Semaine 10 / 2012

           The UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan met Saturday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus to press for a political solution to Syria's year-long uprising and bloody crackdown on in which thousands of people have been killed. Syrian television reported that the two had begun talks in the presidential palace. Before flying to Damascus, Annan held talks in Cairo with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, underscoring the pivotal part Moscow, one of Assad's remaining... [Lire la suite]

          Following terror attacks targeting Israel's civilians on Friday, the Home Front Command released safety instructions to southern communities located within the 40 kilometer (some 24 miles) radius of the Gaza Strip. These instructions will remain in effect until 8 pm Saturday. According to the IDF instructions, when an attack is recognized it is necessary to enter a safety area. Residents must avoid large gatherings of more than 500. These restrictions do not include smaller... [Lire la suite]

          The Popular Resistance Committees' retaliation for the assassination of its leader will "shake the earth," the group threatened Friday, after the IDF killed Zuhir al-Qaisi in a strike on a Gaza vehicle. A spokesman for Nasser Salah-al-Din Brigades, the organization's military wing, said the group ordered its fighters to respond to Qaisi's assassination. "By harming secretary-general al-Qaisi, the Zionist enemy opened the doors of hell and revenge," he said. "The response will be... [Lire la suite]

           A senior Gaza terrorist killed in an IDF strike Friday was planning a major terror attack on Israeli targets near the Egypt border, army officials said Friday. Zuhir al-Qaisi, also known as Abu Ibraim, was planning a mega-attack in recent days that could have resulted in numerous casualties, the army said. The planned multipronged terror strike was to originate from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, military officials said. Al-Qaisi was assassinated in order to avert the mega-attack,... [Lire la suite]

          An Israeli attack on Iran to halt its nuclear program is not in the immediate offing, but will also not – if necessary – be pushed off for years, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intimated in interviews he gave Thursday to the country's three television networks. "I don't have a stop watch in hand," Netanyahu said in a segment of the interview to Channel 2 aired Thursday evening. "This is not a matter of days or week. It is also not a matter of years. The result has to be that... [Lire la suite]

‏       Iran has not been forthcoming about its nuclear program and may have failed to declare some facilities to the UN, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. "Iran is not telling us everything. That is my impression. We are asking Iran to engage with us proactively, and Iran has a case to answer," Amano stated. Amano said that the IAEA has safeguarded a number of Iranian nuclear facilities which the Islamic Republic has declared to the agency.... [Lire la suite]

‏        Diplomats say spy satellite images of an Iranian military facility show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site that indicate crews were trying to clean it of radioactive traces. Two of the diplomats said that those traces could have come from what they said was the testing of a small neutron trigger used to set off a nuclear explosion. A third diplomat could not confirm that, but says any testing of a so-called neutron initiator at the site could only be in the context of trying to... [Lire la suite]

         Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented one central question during his meetings in Washington in the past few days: "What will be the price of not acting against Iran?" he asked at every opportunity. Netanyahu does not believe that the international sanctions against Iran or the dialogue with Iran will prevent the country from procuring nuclear weapons, said a senior Israeli official Tuesday. That is why Netanyahu thinks the damage and casualties from a missile attack on Tel Aviv... [Lire la suite]

        US President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that there would be consequences for both Israel and the United States if any action is taken prematurely on Iran, warning there would be a price to pay. It is important, he said, to take a "careful, sober and thoughtful approach" on the Iranian nuclear issue. The US president also pushed back against suggestions that Washington was on the cusp of making a decision about possible military action against Iran, pledging to take a 'sober' approach to... [Lire la suite]

            European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton wrote to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator on Tuesday, accepting an offer to meet to discuss Tehran's nuclear program. Ashton represents six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - in dealings with Iran, and her offer of talks came after weeks of consultations with them. Iran proposed in February in a letter from Saeed Jalili that negotiations with global powers resume after more than a... [Lire la suite]