20 juin 2009
Ya'alon: Iran heading for a revolution
Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon believes Iran is heading for a revolution but doesn't think it will have any effect on the country's nuclear program, JPost reported. "Since I was head of Military Intelligence, I have said, and I say it again now, that some 70 percent of Iranians are opposed to the ayatollah regime," Ya'alon said at a 'Shabbatarbut' event in Modi'in on Saturday. "[Opposition leader Mir Hossein] Mousavi and his wife have brought a new spirit of openness, and so I repeat - there will be a revolution in Iran." "It's impossible to hide the energy there now, and the Iranian regime is going to have to take that into consideration," he continued. "It makes no difference regarding the nuclear issue, but this regime will fall." However, he called the current turmoil in the Islamic republic "a very encouraging sign for the West," vis-à-vis the wider regional outlook, saying that essentially, it was a "confrontation between Jihadists and the West." The strategic affairs minister went on to express pessimism regarding Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. "Since the dawn of Zionism, there has never been a Palestinian leadership prepared to recognize the Jewish right to a homeland," he said. "We can hold negotiations, but I call upon Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] to prove that he's capable of governing over the Palestinians from the bottom up." (21,39)
'Mousavi insists Iran vote be annulled'
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi declared Saturday he was "ready for martyrdom," an aide said, in the protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic and brought warnings of bloodshed from Iran's Supreme Leader. The Defeated presidential candidate's comments came as police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied Saturday in open defiance of Iran's clerical government, wounding at least 50, witnesses said. "In a public address in southwestern Tehran, Mousavi said he was ready for martyrdom and that he would continue his path," an ally of the opposition leader, who asked not to be named, told Reuters by telephone from the Jeyhun street in Tehran. Mousavi also called for a national strike if he is arrested, a witness said. Witnesses told The Associated Press that between 50 and 60 protesters were hospitalized after the beatings by police and pro-government militia, in a sharp escalation of Iran's most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Eyewitnesses described fierce clashes after some 3,000 protesters, many wearing black, chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to dictatorship!" near Revolution Square in downtown Tehran. Police fired tear gas, water cannons and guns but it was not clear if they were firing live ammunition. Some protesters appeared to be fighting back, setting fire to militia members' motorcycles, witnesses said. Helicopters hovered, ambulances raced through the streets and black smoke rose over the city. Police and militia were blocking protesters from gathering on the main thoroughfare running east from Revolution Square to Freedom Square, the witnesses said. Meanwhile, Mousavi also repeated his demand Saturday that the presidential vote be annulled. In a letter addressed to the country's highest electoral authority, Mousavi renewed the demand in unprecedented defiance of Iran's supreme leader, who has effectively declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the June 12 election and ordered an end to protests by demonstrators who say Mousavi was the winner. In the letter, Mousavi listed several allegations of voter fraud that he called proof the election should be held again. He did not mention Khamenei by name or say whether he supported ongoing street protests. The letter was the first comment by Mousavi since Khamenei addressed the country during Friday prayers. A massive rally in Freedom Square Monday set off three consecutive days of protests demanding the government cancel and rerun the elections. Mousavi says he won and Ahmadinejad stole the election through widespread fraud. Mousavi has not been seen since or issued public comment since a rally Thursday. Web sites run by Mousavi supporters had said he planned to post a message, but there was no statement by the time of the planned street protests at 4 P.M. Some pro-reform Web sites called for people to take to the streets. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sternly warned opposition leaders Friday to end street protests or be held responsible for the bloodshed, the violence and rioting to come. The statement effectively closed the door to Mousavi's demand for a new election, ratcheting up the possibility of a violent confrontation. (21,37)
EU, US slam threats to Iran protesters
EU and US leaders, as well as Amnesty International, on Friday condemned Iran's threat of crackdown on reformist protesters. US President Barack Obama said he was very concerned by the "tenor and tone" of comment's by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a television interview taped Friday with CBS News' Harry Smith, Obama said that Iran's government should "recognize that the world is watching." He said that "how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard" will signal "what Iran is and is not." French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped Iran's leaders "don't do anything irreversible" that could further endanger the country's stability. "We support the Iranian people, and today the Iranian people are on the street," he said. (07,00)
19 juin 2009
Khameini tells Mousavi: Accept elections results or leave Iran
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly given defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi to either accept the disputed results of the recent elections, or leave the country for exile. Khameini has instructed Mousavi to stand beside him as he uses Friday prayers at Tehran University to discuss the elections results for the first time and call for national unity, according to The London Times. The spiritual leader has urged Iranians to unite behind hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but supporters of defeated Mousavi have so far ignored the call, holding huge rallies in defiance of an official ban. Thousands of people streamed into Tehran University on Friday to hear Khamenei speak. Some were draped in Iranian flags and carried pictures of Ahmadinejad. Others held sheets of paper with anti-Western slogans. "Don't let the history of Iran be written with the pen of foreigners," one flyer said, reflecting official Iranian anger at international criticism of the post-election violence. Khamenei's speech follows a sixth day of protests by Mousavi supporters. Hundreds of thousands of protesters wearing black and carrying candles filled the streets of Tehran again Thursday, joining Mousavi to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran's disputed election. The massive protest openly defied orders from Iran's supreme leader, despite a government attempt to placate Mousavi and his supporters by inviting the reformist, and two other candidates who ran against hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to a meeting with the country's main electoral authority. (07,11)
18 juin 2009
Defense minister, Egyptian president scheduled to meet Sunday
Defense Minister Ehud Barak will be traveling to Egypt on Sunday for a meeting with President Hosni Mubarak. Among other issues, the two leaders are expected to discuss the efforts to release abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Meanwhile, the International Red Cross again urged Hamas to allow regular contact between Shalit and his family. On Wednesday, Gilad Shalit's mother, Aviva, told students that she hopes her son's mention in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent speech is an indication of the PM's intention to achieve progress on the issue. "Gilad's return home as soon as possible must be advanced, as every day in captivity is a nightmare," she said. Earlier, former United States President Jimmy Carter handed over a letter written by Shalit's parents to senior Hamas officials so that they transfer it to the abducted soldier. Hamas sources said they will comply with the request. (22,37)
Mousavi and tens of thousands of supporters rally in Teheran
Tens of thousands of black-clad protesters filled the streets of Teheran again Thursday, joining opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran's disputed election. Many in the massive crowd wore green wristbands and carried flowers in mourning as they filed into Imam Khomenei Square, a large plaza in the heart of the capital named for the founder of the Islamic Revolution, witnesses said. Demonstrators marched silently until they arrived at the square, where some chanted "Death to the Dictator!" and "Where are our votes!" The witnesses spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation. Foreign news organizations are barred from reporting on Teheran's streets. (20,13)
Red Cross to Hamas: Let us visit Schalit
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) criticized Hamas on Thursday for its continued refusal to allow the organization's representatives to visit captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, as well as its refusal to allow him contact with his family throughout three years of captivity. In a statement issued Thursday, the ICRC stated: "Since [Gilad Schalit's] capture in June 2006, the ICRC has repeatedly asked Hamas to allow the exchange of Red Cross messages between Gilad Schalit and his family. The most recent requests were made at the highest level, but these and all others have been refused." "Repeated requests by the ICRC to visit Gilad Schalit to ascertain his conditions of detention and treatment have also been refused," the organization said. "We welcome the fact that yesterday, former US president Jimmy Carter handed Hamas a letter from Gilad Schalit's family to him," said Béatrice Mégevand-Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa. "However, this cannot replace the regular and unconditional contacts with his family that Gilad Schalit is entitled to under international humanitarian law. The ICRC regrets that in his case, political considerations are judged more important than the simple humanitarian gesture of allowing a captive to be in touch with his family after three years of separation." Mégevand-Roggo added that the people holding Schalit were entirely responsible for ensuring that his treatment and living conditions were humane and dignified. In its statement, the ICRC said that it had held several meetings with Schalit's parents, Noam and Aviva, to brief them on its efforts regarding their 22-year-old son. (20,11)
Blair: ME peace possible 'within a year'
An Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement could be reached "within the year," but only if all sides agree to peaceful negotiations, Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair said in an interview to be broadcast Friday. The former British prime minister said there was a "great sense of hope and expectation" in the Middle East after US President Barack Obama's recent outreach speech to the Islamic world delivered in Cairo. "If President Obama gets the right partner, on the Israeli side but also on the Palestinian side, his determination to do this I have no doubt about at all," he told interviewer David Frost. "I have no doubt at all of his sincerity or his determination," he said on Frost Over The World, on Al Jazeera's English-language channel. "So if everyone would commit themselves to a peaceful political negotiation to a two-state solution, you could have this deal within the year. But people have got to be prepared to commit to it." "I think the Obama speech was really a huge event... I think this was a very big moment, a vital moment, for the region and for the wider world," Blair continued." I think there is a great sense of hope and expectation." "The important thing is to understand that President Obama doesn't need cheerleaders, he needs partners," he stressed. "He needs people who are going to help him achieve what he wants." Blair said Sunday's speech by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in which he endorsed a demilitarized Palestinian state, was a "step forward," but said he recognized the criticism. "From the outside they're going to be skeptical, some cynical, some worried: 'Well what does this really mean?' and 'Are we going to be able to make progress on a basis that is acceptable to the Palestinian people?'," he said. "And that's obviously still to be decided. "So my view is, yes in that sense it is a step forward and now we've got to wait and see what actually happens." (20,10)
'Israel and US agree on 19 of 20 topics'
A day after his first meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which yet again aired the sharp differences between Israel and the US on the settlements issue, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman played down the tension between the administrations, saying that Israel and the US "agree on 19 of 20 topics." Speaking with Israeli correspondents in Washington, Lieberman explained that indeed the settlements remained an unresolved point, but he sensed from the Americans "goodwill to bridge over the differences." "We are trying to put everything on the table in the most candid fashion, no tricks and no shticks," said the foreign minister, "and we believe that the best mediator is direct talks between the sides." While Israel didn't plan on creating new settlements, Lieberman continued, in line with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's declaration in his Sunday Bar Ilan policy speech, that "we have no intention on suffocating our people." Speaking with Israeli correspondents in Washington, Lieberman explained that indeed the settlements remained an unresolved point, but he sensed from the Americans "goodwill to bridge over the differences." "We are trying to put everything on the table in the most candid fashion, no tricks and no shticks," said the foreign minister, "and we believe that the best mediator is direct talks between the sides." While Israel didn't plan on creating new settlements, Lieberman continued, in line with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's declaration in his Sunday Bar Ilan policy speech, that "we have no intention on suffocating our people." (20,08)
17 juin 2009
Israel to release speaker of Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament
Israeli prosecutors failed to persuade a military court on Wednesday to extend the prison term of the Hamas speaker of the Palestinian parliament, who is due to go free in two months. Israel detained Aziz Dweik and dozens of other Hamas politicians in the West Bank in 2006 after gunmen from the Palestinian Islamist group in the Gaza Strip abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a 2006 cross-border raid. The dragnet paralysed the Palestinian Legislative Council, which had been dominated by Hamas since it crushed President Mahmoud Abbas's Western-backed, secular Fatah faction in a parliamentary election earlier that year. The Islamists accused Israel of trying to pressure them into freeing the Shalit. Dweik, 60, has been touted by Hamas a possible contender for the presidency, though Western mediators have ruled out dealing with a Hamas political leadership that does not recognize Israel An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said that Dweik, who was sentenced to three years in prison for his ties to Hamas, would go free when the term was up, as a bid by prosecutors to keep him behind bars was rejected. Dweik's lawyer Osama al-Saadi said his client was due to be released on August 6. (22,57)