+1 group, made up of the five permanent UN Security Council members in addition to Germany, he said.
"The nuclear issue will be resolved soon if the other side is serious," he said. "The final result should be a win-win. We are ready for it."
Rohani, who succeeded President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month, has pledged to ease international sanctions imposed by Western powers, which accuse his country of developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes. His comments on the talks came a day after the UN's atomic watchdog said Iran was not cooperating with IAEA inspectors.
"Given the nature and extent of credible information available to the agency about possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program, it remains essential and urgent for Iran to engage with us on the substance of our concerns," IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said.
Rohani also said Iran plans to increase output of crude and natural gas. The Islamic republic is the world's sixth-biggest oil producer and holds the largest proven gas reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy published in June. US, European and UN sanctions have hobbled Iran's energy industry, restricting oil exports and discouraging foreign investment.
Tens of thousands of Polish trade unionists kicked off a march through the capital on Saturday in the finale of a four-day protest against the unpopular and increasingly fragile centre-right government.
The protest reflects widespread public gloom over this year's sharp economic slowdown in Poland, which has been dragged down by the eurozone crisis.
The disillusionment has plunged the coalition government's popularity to its lowest level since Prime Minister Donald Tusk took office in 2007.
Marek Lewandowski, spokesman for the Polish trade union federation Solidarity, told AFP,"We want the departure of Donald Tusk. This is the only way to change social policy in Poland."
Since dawn, hundreds of buses with protesters have descended on Warsaw. Lewandowski said the right-of-centre Solidarity was expecting 100,000 of its members to join the protest, with two other unions also expected on the streets Saturday.
An elite Syrian unit that runs the government's chemical arms program
has been scattering the weapons to dozens of sites across the country,
potentially complicating US plans for air strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The
newspaper, citing unnamed US officials and lawmakers briefed on the
intelligence, said on its website on Thursday that a secretive military
group known as Unit 450 had been moving the stocks around for months to
help avoid detection of the weapons.
US and Israeli intelligence agencies and Middle Eastern officials
still believe they know the location of most of the government's
chemical weapons supply, the Journal said.
But "we know a lot less than we did six months ago about where the chemical weapons are," one official was quoted as saying.
The
United States and its allies say Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces
carried out a chemical weapons attack in a Damascus neighborhood on
Aug. 21 that US officials say killed about 1,400 people, including 400
children. Assad and Syrian ally Russia blame rebel forces.
The
United States and Russia began high-stakes talks on Thursday on Moscow's
plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons as Damascus formally
applied to join a global poison gas ban.
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The leader of al-Qaeda has issued a message marking the 12th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks.
In the audio message, Ayman al-Zawahiri talks of the need for
small-scale attacks - and even a boycott - to damage the US economy.
The message may be seen as a sign of diminishing ambitions
and a more realistic assessment of what al-Qaeda's central organisation
can achieve.
Zawahiri's message also praised the bombings in Boston in April.
His message begins with a familiar claim that his organisation has the upper hand.
He says that the US has fled Iraq and Afghanistan in "defeat".
He goes on to emphasise the importance of so-called "lone-wolf", or small-scale attacks as part of al-Qaeda's strategy.
Such attacks, he argues, will have an economic impact above all.
"We must bleed America economically by provoking it, so that
it continues its massive expenditures on security. America's weak spot
is its economy, which began to totter from the drain of its military and
security expenditure," he says.
WASHINGTON – Federal investigators
reportedly are looking into Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign
and its ties to a corruption case against a D.C. businessman sources
say bankrolled questionable political operations.
Investigators have been looking into claims that Jeffrey Thompson
allegedly shelled out more than a half million dollars to fund secret
“street teams” operating in Texas, North Carolina, Indiana and
Pennsylvania for Clinton’s 2008 campaign.
The teams would canvas neighborhoods and look for strategies to target voters in predominantly black and Hispanic precincts.
The Washington Post reported Friday that
investigators are now turning their attention to Minyon Moore, a senior
Clinton campaign adviser, and her role in arranging the street teams.
The development comes as Clinton weighs a 2016 bid for the presidency.
The issue, according to a review of court documents, is that the
creation of an off-the-books campaign with the cooperation of a senior
campaign adviser could violate campaign finance rules. However, to do
that, the government would have to prove that the creation and funding
of the street teams violated federal campaign contribution limits.
Sources reportedly say Thompson is being accused of paying for the
street teams, Moore is being investigated for her role in arranging them
and New York marketing executive Troy White is accused of running them.
On Wednesday, White pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for
failing to file $600,000 in tax returns reflecting the amount that his
company Wytehouse Marketing Inc. was paid to run the street teams.
Antiwar activist Nathan Ryan looked to candidate Barack Obama in the
2008 presidential campaign to channel his opposition to the Iraq war.
But now, with Obama making a muscular case for military strikes on Syria, he is looking elsewhere.
“Like a lot of people, I was really hopeful that after eight
years of the Bush administration, he represented something different,
and a changing of direction,” said Ryan, who lives in Chicago and has
taken part in three protests against strikes. “There’s definitely some
disappointment.”
The debate over whether to intervene militarily in Syria is the final
break in a long-splintering relationship between President Obama and
the antiwar movement. Antiwar activists played an important role in the
president’s 2008 campaign, helping Obama defeat Hillary Rodham Clinton
in the Democratic primaries and Republican nominee John McCain in the
general election.
But five years later, a broad coalition of
liberal groups that make up the antiwar movement is more likely to
oppose the president on foreign policy. And on Syria, the groups
successfully pressured Democrats on Capitol Hill to defy Obama,
weakening him in the process.
WASHINGTON — A
North Carolina congressman is warning that Syrian chemical weapons, if
gotten into terrorists hands, could be used to attack port cities such
as Wilmington, N.C., Charleston, S.C., or Boston, killing hundreds of
thousands of people.
Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., the chairman of the
Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, said
the chemicals also could be placed on trucks and driven inland to such
cities as Charlotte or Raleigh, N.C., or Washington and wreak more
damage.
“They could be brought anywhere,” Pittenger said Friday,
three weeks after hundreds of Syrians were killed in an alleged chemical
attack blamed on President Bashar Assad. “What Assad has done is
barbaric and evil. But what could be done with these chemicals and
biological weapons would be horrific if they fall into the hands of
these terrorists.”
Pittenger’s warnings of an attack on U.S. soil, which have raised
skeptical eyebrows from several defense experts, came as Assad formally
agreed to surrender his chemical weapons arsenal. The move is part of
Russian negotiations to head off a U.S. military strike against Assad’s
regime.
Syria is thought to have one of the largest stockpiles of nerve and mustard gases in the world.
Pittenger
said he was hopeful but that he had little faith in diplomatic
negotiations with Russia. He wants the White House to consider another
option. The Obama administration should lead efforts to equip and train
tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who are living in Jordan and
elsewhere “to fight and take back their own country,” he said.
Pittenger,
like other members of Congress, has raised concerns that military
strikes on Syria might lead to a collapse of its government. In the
ensuing chaos, terrorists might capture weapons stockpiles.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)
took to the House floor on Thursday, proposing repercussions for the
Obama administration over its "blinded opaqueness" on the IRS scandal
that emerged earlier this year.
Gohmert lamented how "unbelievable" it is that the government has grown so "powerful," warning that "we must make sure that these kind of abuses stop."
"If the administration is not going to be forthcoming with
information about the IRS, then it may be necessary to defund part of
the executive branch until such time as they become truthful," Gohmert
said.
Gohmert also went after former IRS Director of Tax-Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner. Emails released by the House Ways and Means Committee this week appeared to show conflict with Lerner's testimony that she "did nothing wrong" regarding accusations of targeting Tea Party organizations.
"It certainly appears that the IRS was weaponized for the political purpose of one party," Gohmert said.
This was not the first instance of Gohmert railing against the IRS.
Back in May, he rewinded to the 18th century, claiming that the
organization would have "shot" Boston Tea Party protesters and "killed
off" signers of the Declaration of Independence.
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Allegedly, $16M worth of money destined for AIDS victims and the needy was embezzled. 13 Democrats have been charged.
This is the kind of story that would have been featured in the 6
o'clock news and would have brought down the Obama machine. Of course,
we'll never really hear much more about this story again.
Sun Times:
In all, prosecutors are alleging a total of $16 million in fraud
involving state health or commerce department grants and contracts.
Thirteen people have been charged so far, six who have pleaded guilty.
Two of them have ties to President Barack Obama. One is the
daughter of his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Another was chief of staff to Obama’s longtime friend Eric E.
Whitaker when Whitaker was Illinois’ public health chief.
It's probably safe to say that Egyptian media won't be portraying Barack Obama as "god of all things"
anytime soon. An Egyptian media source has actually taken the opposite
position, portraying the president as the devil himself, PJ Media reported Wednesday.
Raymond Ibrahim, author of "Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians," said the Egyptian paper Al Wafd published a grotesque picture portraying Obama as Satan,
and said it represents the growing hatred many people in the region
have for the president, thanks, he said, to Obama's staunch and
unwavering support for Islamists and jihadis, "whether in Nigeria, Libya, Egypt,
or Syria — even as they terrorize, murder, rape, and burn down
Christian churches, that is, even as they engage in diabolical
activities."
A blog post at the Gateway Pundit
wondered if the media -- including Fox News' Bill O'Reilly -- would
denounce the image as racist, reminding readers of the controversy
sparked by a series on the History Channel where a character portraying the devil had an uncanny resemblance to Obama.
A post at Atlas Shrugged
says that while the world "respected the forceful and decisive Bush,"
they "scorn and disrespect the weak and feckless Obama, and therefore
us."
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