position:diplomat

Tunisian diplomat kidnapped in Libya
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/tunisian-diplomat-kidnapped-libya

A Tunisian diplomat was kidnapped on Thursday in the Libyan capital in still unknown circumstances, a security source told AFP, just two days after armed men seized Jordan’s ambassador.

A Tunisian source confirmed the abduction — the latest in a string of incidents targeting foreign diplomats and Libyan politicians alike — while Tunis’s ambassador, Ridha Boukadi, refused to comment.

Tunisian diplomat kidnapped in #Libya
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/tunisian-diplomat-kidnapped-libya

A Tunisian diplomat was kidnapped on Thursday in the Libyan capital in still unknown circumstances, a security source told AFP, just two days after armed men seized Jordan’s ambassador. A Tunisian source confirmed the abduction — the latest in a string of incidents targeting foreign diplomats and Libyan politicians alike — while Tunis’s ambassador, Ridha Boukadi, refused to comment. (AFP)

#Top_News #Tunisia

Japan, Korea, Singapore and the Arctic Sea Lanes | The Diplomat

▻http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/japan-korea-singapore-and-the-arctic-sea-lanes

When the Arctic Council admitted a bevy of new official observer states to its ranks to great fanfare in May 2013, China and India’s accession dominated the headlines.

http://thediplomat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/thediplomat_2014-03-24_11-49-46-386x258.jpg

But three other key Asian nations – Japan, Singapore and South Korea – also joined this intergovernmental forum for coordinating among Arctic nations and are no less poised to play a part in the future of Arctic development. Like their larger Asian neighbors, Japan, Singapore and South Korea aim to participate in energy resource development and climate change research in the polar north. Yet the primary interest driving the Arctic engagement of all three countries is the increasing accessibility of northern waters to commercial shipping.

#arctique #transport_maritime

Israeli minister chastises #Kerry over „Jewish state” remarks
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israeli-minister-chastises-kerry-over-jewish-state-remarks

An Israeli minister on Sunday said Washington’s top diplomat was “wrong” for pressuring #Israel in peace talks, a day before western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas visits the White House. His remarks came two days after US Secretary of State #John Kerry criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “John Kerry is wrong because he is putting pressure on the wrong side,” said Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, who is considered close to Netanyahu. read more

#Palestine #Top_News

Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles
▻http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680

Saudi Arabia has offered to give the opposition for the first time Chinese man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads, and antitank guided missiles from Russia, according to an Arab diplomat and several opposition figures with knowledge of the efforts. Saudi officials couldn’t be reached to comment.

The U.S. has long opposed arming rebels with antiaircraft missiles for fear they could fall into the hands of extremists who might use them against the West or commercial airlines. The Saudis have held off supplying them in the past because of U.S. opposition. A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the U.S. objection remains the same. “There hasn’t been a change internally on our view,” the official said.

Donc, prochainement, ces trucs se retrouveront entre les mains de gens qui, depuis des années, soutiennent que l’aéroport de Beyrouth est une officine du Hezbollah. C’est fête.

Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles - WSJ.com
By MARIA ABI-HABIB and STACY MEICHTRY CONNECT
Feb. 14, 2014 8:31 p.m. ET

▻http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwNTExNDUyWj

AMMAN, Jordan—Washington’s Arab allies, disappointed with Syria peace talks, have agreed to provide rebels there with more sophisticated weaponry, including shoulder-fired missiles that can take down jets, according to Western and Arab diplomats and opposition figures.

Saudi Arabia has offered to give the opposition for the first time Chinese man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads, and antitank guided missiles from Russia, according to an Arab diplomat and several opposition figures with knowledge of the efforts. Saudi officials couldn’t be reached to comment.

The U.S. has long opposed arming rebels with antiaircraft missiles for fear they could fall into the hands of extremists who might use them against the West or commercial airlines. The Saudis have held off supplying them in the past because of U.S. opposition. A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the U.S. objection remains the same. “There hasn’t been a change internally on our view,” the official said.

The U.S. for its part has stepped up financial support, handing over millions of dollars in new aid to pay fighters’ salaries, said rebel commanders who received some of the money. The U.S. wouldn’t comment on any payments.

Related
Russia-U.S.Tensions Flare at Geneva Negotiations
The focus of the new rebel military push is to retake the southern suburbs of Damascus in hopes of forcing the regime to accept a political resolution to the war by agreeing to a transitional government without President Bashar al-Assad.

But if the Manpads are supplied in the quantities needed, rebels said it could tip the balance in the stalemated war in favor of the opposition. The antiaircraft and Russian Konkurs antitank weapons would help them chip away at the regime’s two big advantages on the battlefield—air power and heavy armor.

“New stuff is arriving imminently,” said a Western diplomat with knowledge of the weapons deliveries.

Rebel commanders and leaders of the Syrian political opposition said they don’t know yet how many of the Manpads and antiaircraft missiles they will get. But they have been told it is a significant amount. The weapons are already waiting in warehouses in Jordan and Turkey.

Earlier in the conflict, rebels managed to seize a limited number of Manpads from regime forces. But they quickly ran out of the missiles to arm them, the Western diplomat said.

Rebel leaders say they met with U.S. and Saudi intelligence agents, among others, in Jordan on Jan. 30 as the first round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva came to a close. That is when wealthy Gulf States offered the more sophisticated weapons.

At the meeting, U.S. and Gulf officials said they were disappointed with the Syrian government’s refusal to discuss Mr. Assad’s ouster at the talks and suggested a military push was needed to force a political solution to the three-year war.

President Barack Obama this week acknowledged that diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict are far from achieving their goals.

“But the situation is fluid and we are continuing to explore every possible avenue,” Mr. Obama said.

The weapons will flow across the border into southern Syria from the warehouses in Jordan and across the northern border from Turkey, the Western diplomat said. Rebel leaders said the shipments to southern Syria are expected to be more substantial because opposition fighters are more unified in that area and there is a lower risk the weapons will fall into the hands of al Qaeda-inspired groups—a big concern for the U.S.

With the rebels still deeply divided and infighting growing, the new aid is aimed squarely at the more moderate and secular rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that the U.S. has always favored.

The plan coincides with the reorganization of rebel forces in the south, where 10,000 fighters have formed the Southern Front. The new front aims to break the government’s siege of the southern suburbs of Damascus.

Last month, rebels in the north unified into the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, turning their weapons on the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the most deadly al Qaeda-inspired rebel faction. The SRF, along with other groups, forced ISIS to retreat from key territories across the north. Both the northern and southern forces are technically under the FSA’s umbrella.

Western and Arab support for the new groups won’t go to the Islamic Front, an alliance of conservative, religious rebel factions that is helping the northern front rebels fight the more radical ISIS.

The Southern Front is under the leadership of Bashar al-Zoubi, who has a direct line to Western and Arab intelligence agencies in a military operations room in Amman, rebels say.

The operations room hosts officials from the 11 countries that form the Friends of Syria group, including the U.S., Saudi Arabia, France and the U.K. Mr. al-Zoubi was also among a select group of rebel commanders who joined the political opposition in Geneva for the latest round of peace talks.

The Southern Front has captured a string of government-held areas and military bases since it launched its first offensive in late January.

But any push toward the capital from the south faces formidable challenges. An arc south of the capital is the domain of the army’s Fourth Division, elite troops led by Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother. Closer to the capital, Syrian forces are fortified by elements of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia from Lebanon.

The regime has been ruthless in snuffing out any hint of escalation by rebels in the south.

“The Saudis and Emiratis at the same meeting said that their priority is to lift the siege on the entire southern area of Damascus,” said an aide to a rebel leader who attended the meeting in Amman on Jan 30. Once we reach this stage, it will become political pressure and Assad will have to listen to the international demands," the aide said.

At the meeting between leaders of the Southern Front and Western and Arab intelligence agencies last month, rebel leaders said they were given salaries for their fighters and equipment such as military rations and tents.

Rebels said the U.S. spent $3 million on salaries of fighters in the Southern Front, delivering the payments in cash over two meetings in Jordan—one on Jan. 30 and the other late last year.

The opposition will also ask Congress next week for weapons to help rebels fight al Qaeda. That mandate would give the opposition a better shot at securing arms than previous requests for support to topple the regime.

Congressional aides confirmed there are scheduled meetings with opposition leaders next week to discuss their request for more advanced weapons. But Congress remains sharply divided about the conflict in Syria. Some lawmakers favor stepped-up support to moderate opposition groups, but others question the wisdom of providing heavy weapons.

“We’re trying to assure the international community that they can support moderates without the threat of arms falling into the hands of al Qaeda,” said Oubai Shahbandar, a senior adviser to the Syrian opposition.

—Sam Dagher and Suha Ma’ayeh contributed to this article.

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Brahimi pushes for peace commitment from both sides in #syria peace talks
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/brahimi-pushes-peace-commitment-both-sides-syria-peace-talks

Syria’s warring sides launched a new round of peace talks Monday, as an agreement from the first round last month was being implemented with aid convoys evacuating the besieged city of Homs. The #UN and Arab League mediator, veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, began the latest session in Geneva by shuttling between the government and opposition teams. In a letter reviewed by Reuters on Monday, Brahimi increased pressure on the two sides to show willingness in a peace process sponsored by Moscow and Washington that made no progress in the first round. read more

#Geneva_II #Top_News

North Korea Warns Against Nuclear Platforms in South’s Military Drills - NationalJournal.com

▻http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/north-korea-warns-against-nuclear-platforms-in-south-s-military-dri

Je persiste à penser que c’est du flan, mais si demain le gros poupon sème le feu sur la Corée du sud, j’aurai l’air malin.

A North Korean diplomat on Friday warned there could be terrible consequences if U.S. nuclear forces participate in upcoming military exercises with the South.

“We courteously propose the South side not to resort to reckless acts of bringing dangerous nuclear strike means of the U.S. to South Korea and to areas around it,” North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Sin Son Ho said at a rare press briefing, according to a Reuters report.

Pyongyang in recent days has repeatedly threatened Seoul and Washington over their planned yearly Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint armed forces exercises, which will be taking place from late February through April. When nuclear-capable U.S. aircraft practiced dual-capable B-2 bombing runs over South Korea in last year’s bilateral maneuvers, North Korea responded by vowing to launch nuclear strikes against the two allies. The regime went so far as to prime ballistic missiles for launch on its eastern coast.

#Egypt evacuates embassy in #Libya after diplomat kidnappings
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypt-evacuates-embassy-libya-after-diplomat-kidnappings

Egypt’s ambassador and his staff have left Libya for security reasons after the kidnapping of five of their colleagues, the foreign ministry said Sunday. “The ambassador and more than 50 staff and diplomats of the Egyptian embassy left Tripoli on Saturday evening,” ministry spokesman Sayid Lassoued told AFP. The evacuation had been decided on security grounds, he said, as Libyan authorities worked to secure the release of the abducted diplomats. read more

#Top_News

North Korea May Have Two-Thirds of World’s Rare Earths | The Diplomat

▻http://thediplomat.com/2014/01/north-korea-may-have-two-thirds-of-worlds-rare-earths

Si c’est vrai, la géopolitique du futur va devenir sympa.

North Korea May Have Two-Thirds of World’s Rare Earths

http://thediplomat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/thediplomat_2014-01-21_20-23-49-386x250.jpg

A new estimate suggests that North Korea may have more than 6 times the amount of rare earths as China

#corée_du_nord #matières_premières #terres_rares

Israeli envoys in Europe summoned over new settlement construction
By Barak Ravid | Jan. 16, 2014
Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.569037

Israeli ambassadors in four key European states were reprimanded by their hosts Thursday over the government’s recent announcement of new construction tenders in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A senior European diplomat said the move was coordinated among the governments of the European Union’s five largest countries – Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. Consequently, the ambassadors to the first four were summoned by those countries’ foreign ministries Thursday.

The ambassador to Germany wasn’t, but only because German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Israel this week and therefore delivered the message personally to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The senior European diplomat said that in each of Thursday’s meetings, European officials voiced deep concern about the impact the tenders might have on Israeli-Palestinian talks.

“We made it clear that statements like this are liable to be destructive and undermine attempts to create a positive atmosphere for negotiations,” he said. The European Union, he added, believes that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts have created a real opportunity to advance the negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the news on Thursday, telling the foreign press corps that “the EU should end its hypocrisy over condemning Israeli settlements. When did the EU call in the Palestinian ambassadors to complain about incitement that calls for Israel’s destruction?”

At Thursday’s meetings, European officials also reiterated the EU offer of an unprecedented incentive package if Israel signs a peace agreement with the Palestinians, the diplomat said. The package, which includes upgrading Israel’s status with the European Union to that of a “privileged partnership,” was unveiled a month ago, but Israel has yet to offer an official response to either the EU or any of its member states.

Over the last two weeks, Germany, Britain and France have sent messages to Jerusalem voicing disappointment over this lack of an Israeli response and offering to launch negotiations over the details of the package.

Last Friday, the Housing Ministry announced tenders for the construction of 800 housing units in West Bank settlements and another 600 units in East Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. The tenders were issued two weeks after Israel released another group of Palestinian prisoners, the third of four batches it has promised to release over the nine months of talks.

When the first two groups were released, Israel announced new construction tenders almost simultaneously. But this time the announcement was postponed, in part because Kerry was in Israel at the time.

The Bangladeshi photographer spoke about the Indian nanny controversy in Manhattan and why servants in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are treated so poorly

Over the past few weeks, relations between India and the United States have been strained over the arrest of Devyani Khobragade, 39, an Indian diplomat in Manhattan who allegedly paid her housekeeper less than the New York minimum wage.

A great deal has been written about the appalling treatment of domestic help in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (and how attitudes are slowly changing). But one of the most refreshingly original takes is a photo essay called Close Distance by #Jannatul_Mawa, a documentary photographer and social activist in Bangladesh. Mawa got more than a dozen housekeepers in #Dhaka and the women they work for to pose for her sitting side by side. The goal: Show the distance between two people who often live under the same roof.

In an interview with Vocativ, Mawa spoke about the Indian diplomat in Manhattan and what it means to be spatially close but far apart in every other way.

http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_0917862974.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_01907532472.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_021273668217.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_033597568505.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_042953861115.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_05764705915.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_082626992830.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_061349060282.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_073454872890.jpg http://media.vocativ.com/photos/2014/01/Indian_women_122776808843.jpg http://www.gstatic.com/psa/static/1.gif

▻http://www.vocativ.com/01-2014/masters-servants-south-asia-9-questions-jannatul-mawa

#Inde #Pakistan #Bangladesh #photo #photographie #domestique #travail_domestique #patron #reportage_photographique

cc @albertocampiphoto

Japanese diplomat stabbed in kidnapping attempt in #Yemen
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/japanese-diplomat-stabbed-kidnapping-attempt-yemen

Armed men stabbed a Japanese diplomat in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday when he resisted a kidnapping attempt in front of his house, a security source said. It was the latest in a spate of attacks on foreigners in the impoverished Arab state, where the government is struggling to restore law and order since a power transfer deal in late 2011 saw former President Ali Abdullah Saleh step aside. The source said the diplomat was in a stable condition in hospital after being stabbed in the hand with a dagger. His bodyguard was injured in the attack, the source said. read more

#Japan #Top_News

EU set to offer massive aid to Israel, Palestinians for peace deal -
Haaretz, Barak Ravid, 13th of December
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.563254

The European Union is expected to announce on Monday that it will offer an unprecedented assistance package to Israel and the Palestinians, if the two parties sign a final-status agreement.

The organization also promised to upgrade relations with both parties to the highest level possible for nonmember nations in the event of a peace treaty.

A senior European diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter, said a draft of the policy decision was approved yesterday at a meeting of the EU’s Political and Security Committee in Brussels. Ambassadors to the EU from the organization’s 28 member states attended the meeting.

The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, details the economic, political and military aid the EU hopes will encourage Israel and the Palestinians to agree to the painful compromises that a peace agreement will inevitably entail.

The senior EU diplomat said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is on board with the move, which is being shepherded by the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain, France, Spain and Italy. Their colleagues in the EU’s 25 other member states are scheduled to vote on the proposal on Monday. It is expected to pass, without significant changes.

The draft resolution stipulates that after a peace agreement is reached, the status of both Israel and the future Palestinian state vis-a-vis the EU will be raised to “Special Privileged Partnership.” A similar offer was made to Turkey by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy as an alternative to Ankara’s joining the EU as a full member.

The proposed EU assistance package to Israel and the future Palestinian state will include the following incentives:

1. Increased access to the EU market.

2. Closer cultural and scientific ties to the EU.

3. Facilitation of trade and investment.

4. Promotion of business-to-business relations.

5. Enhanced political dialogue with both states.

6. Enhanced security cooperation with both states.

The value of the European package of incentives to Israel is genuinely priceless. In addition to its monetary worth, which has been estimated in the billions of euros, the deal would vastly improve Israel’s international standing, rescuing Jerusalem from the international isolation from which it is suffering.

The package will also provide international guarantees on such crucial security issues as Iran, the war against terror, intelligence cooperation and much more.

The draft of the proposed decision praises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the commitment they are demonstrating to the peace negotiations and for the hard decisions they have made so far to renew the talks.

The proposed decision states, “It is a fundamental interest of the European Union to see an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” In addition, the draft proposal says the EU “deplores” the construction in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and “warns against actions that undermine the negotiations.”

Australian spy agency helped BHP negotiate trade deals
▻http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-spy-agency-helped-bhp-negotiate-trade-deals-20131106-2x1sw.html

BHP was among the companies helped by Australian spy agencies as they negotiated trade deals with Japan, a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer says.

A former diplomat has also confirmed Australian intelligence agencies have long targeted Japanese companies. Writing in The Japan Times, Professor Gregory Clark said Australian companies were beneficiaries of intelligence operations.

“In Australia, favoured firms getting spy material on Japanese contract policies and other business negotiations used to joke how [it had] ’fallen off the back of a truck’,” Professor Clark wrote.

Business information is a main target for [intelligence] agencies, he said. “The targeting is also highly corrupting since the information can be passed on selectively to co-operative firms - often firms that provide employment and cover for spy operatives.”

Incoherent P5+1 Hinder Iran Nuclear Talks Progress - Iran’s View | Iran’s View
▻http://www.iransview.com/incoherent-p51-hinder-iran-nuclear-talks-progress/1430

French negotiators are said to take the strictest position in the talks against Iran, witnesses of the talks have said, and their bald statements have repeatedly derailed the progress of the talks.

A member of the Iranian negotiating team told IransView that during Almaty I and II talks which took place in February and April 2013 in Kazakhstan, French Foreign Ministry Director-General for Political and Security Affairs Jacques Audibert, who served as the French top negotiator then, prompted Saeed Jalili to warn of leaving the talk session.

“While Jalili was elaborating on a PowerPoint slideshow provided by the Iranian team, Audibert undiplomatically reactioned to a slide titled as ‘Common grounds of Iran – P5+1 cooperation’ and said they had not come to cooperate with Iran to reach a deal, but to stop Iran’s nuclear program,” the diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “In response, Jalili said he would leave the room if the group is seeking to fight in the talks.”

The diplomat further added that Ashton and other members of the P5+1 group tried to stop Audibert from making such statements during the next rounds of talks.

Observers in Tehran say that France take a stark position towards Iran while the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei has invited French officials to cooperate with Iran several times.

“I would like […] to point out that officials of the French government have been openly hostile towards the Iranian nation over the past few years and this is not a clever move by French government officials,” said Ayatollah Khamenei during a speech on March 21, 2013.

“A wise politician should never have the motivation to turn a neutral country into an enemy. We have never had problems with France and the French government, neither in the past nor in the present era. However, since the time of Sarkozy, the French government has adopted a policy of opposing the Iranian nation and unfortunately the current French government is pursuing the same policy. In our opinion, this is a wrong move. It is ill-advised and unwise.”

Il semble que Mr Fabius soit seul à vouloir faire capoter les négociations avec l’Iran.

Mortar strikes Vatican embassy in Damascus
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/mortar-strikes-vatican-embassy-damascus

A mortar round hit the Vatican embassy in Damascus on Tuesday morning, damaging the building but causing no casualties, a diplomat told AFP. “A mortar round fell this morning at 6:30 am (0430 GMT) on the embassy rooftop, causing only material damage,” said Giorgio Ghezza, counselor at the papal nunciature. Rebel-fired mortar rounds have frequently hit areas of central Damascus. (...)

#syria #Top_News

Western governments considering easing #nuclear demands on #Iran: #EU
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/western-governments-considering-easing-nuclear-demands-iran-eu-di

Western governments are considering allowing Iran to continue some uranium enrichment, as part of a possible deal to resolve a decade-old dispute that Tehran says it wants to reach within six months, a senior EU diplomat said. The new stance – a reaction to President Hassan Rohani’s overtures to the West – would mean easing a long-standing demand that Iran suspend all enrichment, due to concerns Tehran could be developing nuclear weapons. read (...)

#Top_News

Thaw between Washington and Tehran brings Israel and Gulf states closer

Haaretz, By Barak Ravid | Sep. 29, 2013
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.549359

NEW YORK - On Thursday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, a Saudi diplomat turned to his Israeli counterpart. “What’s going on here?” he asked. “What do you make of all this?”

Over the past week, similar conversations have taken place between senior Israeli diplomats and officials from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and other Sunni Gulf states. An Israeli official who requested anonymity said there was a common message in these conversations and a shared sense of anxiety.

“All governments in the moderate Sunni states, especially in the Gulf, are very worried about the thaw in relations between the U.S. and Iran,” the senior Israeli official said. “They’re afraid that the American-Iranian deal will come at their expense. There’s pressure not only in Jerusalem, but in the Gulf as well. They’re really wetting their pants."

The official added that the angst being relayed to the White House over the negotiations between the United States and Iran is emanating from Jerusalem and – perhaps mainly – from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

According to the Israeli official, the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, held tense talks with senior administration officials over the past few days and asked for clarifications concerning the U.S. position on Iran.

The Iranian issue was also the focus of talks in recent days between Kerry and the foreign ministers of the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait on the sidelines of the General Assembly. Each Arab foreign minister warned – much like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – of a kind of Iranian honey trap that could ensnare the United States.

Israel and Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, as well as Egypt and Jordan, have always had common interests in halting Iran’s nuclear program. But since the swearing-in of President Hassan Rohani in early August, the exchange of messages between Israel and Arab states has become more frequent and intimate.

About a week ago, a few days before Kerry and Zarif’s meeting and the phone call between U.S. President Barack Obama and Rohani, a closed dinner was held at the International Peace Institute in New York. The hosts were veteran Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen – who heads the institute alongside his position as senior aide to the UN secretary-general – UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

Seated around the long table were about 40 senior officials from around the world, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, and the head of the Arab League.

After a talk by Bill and Melinda Gates on the Syrian humanitarian crisis and the war against polio came an overview of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Livni, PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo and U.S. envoy Martin Indyk outlined the progress of the direct talks that have taken place in recent weeks.

No Arab minister attacked Israel, and not one stood up and left the room when he found out that a high-ranking representative of the Israeli government was sitting beside him. On the contrary, everyone showed keen interest and asked questions. When the open discussion began, the officials had little more on their minds but Iran.

Although the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have not yet yielded a breakthrough, the renewal of talks has improved the atmosphere. With direct talks and at least the feeling of a thaw, it’s much easier for Arab states to have contacts – both open and discreet – with Israel.

“This has a huge strategic importance for Israel,” a senior official in Jerusalem said. “When there is progress on the Palestinian issue, our common interest with the Arab countries on the Iranian issue can be addressed.”

Israel considers banishing French diplomat who tussled with Border Police - Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.548262

Israel considers banishing French diplomat who tussled with Border Police
National security adviser to decide whether to declare French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing persona non-grata; Israel calls her acts a provocation.

Kenya, Israel’s forward base in Africa -
By Barak Ravid | Sep. 23, 2013
Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.548375

On March 15, 2007, a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi met with the director general of the Kenyan Foreign Ministry, Tom Amolo. The high-ranking Kenyan official said Kenya and Israel had maintained close security and intelligence cooperation for many years and were in contact at every level and in every field of endeavor.

“Israel is a key geo-strategic partner,” he told the American diplomat in the Kenyan capital, according to U.S. State Department cable that was leaked to WikiLeaks. “It is a suitable counterweight for us to those states in our region that do not share our values,” Amolo was quoted as saying. The American diplomat added in parentheses that Amolo appeared to be referring to Sudan.

Foreign media reports of Israeli advisers arriving in Nairobi on Sunday to help Kenyan security forces handle the hostage crisis at the upscale Westgate shopping mall in the city, where dozens of people were killed Saturday in an attack by Islamic militants, are in line with the intimate security and intelligence cooperation between the two countries.

In the aftermath of the attack, this cooperation is expected to become even closer.

The Al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1997 set off a warning light for Israeli intelligence regarding the terror threat in Africa. Subsequent attacks, like the 2002 Al-Qaida attack against Israeli tourists at the Paradise Hotel in the Kenyan city of Mombasa and the attempt to down an Israeli Arkia airliner there with a shoulder-fired missile, turned the warning light into a real alarm bell.

In June 2012, two members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force were arrested while in possession of explosives. The pair, who were convicted several months ago and sentenced to life in prison, had planned a terror attack against Israeli diplomats as part of Iran’s effort to avenge a wave of assassinations of nuclear scientists that the Iranians attributed to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The defendants testified in court that they had been interrogated in a Kenyan jail by Israeli investigators.

Kenya has also been a customer of Israel Military Industries. Israel sold Kenya a considerable amount of weaponry, but beyond that, Israel has provided military know-how. Hundreds of Kenyan soldiers in recent years have received training in combating terrorism in Israel or were trained in Kenya by official or semi-official Israeli instructors.

Israel Demands Explanation After French Diplomat Punches Israeli Soldier in the Face (VIDEO) | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com
▻http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/09/22/israel-demands-explanation-after-french-diplomat-punches-israeli-soldier

Israel Demands Explanation After French Diplomat Punches Israeli Soldier in the Face (VIDEO)
September 22, 2013 11:47 am 8 comments
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Foreign ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing Israel’s Foreign Ministry Israel’s High Court of Justice Khirbet al-Makhul

French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing throwing a punch at an IDF soldier at Khirbet al-Makhul, in the Jordan Valley, on Friday, September 20, 2013. Photo: Screenshot.

French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing throwing a punch at an IDF soldier at Khirbet al-Makhul, in the Jordan Valley, on Friday, September 20, 2013. Photo: Screenshot.

French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing punched an Israeli soldier in the face at the weekend prompting Israel’s Foreign Ministry to demand “an explanation of this blatant violation of diplomatic codes of conduct,” according to reports from AFP and Israel Hayom on Sunday.

Israel Hayom published footage of Fesneau-Castaing striking a helmeted border policeman on the chin with her fist. The punch was thrown on Friday, when IDF troops arrived to disperse a group of European diplomats as they tried to hand out tents and other equipment to Bedouin in Khirbet al-Makhul.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said, “Israel rejects the one-sided announcement which was published by the spokespersons of HR [Catherine] Ashton and Commissioner Georgieva regarding the events in the Northern Jordan Valley. This announcement ignores the European diplomats’ blunt violation of the law, their disregard to a ruling of the Israeli court and their unnecessary provocation under the alleged pretext of humanitarian aid.”

“Diplomats are sent by their governments to be a bridge and not act as provocateurs,” it said. “Israel has already made it clear that it will not accept this misconduct. Israel’s response will reflect the seriousness of these violations.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson told AFP that Fesneau-Castaing lay down on the ground as an act of “passive resistance” against enforcement of a court order against unlicensed building by Bedouin.

“She was removed from the vehicle… then she dropped herself onto the ground… nobody threw her on the floor,” he told AFP. “There was violence from her side when she stood up and she walked over and she punched the officer in the face,” Hirschson added.

On Monday, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that a group of houses, stables and a kindergarten in Khirbet al-Makhul did not have proper building permits, leading to Israel’s decision to destroy the structures.

Israel Hayom cited the IDF as saying that its forces had tried to stop locals erecting tents in the area on Friday and locals and “foreign activists” had responded by throwing rocks. The IDF used non-lethal riot dispersal means after the rocks were thrown.

A video of the incident can be viewed below.

Kissinger saw the benefits of Syrian intervention in Lebanon
▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Sep-23/232198-kissinger-saw-the-benefits-of-syrian-intervention-in-lebanon.as

A new set of declassified documents on the run-up to the Syrian intervention in Lebanon’s Civil War sheds light on American diplomacy during the crisis, including contacts with late President Hafez Assad’s regime and U.S. hopes that a Syrian intervention would weaken Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization. The documents, minutes of meetings involving U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, reveal the top U.S. diplomat’s open contempt and frustration toward Israeli policymakers for threatening to invade south Lebanon in response to a Syrian intervention.

“You know these Israelis really are shits,” Kissinger said at a meeting in March 1976, expressing anger at the possibility of an Israeli attack.

The archival documents show the U.S. administration had foreknowledge of a possible Syrian intervention, deciding it was in accordance with U.S. interests but refraining from supporting it publicly in fear of the invasion sparking a broad Middle Eastern war.

“Now if I could design the solution, I would go to Assad and say, ‘If you could move in quickly, and if you could give us an iron clad guarantee that you will get out again quickly and that you will not go south of the [Litani] river, we will keep the Israelis out,’” he said in one meeting.

The minutes show a Kissinger deeply involved in Middle Eastern politics, conferring on an almost daily basis with top advisers and closely following Lebanon’s descent into violence while trying to grapple with the insurmountable complexity of its civil war politics.

Kissinger saw benefits to a Syrian intervention, guessing that it would weaken Arafat’s PLO, but he refrained from backing it publicly and in talks with Syrian officials.

The documents paint an image of an irreverent, sharp and sometimes profane man, who was also prone to generalizations, for instance describing Egyptian negotiators as “duplicitous.”

They are also striking because they show the relatively close relationship between the Assad regime and the U.S.

The documents are part of a multi-volume series called “Foreign Relations of the United States.” The volume dealing with the Arab-Israeli dispute includes a set of archival files on meetings concerning Lebanon at the start of the Civil War.

American officials had a low opinion of Lebanese politicians at the time. Former President Suleiman Franjieh is described as “a disaster,” Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt as “crazy” and political leaders as “warlords.”

Syrian intervention in Lebanon was discussed in a meeting on Oct. 13, immediately sparking talk of a likely Israeli retaliation.

“There is no way – no way – in which the Israelis will sit still while the Syrians send in their troops. I am sure of that,” said Kissinger, who sought to find out from the Israelis what level of Syrian activity in Lebanon would be acceptable to them.

Kissinger was also dismissive of the Israeli government, describing former General and premier Yigal Allon as a “sweet fool” and Yitzhak Rabin as “weak,” while lamenting the U.S. failure to influence its ally.

The secretary said he was ready to support Syrian efforts to achieve a political solution in Lebanon.

“We have to go back to Assad ... Ask him what he is up to and, if we agree with him, we will do our best to help him,” he said. “But warn him what he does must be done without the use of Syrian regular forces.”

“Also have him give Assad my best personal regards,” he said to a diplomatic envoy.

In March 1976, as the Americans gleaned more details of the extent of Syria’s potential involvement, American officials sought clarity from Syria over its intentions in Lebanon and how long it would stay there.

Kissinger said the Israelis would intervene because they wished to strike a mortal blow to PLO strongholds in Lebanon, which he referred derisively to as “Fatahland.”

“Their position is that they cannot trust the Syrians,” Kissinger said. “They are not at all sure that the Syrians would leave if they go in, so that if they do go in, the Israelis would then quietly take over strategic points in southern Lebanon and in effect hold them hostage till the Syrians leave.”

But in a meeting with President Gerald Ford in late March, Kissinger said the U.S. might benefit from a Syrian intervention that strikes at the PLO.

“If Syria could go in quickly and clean it out, it would be good,” he said.

Kissinger floated the idea at the time that the Syrians could be replaced by a U.N. force after destroying the PLO.

But Kissinger was frustrated by Israel’s objections, and decided it was not worth the risk to greenlight a Syrian invasion of Lebanon if it risked sparking a regional war.

“If we had freedom of action we could perhaps act differently,” he said. “We could let the Syrians move and break the back of the PLO.”

Such an intervention would unite the Arab world, Kissinger lamented.

“The end result would be exactly what we have worked all these years to avoid: It would create Arab unity.”

He decried what he called “those idiots in Tel Aviv,” saying Israel would not acquiesce to U.S. pressure against invading south Lebanon unless America threatened to end military assistance and support sanctions in the U.N. against Israel.

(...)

Kissinger also excoriated the Israeli lobby in Washington for trying to shape American foreign policy.

“The Israelis used to lobby for their own interests,” he said at a meeting in August 1976. “Now they are lobbying to change the entire course of our policy to coincide with their own policy rather than our interests.”

#EU demands #Israel explain seizure of Palestinian aid
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/eu-demands-israel-explain-seizure-palestinian-aid

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/255163-01-08.jpg

French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing lays on the ground after she was dragged out by Israeli soldiers from a truck loaded with supplies on 20 September 2013 on a road leading to the #west_bank village of Khirbet al-Makhul. (Photo: AFP / STR)

Senior European Union officials demanded that Israel explain why its soldiers seized a truckload of humanitarian aid intended for Palestinians, saying they deplored the confiscation. Israeli soldiers attacked European (...)

#Top_News

European diplomats: Israeli army manhandled us, seized Palestinian aid
Haaretz By Reuters and Gili Cohen | Sep. 20, 2013
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.548043

Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinians, European diplomats and foreign activists trying to erect an encampment in the West Bank on Friday.

The diplomats said the Israel Defense Forces manhandled them and stopped them from bringing aid and supplies to Palestinians whose homes in the hamlet of Khirbet Makhoul were demolished on Monday. Meanwhile, the IDF said the attempt to erect the tents was a “provocation,” and that Palestinians attacked the soldiers at the scene.

The army said dozens of Palestinians, foreign activists and diplomats gathered near the settlement of Hemdat and the base of the IDF’s Kfir Brigade in the northern Jordan Valley on Friday afternoon, and tried to set up tents at the site where the homes were razed.

Some of those present started throwing stones toward the security forces and hitting soldiers, the IDF said, adding that it used stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Three Palestinians were detained for attacking the security forces and transferred to police, the IDF said. The area was declared a closed military zone, and the army stopped a truck bringing supplies to the site, the IDF said. 

Reuters reported that the soldiers manhandled European diplomats at the site, and seized the truck, which was full of tents and emergency aid they had been trying to deliver to Palestinians whose homes were demolished. 

Khirbet Makhoul was home to about 120 people. The army razed their ramshackle houses, stables and a kindergarten on Monday after Israel’s High Court ruled that they did not have proper building permits. Despite losing their property, the inhabitants have refused to leave the land, where, they say, their families have lived for generations along with their flocks of sheep.

A Reuters reporter saw soldiers throw stun grenades at a group of diplomats, aid workers and locals, and yank a French diplomat out of the truck before driving away with its contents.

“They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity,” French diplomat Marion Castaing told Reuters. “This is how international law is being respected here,” she said, covered with dust.

’Shocking and outrageous’

Israeli soldiers stopped the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivering emergency aid on Tuesday and on Wednesday IRCS staff managed to put up some tents but the army forced them to take the shelters down.

Diplomats from France, Britain, Spain, Ireland, Australia and the European Union’s political office, turned up on Friday with more supplies. As soon as they arrived, about a dozen Israeli army jeeps converged on them, and soldiers told them not to unload their truck.

“It’s shocking and outrageous. We will report these actions to our governments,” said one EU diplomat, who declined to be named because he did not have authorization to talk to the media.

“(Our presence here) is a clear matter of international humanitarian law. By the Geneva Convention, an occupying power needs to see to the needs of people under occupation. These people aren’t being protected,” he said.

In the scuffles between soldiers and locals, an elderly Palestinian man also fainted and was taken for medical treatment to a nearby ambulance.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement that Makhoul was the third Bedouin community to be demolished by the Israelis in the West Bank and adjacent Jerusalem municipality since August.

Palestinians have accused the Israeli authorities of progressively taking their historical grazing lands, either earmarking it for military use or handing it over to the Israelis whose settlements dot the West Bank.

Israelis and Palestinians resumed direct peace talks last month after a three-year hiatus. Palestinian officials have expressed serious doubts about the prospects of a breakthrough.

“What the Israelis are doing is not helpful to the negotiations. Under any circumstances, talks or not, they’re obligated to respect international law,” the unnamed EU diplomat said.

A spokesman at the British Consulate General in Jerusalem said London was “seriously concerned” by the Makhoul demolitions and by the subsequent refusal to let villagers receive aid

“We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our concerns over such demolitions, which we view as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, as harmful to the peace process, and as contrary to international humanitarian law,” he said.