Iran Reiterates Readiness for More Talks
Iran's
envoy to Moscow Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi on Monday reaffirmed
Tehran’s readiness to hold constructive talks with the six major
world powers (P5+1), Mehr News Agency reported
1
October, 2012
He
added, however, that a precondition was that the West should abandon
its hostile position toward the Islamic Republic.
“We
believe that if the West stopped its hostile stance and acted in
accordance with the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] there would be no
problem and [Iran’s nuclear energy] issue would be resolved,”
Sajjadi asid in an interview with Mehr.
Tehran
has repeatedly stated its readiness for “honest and constructive”
talks with the P5+1 -- Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and
Germany, he noted.
He
praised Russia’s position, stressing that threatening Iran risks
further complicating the situation and advocating that disputes are
settled through negotiations and diplomatic means.
On
Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the next
round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 should start as soon as
possible.
The
United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of
pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran
rejects the allegations, arguing that it is entitled to develop and
acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Syria
says US and allies support terrorism
Foreign
minister Walid al-Moualem tells UN General Assembly Washington and
allies are arming and financing rebels.
1
October, 2012
Syria's
foreign minister Walid al-Moualem has accused the United States and
its allies of supporting terrorism in his country but said his
government remains open to a political settlement of its civil war.
Moualem
told the UN General Assembly on Monday that his country has been
facing "organised terrorism" for over a year, a reference
to the countries that are backing the armed opposition in its fight
against the government.
"In
what context can we classify the explicit request of the United
States from the armed terrorist groups not to surrender their arms as
a response to amnesty decrees and decisions issued by the Syrian
leadership?" Moualem asked.
"We
also wonder to what extent the statements of Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Turkey, the United States, and France that clearly induce and support
terrorism in Syria with money, weapons and foreign fighters, are in
line with the international responsibilities of these countries in
combating terrorism."
The
US and France have called for regime change in Syria while Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are widely believed to be arming rebels
fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Qatar's
emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told the assembly last week
that Arab countries should intervene in Syria out of "national,
humanitarian, political and military duties" in the face of the
UN Security Council's failure to act.
Fighting
in the country has left up to 30,000 people dead, according to
estimates by activists.
'Blatant
interference'
Moualem
said terrorism had affected "citizens, our human and scientific
resources, national establishments, and also much of Syria's historic
and archeological landmarks".
"The
latest example of this terrorist bombing took place recently in
Damascus on September 26. A terrorist group with the name 'Jabhat
AI-Nosrah', one of the al-Qaeda arms, took the responsibility for
this attack," he added.
Saleh
Mubarak, of the opposition Syrian National Council in Turkey, said
the minister used terrorism because it is a "sensitive"
term in the West.
"He
used al-Qaeda, he used Jihad in [such] a way to scare the West; to
tell them 'it's either us or the terrorists will come.' And, of
course, we know the real terrorists is nobody but the Syrian
government,” Mubarak told Al Jazeera.
Moualem
said that peace requires action not only by Syria but by Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya and others to stop arming and financing
the opposition.
He
also said that calls for Assad to step down were "blatant
interference" in Syrian domestic affairs.
Moualem
called for political solution and Syrian-led dialogue to agree on
roadmap to a more democratic country and invited the opposition to
"work together to stop the shedding of Syrian blood".
"We
still believe in a political solution as an essential way out of the
crisis," he said.
For
this to happen, he said, UN members should press for an end to the
"arming, financing, harboring and training of terrorist groups".
Washington
and many of its allies accuse Syria's government of mass human rights
abuses in the ongoing struggle to put down the armed rebellion.
Al
Jazeera's Kristen Saloomy, reporting from New York, said one
Security Council diplomat described the speech as "orthodox,
predictable and completely out of touch with reality".
"This
diplomat went on to question how the Syrian government could blame
others for the refugee crisis engulfing his country when, in fact, it
is the Syrian military that's arbitrarily shelling and bombing
civilian areas. But, of course, the reaction to the speech depends on
who you speak with," said our correspondent....
For
article GO
HERE
Deadly
bombing in eastern Afghanistan
Suicide
bomber wearing police uniform kills 14 in Khost, including at least
four police and three foreign soldiers.
1
October, 2012
A
suicide bomber wearing a police uniform has killed at least 14
people, including four police officers and three NATO soldiers, in
the eastern Afghan city of Khost, ISAF and local officials say.
More
than 60 other people were injured in the powerful explosion, which
took place in a crowded market place, hospital officials said.
Witnesses
said the target was a joint foot patrol of NATO and Afghan security
forces travelling near the police headquarters on Monday. The bomber
struck after the soldiers and police got out of their vehicles to
walk through the market area in Khost.
"Today
at around 8:30am (local time; 04:00 GMT) a suicide bomber on a
motorcycle targeted a joint patrol in Khost city in a crowded area,"
the provincial governor's office said in a statement.
An
ISAF spokesperson confirmed that three NATO service members had been
killed, but that details of the incident were still unclear. The
deaths take coalition fatalities to at least 347 this year.
The
Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
The
dead included a NATO-contracted interpreter and six civilians, Al
Jazeera's Bernard Smith reported from Kabul.
The
provincial governor's office said that the commander of the local
rapid reaction police force was among the dead.
Coalition
spokesperson Major Adam Wojack would only confirm that three NATO
service members and their translator were killed in a bombing in the
east, without giving an exact location or the nationalities of the
dead.
The
international military alliance usually waits for individual nations
to announce details on deaths. It was not immediately clear if the
translator was an Afghan citizen or a foreigner, Wojack said.
The
explosion came a day after NATO announced that a firefight between
coalition troops and their Afghan allies killed an ISAF soldier, a
civilian contractor and three Afghan army troops in circumstances
that remained unclear.
That
incident was initially described as a suspected "insider
attack", but it was later suggested that either insurgent fire
or a verbal argument between the troops led to the shooting.
Bahraini
court confirms jail terms for medics who aided protesters
Bahrain's
top court confirmed the jail sentences of nine doctors for their role
in last year’s pro-democracy protests, state news agency BNA
reported. The medics will be imprisoned for up to five years.
RT,
1
October, 2012
On
Monday, Attorney General Abdul-Rahman al-Sayed said the country’s
Court of Cassation rejected all of the defendants’ appeals and
upheld the verdicts, BNA said.
The
nine medics were among the twenty individuals tried by a Bahraini
military tribunal in September 2011. The tribunal charged the doctors
with felonies for their role in the February protests, which included
treating antigovernment activists wounded by security forces and
reporting those injuries to foreign media. Some of the medics also
participated in the protests.
The
Bahraini government accused them of crimes including occupying a
hospital and inciting hatred towards the country’s ruling royal
family.
The
whole process was conducted under the ruling family's control, Khalil
al-Marzooq, a member of the Bahraini opposition al-Wefaq Party, told
RT.
“The
whole judicial process in Bahrain is sort of dependent of the
direction from the ruling family. And what happened today was headed
by the ruling family members,” he said.
Al-Marzooq
accuses the government of applying “double standards,” saying the
country's courts only pays attention to and punishes protesters,
while totally ignoring killers and torturers if they have the right
connections.
Bahraini
political activist Saeed Shehabi calls the decision to reject the
appeal “political.”
“To
make them innocent would be to go against the reputation of the
regime. They are saying, ‘we are here, we determine the sentences,
and no one can change our mind – whether it’s the international
human rights organizations or political activists,’” Shehabi told
RT.
A
June 2012 retrial by a civilian court resulted in the acquittal of
nine of the health workers, and a reduction of sentences for nine
others. Ali al-Ekri, whom the government labeled the ringleader of
the doctors and nurses on trial, received a five-year sentence. The
nine appealed the decision to Bahrain’s top court.
Two
medics who had previously been sentenced to 15 years each did not
appeal their cases, and are believed to be in hiding.
The
case sparked international criticism of the Bahraini government.
Several human rights groups and professional medical organizations
called the sentence an unjust retaliation against people attempting
to simply do their jobs amidst the crackdown on the opposition.
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