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Syria,
Iran Condemn Israeli Airstrikes, Call it Act of Extremism
The
foreign ministers of Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers have
condemned Israeli airstrikes on two areas near Damascus, calling
themit an act of aggression that proves Israel iswas in the same
trench with extremist groups fighting the Syrian government
8
December, 2014
MOSCOW,
December 8 (Sputnik) — Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and
his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif have condemned Israeli
airstrikes on two areas near Damascus, AP reports reported on Monday.
Speaking
at a joint news conference in Tehran, the politicians have called
these attacks an act of aggression that proves Israel was is in the
same trench with extremist groups that are fighting the Syrian
government.
Walid
al-Moallem also added that Syria, along with its Russian and Iranian
allies, is working on a political solution for to the Syrian conflict
which is based on a dialogue between Syrians and without any outside
intervention. And said that Syria was subject to a conspiracy led by
the United States and certain European countries.
Earlier
on Monday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry asked UN to impose deterring
sanctions on Israel over its airstrikes
Israeli
warplanes bombed the two areas on Sunday, striking near Damascus'
international airport and outside a the town of Dimas, close to the
Lebanese border.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is trackings the conflict
through a network of sources on both sides, said that 10 explosions
were heard near Dimas, according to a Reuters report.
It
said that one missile hit a warehouse for imports and exports at the
Damascus international airport.
The
Syrian government has said the attacks caused material damage.
An
Israeli army spokesman said he would not comment on the foreign
reports.
US
seeks to overthrow political leadership in Russia - Foreign Ministry
:
RT,
8
December, 2014
By
imposing sanctions on Moscow, the US aims to change the political
leadership, says the Russian Foreign Ministry, adding that Washington
is “twisting the arms” of its allies so that they can continue an
“anti-Russian front.”
“Behind
the formally-declared aim to make us alter our position towards
Ukraine, [we] see the [US] plan to form social and economic
conditions to change leadership in Russia,” said
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Rybakov.
According
to Ryabkov, first of all Western countries wanted “to punish”
Russia for “free
will of people in Crimea and [the city of] Sevastopol,” who
in a March referendum decided to separate from Ukraine and to join
Russia.
Then
they decided “that
Russia has to, according to US opinion, totally change course towards
the Kiev authorities and Eastern Ukraine in general, and to
re-evaluate its foreign policy,” he
said.
Ryabkov
noted that apart from plans to destabilize Moscow leadership, US
are “twisting
arms” of
their own allies so that they could continue “Anti-Russian
front” and
follow US policies on sanctions against Russia.
“But
the US is not ashamed of insisting on cooperation with us [Russia] on
matters affecting its own interests,” he
said. He used the example of the Iranian nuclear talks, in which both
Russia and the US take part.
t.
Ryabkov
added that the Kremlin is not planning to start talks with US and its
Western allies in order to get the sanctions towards Russia repealed.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey
Ryabkov (RIA Novosti)
“We
see this document as the next step and further elaboration of those
tendencies which have recently dominated Washington’s policy
towards Russia.”
Passed
December 4, the resolution slams Russia’s “continuing
political, economic and military aggression” against
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, and the “continuing
violation of their sovereignty, independence, and territorial
integrity.”
Ryabkov doesn’t exclude that there will be further complications with the US in the future
Moscow
is “trying
hard to stabilize relations” with
Washington, but the resolution is a barometer of quite different
attitude in the US towards Russia, he dded.
“We
are not ready to make concessions to the US on principal questions,
but we are ready and will be looking for the balance of interests and
common denominator where it is possible,” he
said.
Not only that but, allegedly, ISIS fighters
UN
Reveals Regular Contacts Between Israeli Army and Syrian Rebels:
Reports
Israel
began admitting a small number of Syrian fighters for medical
treatment in northern Israeli hospitals in March 2013, according to
reports.
7
December, 2014
MOSCOW,
December 7 (Sputnik) — United Nations (UN) observers in the Golan
Heights border territory between Israel and Syria have submitted a
series of reports to the UN Security Council detailing regular
contacts between members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and
radical Islamist Syrian opposition forces, UN Tribune says.
"UN
troops monitoring the 1974 ceasefire between Israel and Syria have
witnessed interactions between members of the Israeli Defence Forces
and the Al Nusra Front who have taken over a large part of the Golan
Heights," the news site stated.
The
reports, made available on the UN Security Council’s website, state
that beginning in March of 2013, Israel began admitting Syrian
fighters for medical treatment in northern Israeli hospitals. The UN
Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) refuted Israel’s assertions
that the contacts were with civilians who had reached the border
independently. One report revealed that on September 15, a wounded
man “was taken by armed members of the opposition across the
ceasefire line, where he was transferred to a civilian ambulance
escorted by an IDF vehicle.” Another for November 9-19 noted that
UNDOF peacekeepers ““observed at least 10 wounded persons being
transferred by armed members of the opposition from the Bravo side
across the ceasefire line to IDF.”
Records
from Israel’s Ministry of Health have revealed that so far about
1,000 Syrians have been treated at four hospitals in the north of
Israel, among them fighters from the Free Syrian Army, Israeli news
site i24news.tv reported.
i24
further noted that last month, Israel’s Druze minority staged a
protest against the hospitalization of wounded fighters with links to
the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Israel.
i24 explained that Israel’s Druze community, like the Druze
communities in Syria and Lebanon, largely support Bashar al-Assad’s
government in Syria, fearing what may happen to their community
should Islamist rebels succeed in toppling him.
Asked
by i24 if Israel has hospitalized fighters from al-Nusra and the IS,
an IDF spokesman said that “in the past two years the Israeli
Defense Forces have been engaged in humanitarian, life-saving aid to
wounded Syrians, irrespective of their identity.”
Amnesty
International criticized the world community for failing to help
resettle 3.8 million Syrians, who have been forced to flee their
country in a Friday report.
World
Failing to Resettle Syrian Refugees: Amnesty International Report
The
UNDOF reports showed that IDF/Syrian rebel interactions were not
limited to medical assistance. A report issued June 10, 2014 that IDF
soldiers were observed handing two boxes, their contents unknown, to
Syrian rebels on the Syrian side of the border. The most recent
report, documents events from October 27, noted that two IDF soldiers
had opened a gate, allowing two unknown people enter Israel from the
Syrian side of the border. In the same report, it was noted that
Israel had set up tents for 60-70 families of Syrian deserters on the
Syrian side of the border, 300 meters from the Israeli side.
Israel's
online news site Haaretz explained that the Syrian army had sent a
letter of complaint to UNDOF in September, claiming that the camp was
a “base” for “armed terrorists,” and would be seen as a
legitimate target for destruction if not taken down by Israel. The
UNDOF replied that relocating civilians was not part of its mandates,
urging that no attack be carried out, the UN Tribune explained.
Syria’s
Ambassador to the UN has spoken out on numerous occasions against the
supports Islamist radicals have received from neighboring countries.
This past August he told Iran’s PressTV that Islamic militants had
concluded an “undeclared alliance with Israel.” The ambassador
had made similar comments in October about Saudi Arabia and Turkey,
comments later substantiated by US vice president Joe Biden.
The
UNDOF was established in 1974 as a buffer between Israel and Syria in
the Golan Heights; this year regular attacks on peacekeepers on the
Syrian side of the border by IS militants had forced most of the
peacekeepers to retreat to the Israeli side of the border.
Canada
sends military police to Ukraine to boost security
8
December, 2014
Canada
will send its military police to Ukraine as a part of a security
cooperation agreement signed Monday that aims to help the government
and security forces to protect the country's territorial integrity.
Canadian
Defense Minister Rob Nicholson and his Ukrainian counterpart Stepan
Poltorak signed a declaration of intent between the two ministries on
Monday. It stated that the two countries are “committed to continue
working together to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian
government and its security forces to defend Ukraine’s territorial
integrity and its people.”
“Today
representatives of Canada’s military police will arrive in Ukraine
to look into the possibilities of cooperation,” Nicholson told
reporters in Kiev.
Canadian
ISIS member calls for attacks against his country
8
December, 2014
An
Ottawa native-turned-extremist appeared in a video where he rebukes
the Canadian government for participating in the fight against the
Islamic State, while calling on Muslims to carry out attacks on
Canadian soil.
In
the six-minute video, a young man who identifies himself as Abu Anwar
al-Canadi is seen standing before the ruins of a building, with a
mosque in the background.
He
proceeds to tell his fellow Canadians that they have “absolutely
no right to live in a state of safety and security” when
the Canadian government is presently “carrying
out atrocities” against
the adherents of the Islamic faith, he said, in comments reprinted by
the National Post.
Attacks
on Canadian soil “where
it hurts you the most” should
not come as a surprise to Canadians, the video states.
The
man in the video has been identified as John Maguire, 24, who
reportedly converted to Islam before leaving his homeland sometime
last year. Maguire, who reportedly left the University of Ottawa
before graduation, speaks perfect English in the brief declamation.....
IS
Beheadings are "Barbaric": Al-Qaeda Leader
Al-Qaeda
leader seeks to differentiate his organization from the Islamic
State, by condemning the hostage executions by Islamic State
8
December, 2014
MOSCOW,
December 8 (Sputnik) – An al-Qaeda commander in Yemen has condemned
IS executions and its filming of beheadings, in a video interview
released to Twitter.
"Filming
and promoting it [beheadings] among people in the name of Islam and
jihad is a big mistake and not acceptable whatever the justifications
are," said al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) commander
Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, responding to questions posed by reporters in
advance of the recording. "This is very barbaric," he
continued, AP reports.
Nasr
Ibn Ali al-Ansi was speaking during what was billed on Twitter as
"The First International Press Conference" with the leader,
which it appears was recorded before the killing of two hostages held
by his group on Saturday during a US led rescue mission.
The
International Business Times quotes al-Ansi as saying, "Sheik
Osama bin Laden used to say anyone with sound instincts cannot stand
watching scenes of killings,” and speculates that the video is part
of a strategy to appear a more civilized and credible jihadist group.
AP
also reports the commander described US drone strikes as
counterproductive, creating opposition among the local population to
the US. "While they kill some of the jihadis, the US drone
strikes increase the sympathy of Muslims with us," he declared.
"Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, the call for jihad
spreads."
The
US has stepped up a campaign of drone strikes against the AQAP, who
are also battling Shiite Houthi rebels for control of several areas
of the country, after the Houthis took the Yemeni capital Sanaa in
September. The last US drone strike to be reported was in early
November by CNN, which reportedly killed at least nine suspected AQAP
members
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