Mossad Trainer of Columbian Cartel Assassins Released From Russian Prison

[SEE:  Who Is Israel’s Yair Klein and What Was He Doing in Colombia and Sierra Leone?]

Russia released from jail a former Israeli officer

Klein was arrested by police at the request of Interpol in one of Moscow’s airports

Yair Klein, an Israeli citizen, wanted by Colombian authorities for their participation in the preparation of militants released from prison in Russia.

Klein, who was detained in Russia since 2007, has already arrived in Israel.

In 2001, a Colombian court in absentia Klein admitted guilt in promoting terrorism and sentenced him to 10 years in Prison. Colombian Authorities accuse HIM of, inter alia, in training militants Armed Forces.

In 2007 he was arrested by police at the request of Interpol at a Moscow airport while boarding a flight bound for Israel.

In 2008, the Moscow City Court has upheld the decision of the General Prosecutor’s Office to extradite Klein to Colombia, but the European Court of Human Rights, considered the treatment of Israelis, forbidden to give him the Colombian side.

Against sending to Colombia protested and relatives Klein claimed that there he was waiting for death.

In addition to training Colombian rebels Klein is also accused of training assassins to Medellin drug cartel.

In 1999, Klein was in jail in Sierra Leone on charges of smuggling arms for the militant group Revolutionary United Front.

Ukraine president criticises Russian gas pipeline

By Anya Tsukanova (AFP)

KIEV — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday issued a rare rebuke to the Kremlin by describing as unfriendly a Russian plan to build an ambitious new gas pipeline that would bypass Ukraine’s territory.

Yanukovych has worked hard to improve relations between Moscow and Kiev since defeating the leaders of the pro-Western Orange Revolution in presidential elections this year.

But in an interview with Agence France-Presse and two other foreign news agencies in Kiev, he said building the South Stream pipeline would only have made sense when the former anti-Kremlin leadership was in power.

“It’s being shown to us that our partners can get by without Ukraine. This is unpartner-like and I have already expressed this to our partners in Russia and the European Union,” he said.

“Do not exclude Ukraine as a partner,” he added.

“There was reason to behave like that when Ukraine frightened Europe and Russia. But these times have passed.”

Under the former presidency of Viktor Yushchenko, relations between Russia and Ukraine plunged to a post-Soviet low and a row over gas prices led to Europe being cut off from Russian gas for two weeks in winter 2009.

A quarter of the gas consumed in the European Union comes from Russia, 80 percent of which passes through Ukraine.

The South Stream pipeline plans to carry Russian gas under the Black Sea and into the Balkans to create a new energy route to Europe that will by-pass Ukrainian territory.

Yanukovych said that instead of the complex South Stream project, Russia and the European Union would be better off developing Ukraine’s existing pipeline infrastructure.

“We are saying let’s join together and let’s not not re-invent the wheel and go right to the bed of the Black Sea, where there may be many unpredictable aspects. Let’s build across Ukrainian territory.

“It will be many times cheaper and quicker.”

The South Stream pipeline is being backed by Russian giant Gazprom along with Italian energy company ENI and French group EDF. Gazprom has said it expects the first part to come online by December 30, 2015.

The EU executive meanwhile is backing the competing Nabucco pipeline which aims to reduce European dependency on Russian energy by transporting gas from Central Asia and the Caucasus direct to Europe.

Yanukovych’s first weeks in power saw a rapprochement with Russia of breathtaking speed, with a deal agreed to prolong Moscow’s lease on the base for its Black Sea Fleet that outraged Ukrainian nationalists.

But Ukraine appears to have imposed some limits on the improvement in ties, most notably by showing little enthusiasm for a Russian plan to merge Gazprom and Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz.

“We cannot go along a path of absorption of the Ukrainian economy,” said Yanukovych.

The president reaffirmed that his administration aimed to take Ukraine towards EU membership and said it would be “realistic” for two sides to sign an agreement on a visa-free regime from 2012. EU citizens can already travel to Ukraine without visas.

But in a sign of some impatience with Brussels, he said the partnership with the European Union must be one of equals.

“We must not be put into a humiliating position, asking for something with an outstretched hand,” he said.

The president has made neutrality a cornerstone of his foreign policy, scrapping the previous administration’s drive for NATO membership and seeking to repeat the canny balancing of East and West of ex-president Leonid Kuchma.

“I think that a balancing of relations between the European Union, Russia and the United States is comfortable for Ukraine,” he said.

The Smell of Paradise–BBC Four

A brilliant documentary by two Polish Film makers shown by BBC Four a channel in the UK. The film talks to many Mujahideen and tries to find out why it is they are fighting. This ends up with them going to Afghanistan and Checneya among other places. Islam, Muslim, Politics, Documentary, BBC, Checneya, Afghanistan, Balkans, Mujahideen.

The Smell of Paradise–BBC Four , posted with vodpod

 

ISI frees Taliban kidnappers of the NYT reporter David Rohde

Related article:
7 Months, 10 Days in Taliban’s Captivity: Story of David Rohde

After New York Times’s reporter David Rohde escaped from his Taliban captors in Pakistan last year, the Pakistani intelligence services interrogated two of his guards — and then let them go, investigative journalist Aram Roston reports.

The Pakistani ISI “interrogators demanded to know exactly how Rohde had escaped. Who had let him go, and why? … In other words, the ISI was making sure that the relations between the Taliban factions weren’t destroyed by anyone’s betrayal,” Roston writes:

This [Afghan] source’s account reveals how Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) serves as an arbiter for the various Taliban groups that compete with one another for influence, loot and profits. According to the source, the ISI, acting on behalf of one Taliban faction, took two of Rohde’s guards into custody to interrogate them about how he escaped. Then, despite its knowledge of the men’s role in the kidnapping, the ISI simply set them free. …

In Pakistan, Rohde’s escape was devastating for the Taliban. Not only had they lost their prize prisoner but the loss caused the Haqqanis and Najibullah to turn on each other. [...]

To arbitrate the dispute about the kidnapping, the Haqqanis turned to the Pakistan government’s intelligence service …

The guards were allegedly interrogated fiercely and tortured by the ISI. The interrogators demanded to know exactly how Rohde had escaped. Who had let him go, and why? Were the men paid a ransom they had not shared? In other words, the ISI was making sure that the relations between the Taliban factions weren’t destroyed by anyone’s betrayal.

Once the ISI was convinced that there had been no bribes and no ransom, Rohde’s guards were set free. Despite their role in the kidnapping, they were not charged in court or handed over to the Americans. After more than a month in custody, they were let go.

I asked Rohde for his reaction to this information. “It’s very disturbing that the Pakistani authorities would not keep in custody people that were involved in my kidnapping,” he said. “If they had two of my guards in their custody and then released them, that seems to fit a broader pattern of the ISI sheltering the Taliban.”

Source

The Inevitable Retaliation for Target Killing of Baloch Students and Leaders

Seven killed in Sibi garrison attack, custodial killings are an important phase of war for liberation: BLA

Baloch Martyrs are our national heroes: BLF
Occupied Balochistan: Meerak Baloch, a spokesperson for the Baloch Liberation Army, told SANA News that BLA fighters have attacked the military garrison and killed seven Pakistani soldiers. The spokesperson of Baloch resistance organisation further said that in custody killings of Baloch youth are a new and an important phase for war for liberation. He asked the Baloch Nation to remain patient and steadfast because more difficult times area still ahead. “Baloch Nation should be mentally prepared to face severe difficulties ahead as without passing through these thorny paths it difficult to get freedom”.
He said although war was a ruthless option but it was impossible to even think of freedom without giving sacrifices for it. He further said that war for liberation is unveiling the faces of enemy, its paid agents, hypocrites and opportunists. He also said that “Recognising these hypocrites and national unity are the first steps of our success; the enemy will be held account for each drop of the blood of Baloch martyrs”.
Meerak Baloch said that BLA has reached to the network of the paid agents of Baloch enemy and has changed its policies against them. Pretty soon they will be severely punished. He requested that Baloch Nation keep an eye on enemy and their agents’ activities.
Rocket attacks continue in Kohlu by BLA
Kohlu: Rocket attacks continued in Kohlu district for the second consecutive day on Saturday and a rocket also hit a house in Quetta damaging it. However, no causality was reported in the attacks.
According police, a rocket fired from unspecified location exploded with a big bang on the roof of a house in Baloch Colony situated on Brewery Road. The roof was partially damaged. Police and the bomb disposal squad rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area soon after the blast.
separately, Eight rockets were fired on Chamalang and Kohlu near security check posts. A rocket exploded in Bala Dakha area and another near a check post in Chamalang area. However, no loss of life was reported in the attack.
BLF accepts responsibility for attack: On the other hand the BLF (Baloch Liberation Front) has accepted responsibility for several attacks on government installations and Pakistani security forces. According to details Basham Baloch, a spokesperson of BLF, has informed the news agencies that fighters from his organisation have attacked a camp of FWO in Panjgur on Saturday night. He also accepted responsibility for blowing up a gas pipeline in Mastung town of Balochistan.
The spokesperson of BLF has term the in custody killings of Baloch political activists by the enemy a success for the national liberation movement. He such gruesome murder of Baloch activists cannot weaken the struggle for liberation. “Those whose bodies are being recovered on daily bases were national heroes of Balochistan. They have sacrifices their lives to keep the liberation struggle alive. He said due to the sacrifices of Baloch martyrs soon the Baloch Nation will see the dawn of freedom.
courtesy: Dailytawar & Dailytimes

Balochistan tense after the “EID carnage” by Pakistani military

Occupied Balochistan: Unidentified persons set ablaze an ambulance of the Health Department and two other vehicles of Optic Fiber Department of Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) in Khuzdar district, officials said.
According to the details an official ambulance of the district Health Department was burned by unknown people in Nal area of Khuzdar district while in another incident two more vehicles of PTCL parked outside the department of Optic Fiber were set ablaze. However, both the vehicles were not fully burnt as officials managed to reach there on time and put out the fire.
No arrests have been made in connection to both the incidents. Officials in the area are probing the matter.
BOLAN: A former Sub House Officer (SHO) was murdered in Bolan District on Thursday, some 150 kilometers from provincial capital, authorities said.
According to Daily Times, former SHO Abdul Sattar was on his way to Sanni from Dhadar when unidentified armed men intercepted his motorcycle and opened fire at him. As a result, he received multiple bullets and died on the spot.
Kohlu: Unknown attackers fired two rockets at the house of a security official Taj Mohammad in Kohlu. Resultantly the wife of the official died on spot whereas five persons including his daughter were wounded.
Kalat: Five rockets were fired on Pakistani security forces check post in Kalat. Gate of a government building was destroyed in the attack. However, no casualty has been reported so far.
Meanwhile Azaad Baloch identifying himself as a spokesperson of BLA claimed that fighters from his organisation have fired two rockets on military garrison in Kohlu. He also said that BLA fighters attacked a camp of Pakistani Intelligence agencies in Kalat town of Balochistan. He vowed to continue such attack until the liberation of Balochistan.
Courtesy: BUC News, the Balochhal news and Balochistan local news papers

Dead BodyISTAN—the Limits of Human Endurance

Dead BodyISTAN

The recovery of the dead bodies of nine Baloch political workers, students and a journalist from different parts of Balochistan, within only 36 hours has sent shock waves across the province. People’s Eid celebrations were ruined after receiving the bullet-riddled dead bodies of Baloch youth, most of whom were in their 20s. While enraged Balochs decided to observe a complete shutter down and wheel jam strike in many districts of Balochistan, the complete silence of the provincial governor and the chief minister is a testament of the two top officials’ utter indifference towards the sufferings of the indigenous  people of this province.

In spite of repeated requests, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Justice Ifthakar Chaudhary has also decided to pay a deaf ear to the grave violation of human rights in Balochistan. Similarly, the recovery of at least nine missing persons’ dead bodies was not sufficiently reported in the national media.

The dead body of a twenty-five year old journalist and the president of Baloch National  Movement (BNM) Gwadar Chapter, Lala Hameed Hayatan, was thrown away in the Sami River with a note saying ” a gift of Eid for the Balochs”.  Hameed was a popular journalist with a background in nationalistic politics. He was popular in Gwadar for his constant involvement in the community services. Another friend of his, Hamid Ismail, who had been kidnapped along with Hameed, has also been killed and thrown in an inhuman manner.

The killing of the two young  men has sparked  a wave of anger and frustration among the people of Mekran. The Gwadar Press Club has called for three days of mourning while the political parties have gone on a complete wheel jam and shutter down strike. The relatives of the murdered Baloch professionals have once again pointed fingers at the official institutions for kidnapping and killing the Baloch citizens.

The situation in Balochistan is at its lowest ebb.  The government has not fulfilled its promise of recovering the missing persons which is no longer the real matter. The biggest problem right now is the recovery of the dead bodies of the missing persons from different parts of the province showing marks of severe torture and thrown away in a very offensive manner. Judicial and legal committees formulated in the past to trace the perpetrators of these murders totally failed for obvious reasons.

Currently, every Baloch district in the province has a long list of the missing persons. In the same way, the phenomenon of killing the missing persons and throwing away their bodies is not confined to one or two districts alone. Besides the recovery of Hameed and Hamid’s dead bodies in Turbat, two bullet-riddled bodies of Bashir Ahmed Lehri and Asamatullah Sarpara have been found from Mastung while in Kalat the  bodies of Nasrullah Samalani and Mir Jan and Mohammad Rashim were found in Kalat. In Khuzdar, the dead body of an Engineering University student Samiullah Mengal was found in Khuzdar. An activist of the Baloch Student Organization (BSO-Mohiuddin) was also killed by unknown armed men.

Veteran Baloch nationalist leader Sardar Attaullah Mengal has said such tactics are meant to make it impossible for the Balochs to live on their own land but predicted that such methods would not eliminate nationalistic movements. The underground Baloch Liberation Army has asked the Balochs to remain patient saying that “more difficult times area still ahead”. The Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party has expressed full solidarity with the Balochs and strongly condemned the killings of the Baloch activists.

The gruesome state of affairs in Balochistan once again calls for unity among the Baloch political stakeholders. While they surely have the democratic right to adopt different forms of struggle, they should understand the seriousness of the matter and end all kinds of differences.

The matter in Balochistan is no longer restricted to the issue of autonomy. It has transformed into a great humanitarian issue which needs urgent attention from the international human rights watchdogs.

We would urge the President of Pakistan Mr. Asif Ali Zardari and  Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the deteriorating state of human rights in Balochistan. These violent tactics will further flare-up the conflict in the province.

Is Turkmenistan Getting Caspian De-Limitation Treaty?

Presidents of Caspian Littoral states to sign two documents in Baku summit

“First document is cooperation agreement on security in the Caspian Sea.

Two documents will be submitted to presidents for signing in the summit of the heads of Caspian Littoral states, Special Representative of Russian President on Delimitation of Borders Alexander Golovin said, “Turkmenistan.ru” website reports.
“First document is cooperation agreement on security in the Caspian Sea. If it is signed, it will be the second achieved major document. We are progressing step-by-step, we already have the Framework Convention for the Protection of the marine environment and currently, protocols are being prepared. Then we will be able to use all potential of this convention and deal with threats to the ecology of the Caspian Sea actively and effectively”.
Moreover, the diplomat said that the agreement on security will create an effective mechanism for ensuring security in the Caspian Sea, including the "first of all, the fight against new challenges and threats."
To him, the second document will be a joint statement of the Presidents: “With regard to the legal status of the Caspian Sea, special group at the level of deputy foreign ministers are continuing works on the Convention”.
Remind that, next summit of the heads of Caspian Littoral states will be held on November 18 in Baku.
APA

Russia perceives Turkey as opponent

News.Az interviews Dr.Yevgeny Volk, Deputy Director, The Yeltsin Foundation (Moscow).

Do you consider there is a link between the situation around Iran and the problem of settling the legal status of the Caspian Sea? Does the first problem complicate the settlement of the second one?
Undoubtedly. Whatever they say, there is a link between them. Certainly, the Iranian problem is now key for the whole region of Middle East. And certainly in the global sense this is a great problem in the relations between Russia and its neighbors, Russia and the United States, Russia and the EU.
That is, in fact, this is one of the serious global problems which is in the center of attention in any case and at any forum, be it the UN, the upcoming NATO summit in Lisbon and certainly this problem is on the agenda of the Caspian summit anyway.
And what about the impact of another regional problem-instability in the North and South Caucasus on the resolution of the Caspian issue, is there a link here?

Certainly, I think the events in the North and South Caucasus naturall influence the overall situation in the region and Russia’s positions in this region. Naturally we see the increased attention of Moscow to getting the support of the Caspian states in its policy in Chechnya, related to growth of terrorism in the North Caucasus. We should also not forget Georgia’s problem, as one of the key problems of the Russian foreign policy, which is a subject of a dialogue between Russia and its partners in the region and certainly, no one removes the Karabakh problem from the agenda.

Do you believe in the soonest possible progress in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict?
I think here all those efforts Russia has been taking actively in the past years, especially under the leadership of President Medvedev will not pass traceless. I would like to remind that Medvedev has already held several meetings with Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan in attempt to reconcile the positions of the parties. I think this is a reflection of Russia’s growing interest to this region and the overall attempt to draw a contrast between Russia’s active role and US and Turkey’s attempts to raise their influence in this region.
Do you think Russia perceives Turkey’s intensification in our region as competition?
Certainly. I think Russia is very concerned with the fact that Turkey is playing a greater role in the South Caucasus and Central Asia where it undertakes political, economic and in most cases-cultural and humanitarian expansion. On the whole, Russia’s elite perceives this as an attempt to weaken Russia’s traditional ties with its partners on the post-Soviet area, by creating a new structure of relations which would weaken Russia’s influence on the southern perimeter of its borders.

U.U.
News.Az

Russia against ‘Turkmen-Azerbaijani reconciliation’

Farhad Mehdiyev

News.Az interviews Farhad Mehdiyev, political scientist and chair of international law at the Caucasus (Kavkaz) University.

What do you expect from the summit of Caspian littoral status in Baku on 18 November?
Generally speaking, we shouldn’t expect any serious outcome from the November summit of Caspian states. Determination of the legal status of the Caspian Sea, especially the seabed, would constitute a serious outcome, but it won’t happen. The stance of Iran, and partly Turkmenistan, on this point makes it impossible to solve the issue right now.
Azerbaijan has reached agreement with Russia and Kazakhstan on the principles of the division of the northern part of the Caspian Sea, while the situation with Iran and Turkmenistan remains unclear. What are the prospects for a solution?

You said that Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan had already solved the delimitation of the relevant sectors of the Caspian Sea. The issue remains unresolved only between Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Actually Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have no big differences in their approach, the only problem is how the “coast line” should be determined. You know that the Turkmen side is demanding that the Absheron Peninsula and its “nose” or promontory should not be taken into account in determining the coast line. The Azerbaijani side disagrees and this is rational, because the determination of territorial waters, for which we need the “coast line” concept, historically developed from security concerns as well – they were determined as the shooting range of sea cannon. I mean that coastal infrastructure is very important in determining the coast line. Baku is located on the Absheron and the city is the major facility of the country, so the Turkmen claim about Absheron doesn’t make sense.
We should mention the Russian approach to the problem. If Russia supported the same principles that it used with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan everything would be perfect. But Russia, like Iran, is known to be against a Caspian pipeline. These two countries signed an agreement in 2005 and reiterated that the legal status of the sea and its seabed should be determined by mutual and unilateral decision of the five coastal states. So in fact Russia will not support conciliation between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. As you know the reason for Russia is to keep Europe dependent on Russian energy by preventing Turkmen gas from reaching the European market. Gas is a powerful “lever of pressure” when such dependence exists.
But there are some circumstances that will push Russia to support agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. And once these two countries agree, Iran’s objection will be groundless.
Russia stands against any foreign naval forces in the Caspian Sea and is most concerned about NATO naval forces.
Iran is not giving up its radical position of a 20% division of the sea. What do you think is behind this? Will Azerbaijan always be hostage to Iran on Caspian status?
If you pay attention to the words of Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh, the Iranian president’s special envoy on the Caspian Sea, who claims that due to the agreements of 1921 and 1940 between the USSR and Iran, the latter has more authority in the sea than over 20%. Mohsen Rezaee recently made a similar statement. I think that these two gentlemen never read the text of these agreements. The agreements are about cargo and transit shipping, trade relations. There is nothing about the seabed, not even about the division of the sea into national sectors. The common principle is that the Caspian Sea is open to navigation by all ships of both countries, and that’s it. You cannot find anything there even about fishing.

The agreement of 1921 is also about free navigation for Iranian vessels on the Caspian Sea. On usage of water resources, Article 3 of the 1921 Agreement says that water resources are open for both countries but the issue will be regulated in future by a common commission. I do not know what the “commission” did, but in fact the sea was unilaterally used by the USSR. On fishing rules, Article 14 of the 1921 Agreement goes further in favour of Russia, saying that the Russian Federation has a special right to fishing even in the southern part of the Caspian Sea, near the Iranian coast. I mean that Iranian claims on the Caspian Sea are groundless, but they exist.
The problem could exacerbate relations over the Caspian basin and finally lead to the militarization of the sea, including the arrival of foreign naval forces. The United States provides logistical and other support to Azerbaijani naval forces. This is the worst-case scenario for Russia, and that’s why Russia has to keep Iran calm.
Note that the topics to be discussed at the summit mostly concern security. Foreign naval forces were forbidden by the 1921 Agreement, but Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan were not part of that agreement. Now Russia and Iran are very interested in keeping this ban and want it to be accepted by the other Caspian countries as well. Azerbaijan will make general statements that peace on the sea is very important but not sign such a commitment. Russia foresees escalation.
Can Iran’s intractability be linked to its shared reluctance with Moscow to allow a gas pipeline to be laid across the Caspian? The pipeline would export gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan and onwards to Europe. What is the fate of the Trans-Caspian project?
If you consider that the issue of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan becomes ever more topical, this could raise the question of security for cargo vessels. If transportation of LNG starts, if related facilities are constructed on both the Azerbaijani and Turkmen sides, then Russia will stop raising objections to the Trans-Caspian pipeline and then the legal status of the Caspian Sea could be solved.
Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az

Armenia may ‘turn from Russia to USA’

Elchin Shikhlinski

News.Az interviews Elchin Shikhlinski, chairman of the Journalists’ Union of Azerbaijan, editor-in-chief of the Zerkalo newspaper.

How would you comment on the case of CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev, who denied to the Armenian Foreign Ministry his remarks recorded on tape in Baku about the Karabakh resolution process?

We have often seen politicians thinking about one thing, saying another and implying something else entirely. We have also heard that politics is a dirty business. But I am convinced that politicians are making it a dirty business by using smear tactics. The current case, a clear example of an attempt to say one thing in Baku and something else in Yerevan, proves that, in fact, none of the leading superpowers is interested in a fair solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh despite their attempts to convince us of the opposite. The resolution of this conflict will not allow it to be used for someone’s geopolitical interests. This unsettled territorial conflict between the two neighbouring states has already turned into a geopolitical bargaining chip between leading superpowers striving to seize control over the entire South Caucasus. Any methods are used to attain this goal since, according to the superpowers fighting for influence in our region, the end justifies the means.
How do you explain the fact that Armenian media and political scientists and experts have recently started to criticize Russia and accuse it of stirring up the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in order to seize full control over Armenia and make it Russia’s outpost in the Caucasus?
There may be numerous reasons and explanations for this. For example, some of the Armenian media and expert community may have realized what the rest of the world understood long ago – Armenia, which has isolated itself by constant territorial claims on its neighbours, merely has no opportunities for economic development without the resolution of the conflict in Karabakh. An understanding of this leads to a search for who is to blame for what’s happened and they blame Russia, which has really reduced Armenia to the level of its obedient servant. There is another point. As pragmatists, including in the political arena, the Armenians are trying to show readiness to betray their masters, to find a a new master ready to give more and to take Armenia’s opinion into account more than Russia did. In other words, they are sending a message to Russia: if you take a fair position on the Karabakh conflict, we will turn to the United States. And finally, it should not be ruled out that the Armenians may be working in both directions at once.

Work in several areas requires major resources. Armenia’s expert community has recently been saying that the country is losing the information war to Azerbaijan. Do you agree?

First of all, Armenians worldwide prepared to seize Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan. One of the components of this preparation was the information attack, the promotion in the international media of the Armenian version of the reasons for this conflict. The Azerbaijani version of the reasons and implications of the conflict in Karabakh has received world attention just recently. This is connected with the fact that our country has started to pay more attention to information warfare with Armenia. But it is too soon to stop. It is necessary to work for the world to accept the true position of Azerbaijan on the reasons and implications of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Akper Hasanov
News.Az

US, Russian presidents hold unplanned meeting

 

US President Barack Obama (R) welcomes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE : US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had an unplanned one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lisbon, a White House official announced.
"They were able to go aside into a room by themselves and talk for 15 to 20 minutes," White House spokesman Ben Rhodes told reporters aboard Air Force One as it was flying to Washington. "It was informal, it wasn’t planned."
NATO and Russia agreed earlier Saturday to jointly examine a missile shield to defend Europe and boost the flow of supplies to the Afghan war, burying a period of tensions between the former Cold War foes.
The day before, the Western military alliance had agreed to set up an anti-ballistic missile defence system to protect Europe’s populations against rogue rocket attacks and invite Russia to cooperate.
The two sides agreed to study how this cooperation would work, but Medvedev warned Russia would have to be treated as an equal partner if it is to participate.
Rhodes said Obama and Medvedev had developed what he called "a very strong rapport."
"They like each other. They like to see each other," the spokesman said. "They like to get along and consult about things."
According to administration officials, the meeting was initiated by Obama, who later described it as "very cordial."
Obama also talked to Medvedev about his earlier meeting with President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia.
Georgia fought a five-day war with Russia in August 2008 when Russian troops poured into the country after fighting broke out between Georgian and separatist forces in South Ossetia.
One of the officials quoted Obama as saying that the meeting with Medvedev was aimed at reducing "misunderstandings that can lead to unintended consequences."
The two leaders also discussed the new START nuclear arms treaty with Russia and the chances for its early ratification by the US Senate.
"They had a very cordial conversation about it," an administration official said, adding that Medvedev expressed confidence "in the president getting it done."
The treaty — signed by Medvedev and Obama at an elaborate ceremony in Prague in April — restricts each nation to a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads, a cut of about 30 percent from a limit set in 2002.
The agreement, a top Obama foreign policy initiative, replaces a previous accord that lapsed in December 2009 and also requires ratification by Russia’s lower house, the Duma.
Senate Republicans have said they need to be sure that the US nuclear arsenal will be modernized and that the treaty will not hamper US missile defense efforts — but some acknowledged privately that they did not want to hand Obama a major diplomatic victory before the elections.
Medvedev’s participation in Lisbon marked the first meeting between a Russian president and the 28-nation alliance since his country’s 2008 war with Georgia, a pro-Western former Soviet state that now aspires to join NATO.

In Protest, Sarkisian Snubs NATO Summit

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian announced late on Friday that he will not attend the upcoming NATO summit in Lisbon because of the alliance’s plans to uphold Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RFE/RL’s Armenian service reported.

Sarkisian’s spokesman Armen Arzumanian said a draft resolution due to be adopted at the weekend summit calls for solutions to the ethnic disputes in the South Caucasus reflecting only the principle of territorial integrity.

In a written statement, Arzumanian warned that this “unacceptable” wording would complicate the Karabakh peace process “especially against the backdrop of the recent unprecedented rise in Azerbaijan’s military spending and its leaders’ Armenophobic rhetoric.”

“Given this concern, the president of the Republic of Armenia has decided not to depart to Lisbon,” he said, adding that Armenia will be represented at the summit by its defense and foreign ministers.

“We attach special importance to the content of documents dealing with vital issues for Armenia and the wording of those documents, which should be targeted at the reinforcement of security in the region,” Arzumanian was quoted by Armenian Public Radio as saying. He was referring to the draft’s reference to the principle of territorial integrity and its omission of self determination.

NATO did not immediately react to the dramatic move. Its draft resolution strongly opposed by Yerevan has not been officially publicized yet.

The United States and another key NATO member, France, advocate a Karabakh settlement based on territorial integrity and two other internationally recognized principles: peoples’ right to self-determination and non-use of force. A combination of these principles is at the heart of a framework peace accord put forward by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Earlier this year, the mediators urged the conflicting parties to refrain from a selective interpretation of elements of the proposed settlement.

Sarkisian was invited to the NATO summit along with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and other partner states. Speaking in Yerevan in September, NATO’s special representative to the South Caucasus, Robert Simmons, portrayed that invitation as a further sign of Armenia’s growing ties with the Western alliance. Simmons singled out the Armenian participation in the NATO-led multinational force in Afghanistan.

Arzumanian was careful not to present the situation as a crisis in Armenia-NATO relations. According to Armenian Public Radio, he emphasized that Yerevan remains a partner country of NATO and continues to attach “importance to its cooperation” with the alliance and its “contribution to the “implementation of reforms in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.”

In Arzumanian’s words, Yerevan remains committed to stepping up cooperation with NATO and considers that one of the “components” of its national security strategy. “We highly appreciate NATO’s contribution to the process of reforming the Armenian armed forces,” said the presidential press secretary.

He pointed to Armenia’s participation in peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo and Afghanistan as “the best proof of [its] productive cooperation with NATO.”

But, he added, Armenia can not accept “generalized formulations” relating to different regional conflicts.

US supports NATO resolution on Georgia

Philip Gordon

Rustavi2

Gordon comments on NATO open door policy.

US Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Gordon has commented on the position of the NATO and the United States regarding Georgia`s aspiration to join the alliance.
Philip Gordon said the Georgia was the issue on which the United States and Russia still had differences and reiterated support to Georgia`s territorial integrity and its aspiration to become the alliance member.
`Broadly speaking, the strategic concept is not yet agreed among the allies, that`s why I can`t say anything about the document, which has not been published yet, but I think it`s fair to say that the open door policy is something that all allies continue to agree on. We,  United States certainly do, but I think there is the consensus in the alliance that the open door is a right policy, that the enlargement is benefited, it is benefited by aspirant countries and this policy should continue,` Philip Gordon said.
Gordon said the position of the alliance regarding Georgia`s sovereignty was clear and that its all member states were eager to see the implementation of the August 2008 ceasefire agreement by Russia. He said the United States supported the resolution of the alliance adopted at the Bucharest summit, which said it clear that Georgia and Ukraine would become the members of the alliance.

NATO/Russian “Strategic Concept” Hinges On Russian Designs In Georgia

Peter Chamberlin

 

What does Russia really want from Georgia?  As in all issues between Russia and former satellite nations, the Kremlin wants to create or strengthen its ability to assert control over the independent governments, but there is much more to it than this.

Georgia is a state of contention, an area where the battle between East and West is waged.  It is here and in the other zones of conflict where Russian leaders must take concrete steps to put their “new thinking” into action.  We cannot see which path Putin and Medvedev will choose to take, mainly because they don’t appear to know themselves at this point which path they will choose for the immediate future.  But, from all the sweet noises emanating from Lisbon so far, it seems that the Russians will stay firmly on the path to a global partnership with the US.  The problem in all of this is how can Russia hold onto past gains without upsetting potential profits in the future.  Putin’s dilemma is how to switch tracks from post-Soviet government, to the new globalist partnership with the USA without provoking an unmanageable social revolution in the interim period.  How can he transition smoothly from the traditional stance of making trouble for American plans to one of working with the US planners.  The problems will arise when the switchover takes place—one day the office will work in the old thinking, the next day the workers’ and the office managers’ minds must switch to the new track.

Putin’s dilemma becomes most obvious in the S. Caucasus Region, where Soviet map-maker agitation of ethnic divisions in the past comes into play against ever-changing pipeline plans.  The US/Russian battle between South Stream and Nabucco pipeline plans has created uncertainty and a fuzzy notion of borders, so that the people, whose lives were being planned for them, have defensively turned to nationalism, with a stake in a future worth fighting for.

Defensive nationalism must be turned into an asset, by demonstrating where the new future must lie.  Past attempts to overcome the inherent difficulties in pacifying the region can be seen in the creation of new enclaves with self-defined borders, such as S. Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh.  These guerrilla staging areas must be eliminated without ignoring the interests of the key players in them.

Can American and Russian leaders overcome Putins’ dilemma, through some sort of joint “peace offensive”?  (SEE: The Peace Pipeline)

The recent steps taken by the players in the Azeri/Armenian conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh suggest that the US/Russian partnership is prepared to allow or encourage the military resolution of the issue, in order to prepare the two key nations for backed-up pipeline plans, even as they sign treaties committing them to abide by established “conflict resolution” measures.

Normally I avoid reading the Russian propaganda organ Pravda, but they have recently run a timely report on this impending issue  (SEE: Russia to become involved in another war on post-Soviet space?).  In addition to this Russian report, we have Armenia’s announcement that it would not be attending the ongoing NATO summit, as well as the following supplements:  ( Armenia may ‘turn from Russia to USA’ ; Russia against ‘Turkmen-Azerbaijani reconciliation’ ; Russia perceives Turkey as opponent ).

By supporting the peaceful resolution of the Georgian issues, the US side is committing itself to resolving the stand-off with Russia over S. Ossetia and Abkhazia, even though Russia cannot surrender to Georgian ambitions.  What price will Russia extract from Georgia, NATO and the US to relinquish territory deemed important enough to wage war over?  Abkhazia became a Russian military enclave as a direct reaction to Sakaashvili’s de-Russification program.  S. Ossetia blew-up when the Georgian leader tried to evict the Russians and block the single tunnel (Roki Tunnel) connecting North and South Ossetia, in an attempt to force the Russian forces to retreat beyond the Caucasus Mountains.  In an ideal US/Russian partnership, the American presence in Georgia would also represent the interests of the Russian side.

Surely the ongoing discussions between US and Russian presidents in Lisbon concern the limitations to the global partnership and how differences between East and West can be kept hidden from the prying eyes of the global citizens and their uncontrollable free press.  (SEE: US, Russian presidents hold unplanned meeting).

It is our job, as members of that uncontrollable free press, to ensure that all the secret plans for our future do not remain hidden.

peterchamberlin@naharnet.com

The God Theory

 

[SEE: THE ONE TRUE RELIGION]

“He looks at the idea we are in fact one consciousness experiencing itself via billions of different points of view.  Like the pure white light coming from a projector, things only come into focus—ideas, concepts, places, people, emotions—once we put a slide in front of the beam to be displayed and interpreted.

The white light is ‘God,’ infinite potential, all life, all laws, there is no separation.  By taking away parts of the white and replacing it with color, things come into being, while remaining part of the background white.”

Universes, Zero-Point Fields, and What’s Behind It All

By Bernard Haisch, Ph.D

SOURCE: New Dawn Magazine

 

“Al-CIA-da” Issues Disclaimer, Explanation for Apparent Incompetence

[This is worse than the previous B.S., where bin Laden was an environmentalist, or the one where he was championing anti-globalism.  Either we will arrive at the point where the idiocy of the excuses used to steal our Constitutional rights becomes so obvious, even to the most slack-jawed, drooling, flag-wrapped Tea-bagger, that rebellion becomes the brain’s automatic response, or we will submit to the parade of dummies and join the patriotic parrots screaming for more war.

The absurdity of the endless stream of shoe-bombers, underwear-bombers, firecracker-bombers and photocopier-bombs demonstrates conclusively, that there is no organization of international super-terrorists attacking us, just our own CIA.  And even these assholes must be getting tired of inventing new ways to scare the American children by now, otherwise they would offer us more realistic facsimiles of real terrorists.  Either this bloodthirsty Nation of babies will wise-up, or we will all embrace the nuclear fire waiting to consume us.] 

Technorati Tags: state terrorism

 

Al-Qaida Vows to ‘Bleed Enemy to Death’ with Parcel Bombs

The Yemen-based branch of Al-Qaeda has vowed further small but frequent attacks against the West such as last month’s cargo plane parcel bombs, in a "strategy of a thousand cuts" that will "bleed the enemy to death", a monitoring group said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said the packages it put aboard freight planes bound for the US in late October were never intended to cause mass casualties, but were aimed at creating maximum economic damage.

The group said the parcels, which were intercepted in Dubai and Britain, were part of "Operation Hemorrhage," a plan that had cost just 4,200 dollars to mount.

It said there was now little focus on large-scale mass-casualty attacks like those on New York and Washington in September 2001.

"To bring down America we do not need to strike big," the network said in an English-language magazine called Inspire, which was monitored Saturday by the US-based Intelcenter.

"In such an environment of security phobia that is sweeping America, it is more feasible to stage smaller attacks that involve less players and less time to launch and thus we may circumvent the security barriers America worked so hard to erect," AQAP said.

"This strategy of attacking the enemy with smaller, but more frequent operations is what some may refer to as the strategy of a thousand cuts. The aim is to bleed the enemy to death."

The two parcels were addressed to synagogues in Chicago and found to contain the hard-to-detect explosive PETN hidden in ink toner cartridges.

A massive global security clampdown on airfreight followed the discovery, with a number of countries banning cargo or flights originating from Yemen, including the United States, Canada and several western European countries.

The AQAP magazine details the "total bill of 4,200" dollars for Operation Hemorrhage, adding that it was three months in the planning and execution.

"On the other hand this… will without a doubt cost America and other Western countries billions of dollars in new security measures. This is what we call leverage.

"From the start our objective was economic… It was determined that the success of the operation was to be based on two factors: The first is that the packages pass through the latest security equipment.

"The second, the spread of fear that would cause the West to invest billions of dollars in new security procedures.

"We will continue with similar operations and we do not mind at all in this stage if they are intercepted. It is such a good bargain for us to spread fear amongst the enemy and keep him on his toes in exchange of a few months of work and a few thousand bucks."

The magazine says AQAP intends to pass on its know-how to other radical Islamists around the world, to encourage them to mount similar operations.

"We are laying out for our enemies our plan in advance because… our objective is not maximum kill but to cause a hemorrhage in the aviation industry, an industry that is so vital for trade and transportation between the US and Europe."

IntelCenter chief executive Ben Venzke said the level of operational detail AQAP had provided in the magazine marked a departure for Islamists.

"We have never seen a jihadist group in the Al-Qaeda orbit ever release, let alone only a few weeks after, such a detailed accounting of the philosophy, operational details, intent and next steps following a major attack," he said.

"This may represent a new level of interaction by jihadi groups following an operation and is a far cry from the days of shadowy claims and questions as to who was actually responsible.

"AQAP is a dedicated, unwavering and sophisticated group. It will continue to strike at the US in creative new ways and it is only a matter of time until one of their attacks results in thousands dead and/or severe economic damage."(AFP)