Russian Trawler Flees With Norwegian Inspectors Aboard, Chase ContinuesNorway’s coast guard was chasing a Russian trawler in the Barents Sea after the boat, stopped on suspicion of illegal fishing, fled with two Norwegian inspectors aboard, officials said Monday night. Russian media speculated the developments had all the making of a political scandal.
International media agencies said the coast guard vessel Tromsoe was considering firing a warning shot in the direction of the Elektron, a move which could spark a diplomatic spat between Norway ... (more)
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Damascus denies 'secret US deal'Syria has denied reports that it is trying to negotiate a deal with the United States to end its international isolation.
There has been growing pressure on the government in Damascus as a UN report is being prepared on whether Syria was involved in the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, earlier this year.
With Syria's international isolation growing by the day, there have been a number of reports that Damascus may be trying to cut a ... (more)
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Wolfowitz: China no threat to the worldIt seems to be a very popular, convenient approach these days to compare China's rise to the emergence of Germany and Japan after the 1860s.
Those who like to make analogy between now and the dark days leading up to two world wars say that powers rarely emerge without sparking war and reshaping the international system.
The conclusion: there is a big chance that China's rise will lead to, at best, troubles, or, at worst, bloodshed.
However, Paul Wolf... (more)
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Lawmaker Dismisses Report of Russian Assistance in Iran Missile ProgramKostantin Kosachyov, chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee is certain an article published in the British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph about possible Russian cooperation and mediation in Iran’s missile technology sector has no basis in reality, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.
A day earlier, the British paper alleged that former members of the Russian military have been secretly helping Iran to acquire technology needed to produce missiles cap... (more)
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Russians join in UK action on terrorismRussia's secret service, the successors to the KGB, will take part in anti-terrorist exercises on the streets of Britain next year, The Observer can reveal.
The directors of the FSB, as the state security service is now known, concluded their first official visit to Britain on Friday, consolidating what their counter-terrorism chief called 'new co-operation on a daily basis' with British counterparts in the 'war on terror'.
The Home Office official in charge of coun... (more)
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G.I.'s and Syrians in Tense Clashes on Iraqi BorderWASHINGTON, Oct. 14 - A series of clashes in the last year between American and Syrian troops, including a prolonged firefight this summer that killed several Syrians, has raised the prospect that cross-border military operations may become a dangerous new front in the Iraq war, according to current and former military and government officials.
The firefight, between Army Rangers and Syrian troops along the border with Iraq, was the most serious of the conflicts with President Bas... (more)
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America offers 'Gaddafi deal' to bring Syria in from the coldTHE Bush Administration has offered Syria’s beleaguered President a “Gaddafi deal” to end his regime’s isolation if Damascus agrees to a long list of painful concessions.
According to senior American and Arab officials, an offer has been relayed to President Assad that could enable him to avoid the looming threat of international sanctions against his country. The matter could come to a head as early as next week when Detlev Mehlis, the head of the United N... (more)
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Rice to Make Surprise Visit to MoscowU.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in Moscow on a surprise visit Friday to meet Vladimir Putin. She is also set to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“She will meet President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,” her spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters after she had arrived in the French capital from Tajikistan. Rice was to meet French President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy earlier Friday before leaving... (more)
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U.S. to Deal `Seriously' With Any Syrian Link to Hariri KillingOct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will deal ``seriously'' with Syria if a United Nations investigation finds the country had a role in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, said John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the UN.
A UN team headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis is due to report its findings within two weeks. Hariri, a five-time prime minister of Lebanon, was killed by a bomb in February. The U.S. has blamed Syria and its allies in Lebanon for having a r... (more)
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Syria warns 'gates of hell will open' if U.S. attacksIn the latest official Syrian comment on the increasing pressure on Damascus, Premier Naji Otari said "all the gates of hell will open on the U.S. if it attempts to attack Syria." Otari was replying to a report this week in Newsweek magazine revealing that Washington had debated launching military strikes inside Syria against camps used by insurgents operating in Iraq.
Citing unnamed government sources, the magazine reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had manage... (more)
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Syrian minister 'commits suicide'Syria's Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan has committed suicide, the official news agency in Damascus says.
He was reportedly questioned by a UN investigator last month over the murder of ex-Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri.
For many years Kanaan was Syria's powerful intelligence chief in Lebanon, which was dominated by Syria until its military withdrawal earlier this year.
Hours before his death, he gave what he called his "last" interview, saying he had served... (more)
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Iran's radicals in control of nuke program: New president puts militant commanders of Revolutionary Guards in chargeHardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's new president, has given the West new reason to doubt his claim that Tehran's nuclear program is intended only for peaceful purposes – he's placed it under the control of militant commanders of the Revolutionary Guard.
Ahmadinejad initiated a purge of moderates in the government at the national and provincial level shortly after being elected two months ago. Now he has put fellow radicals in charge of a program many believe is designed t... (more)
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US 'aiming at Syria regime change'Israel predicted yesterday that America would impose fresh sanctions on Syria in an attempt to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Shaul Mofaz, the defence minister, said he believed sanctions would follow publication of a United Nations report expected to implicate senior Syrian officials in the murder of Rafik al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
"I won't be surprised if Syria gets a red card," Mr Mofaz told Israel radio. "[The United States] will take ... (more)
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U.S. Calls on Russia to Freeze Nuclear Cooperation with IranThe United States, in a message aimed at Russia, called on governments involved in nuclear projects in Iran to immediately freeze those projects, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Stephen Rademaker, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for arms control, said nations should tighten their policies following last month’s finding by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran should be reported to the UN Security Council because it failed to convince the international community th... (more)
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Bush’s admin weighs actions against SyriaPresident Bush's national security team held a meeting Saturday to review the U.S. policy toward Syria, U.S. officials involved in Middle East policy said on condition of anonymity, adding that options discussed during the meeting ranged from imposing tough economic sanctions to military action against the Arab state, Knight Rider News reported Sunday.
However, one of the officials who attended the meeting ruled out the military option for the time being.
One option... (more)
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Striking Iran would shoot up oil prices to 400 dollarsA senior Revolutionary Guards commander warns if Iran was attacked by Israel or the United states, oil prices on the international markets could reach $400 a barrel, , according to Persian-language news websites.
So far negotiation between the Islamic Republic and the West over its nuclear program are carried out in the framework of one of three doctrines; “Carrot and Stick”, “Good Cop, Bad Cop”, and “Trigger Mechanism”, said Brigadier General H... (more)
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Don't worry, we'll take care of Iran nukes: IsraelIf Washington and its allies do not stop Iran’s nuclear programmes by force if necessary, Israel will, three Israeli legislators visiting the US have warned.
“Israel will not live under the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb. We feel we are obliged to warn our friends that Israel should not be pushed into a situation where we see no other solution but to act unilaterally against Iran,” said Yosef Lapid, head of the Shinui party. Lapid and his colleagues Yuval Stei... (more)
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