French diplomat Castaing lays on the ground after Israeli soldiers carried her out of her truck containing emergency aid, in the Jordan Valley
▻http://www.trust.org/item/20130920140951-b5j1t
French diplomat Castaing lays on the ground after Israeli soldiers carried her out of her truck containing emergency aid, in the Jordan Valley
Israeli-Palestinian talks eclipsed by #syria in Kerry-Netanyahu meeting
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israeli-palestinian-talks-eclipsed-syria-kerry-netanyahu-meeting
#US Secretary of State John Kerry gets off the plane upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, on 15 September 2013. (Photo: AFP - Larry Downing)
Washington’s top diplomat was holding talks in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over an ambitious plan to destroy Syria’s chemical arms, and the ongoing #Israel-#Palestine peace talks. After landing near Tel Aviv at 11:30am, US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to (...)
Pentagon Is Ordered to Expand Potential Targets in Syria With a Focus on Forces - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/world/middleeast/pentagon-is-ordered-to-expand-potential-targets-in-syria-with-a-focus-on-fo
President Obama has directed the Pentagon to develop an expanded list of potential targets in Syria in response to intelligence suggesting that the government of President Bashar al-Assad has been moving troops and equipment used to employ chemical weapons while Congress debates whether to authorize military action.
Hezbollah, Iran and Syria prepare for counterattack | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR
▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Sep-07/230362-hezbollah-iran-and-syria-prepare-for-counterattack.ashx
The sources said that Iran and Hezbollah would throw their weight and military skills behind President Bashar Assad if the strike presented a serious threat to the regime or would significantly weaken the Syrian army, the regime’s backbone.
“Short of that,” one diplomat said, “Hezbollah and Iran are unlikely to be involved.”
The diplomatic sources explained that Iran and Hezbollah considered the targeting of key Syrian army posts, military airfields and strategic weapons depots – including long range missiles – a direct threat to Assad’s rule and a reason to intervene.
Petit rappel :
▻http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002
Red received an ultimatum from Blue, essentially a surrender document, demanding a response within 24 hours. Thus warned of Blue’s approach, Red used a fleet of small boats to determine the position of Blue’s fleet by the second day of the exercise. In a preemptive strike, Red launched a massive salvo of cruise missiles that overwhelmed the Blue forces’ electronic sensors and destroyed sixteen warships. This included one aircraft carrier, ten cruisers and five of six amphibious ships. An equivalent success in a real conflict would have resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 service personnel. Soon after the cruise missile offensive, another significant portion of Blue’s navy was “sunk” by an armada of small Red boats, which carried out both conventional and suicide attacks that capitalized on Blue’s inability to detect them as well as expected.
At this point, the exercise was suspended, Blue’s ships were “re-floated”, and the rules of engagement were changed; this was later justified by General Peter Pace as follows: “You kill me in the first day and I sit there for the next 13 days doing nothing, or you put me back to life and you get 13 more days’ worth of experiment out of me. Which is a better way to do it?” After the reset, both sides were ordered to follow predetermined plans of action.
After the wargame was restarted, its participants were forced to follow a script drafted to ensure a Blue Force victory. Among other rules imposed by this script, Red Force was ordered to turn on their anti-aircraft radar in order for them to be destroyed, and was not allowed to shoot down any of the aircraft bringing Blue Force troops ashore. Van Riper also claimed that exercise officials denied him the opportunity to use his own tactics and ideas against Blue Force, and that they also ordered Red Force not to use certain weapons systems against Blue Force and even ordered that the location of Red Force units to be revealed.
When the US looked the other way at chemical weapons - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/history-lesson-when-the-united-states-looked-the-other-way-on-chemical-weapons/2013/09/04/0ec828d6-1549-11e3-961c-f22d3aaf19ab_blog.html
Indeed, Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile results from a never-acknowledged gentleman’s agreement in the Middle East that as long as Israel had nuclear weapons, Syria’s pursuit of chemical weapons would not attract much public acknowledgement or criticism. (The Fact Checker, when serving as The Washington Post’s diplomatic correspondent, learned of this secret arrangement from Middle Eastern and Western diplomats, but it was never officially confirmed.) These are the sorts of trade-offs that happen often in diplomacy.
Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack Carried Out by Rebels, Says UN (UPDATE) | Las Vegas Guardian Express
▻http://guardianlv.com/2013/08/syrian-chemical-weapons-attack-carried-out-by-rebels-says-un
As the Syrian revolt continues to tear the country apart, the international community has been eager to condemn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even as it became clear that the rebels do not, in fact, represent a popular uprising against the oppression of the Assad regime. According to UN diplomat Carla del Ponte, however, it appears that the recent chemical weapons attack, in April, was carried out by the Syrian rebels and not the regime, as it had been widely assumed. Speaking to a Swiss television channel, del Ponte said that there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels had carried out the attack. She also said UN investigators had seen no evidence of the Syrian army using chemical weapons, but that further investigation was needed.
Syrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad’s regime: U.N. official - Washington Times
Une voix discordante à propos de l’attaque chimique en Syri (signalé par Akram Belkaïd)
▻http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/6/syrian-rebels-used-sarin-nerve-gas-not-assads-regi
Testimony from victims strongly suggests it was the rebels, not the Syrian government, that used Sarin nerve gas during a recent incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior U.N. diplomat said Monday.
Carla del Ponte, a member of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels seeking to oust Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad had used the nerve agent.
Prévenez Fabius : lui et ses copains européens n’intéressent plus personne au Moyen-Orient.
EU diplomat : Egyptian army rejected peace plan
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/121127
The EU’s special envoy to the Middle East, Bernardino Leon, has said the Egyptian army rejected a peace deal with the Muslim Brotherhood a few hours before the killing in Cairo began.
He told Reuters that he and US diplomat William Burns in recent days brokered an agreement between the military and the brothers on how to end their month-long sit-ins in two city squares.
“We had a political plan that was on the table, that had been accepted by the other side [the brotherhood] … They [the army] could have taken this option. So all that has happened today was unnecessary,” he said.
He noted that he made a final appeal on the peace plan to military chiefs “hours” before they ordered the assault, at 7am local time on Wednesday (14 August), using armoured bulldozers and live ammunition against people in tent camps.
Twitter / richards1052 :
▻https://twitter.com/richards1052/status/367746440367706112
Senior Israeli diplomat disappears after secret Shin Bet interrogation. Hasn’t been heard fr for 6 wks: ▻http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/499/099.html?hp=1
Syrie (9 juillet 2013)
Le Département d’Etat américain a approuvé la délivrance d’un visa à un diplomate syrien, Ali Daghman, puis l’a annulée alors que celui-ci se trouvait déjà dans l’avion vers Washington. Il doit y avoir quelqu’un dans l’administration qui ne sait pas que le Président Obama a récemment répété qu’Assad avait perdu toute légitimité ! Les Républicains font de ce dysfonctionnement administratif un exemple de l’incapacité du président à trancher sur le dossier syrien.
Exclusive : State Department Approves, Then Revokes, Visa for New Syrian Diplomat, by Josh Rogin.
The Daily Beast.
▻http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/09/exclusive-state-department-approves-then-revokes-visa-for-new-syrian-
“The State Department approved a visa for a new Syrian diplomat sent to Washington by the Assad regime several weeks ago and then revoked it today—but not before the diplomat had boarded his plane to Washington. He is being deported now in what lawmakers and opposition figures see as the latest debacle in the Obama administration’s handling of the Syria crisis.” (…)
#State_Department, #Ali_Daghman, #visa, #Assad
Resistance Seen in EU to Blacklisting Hezbollah
▻http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-245700
All 27 EU member states must agree for Hezbollah to be added to the list. U.K. officials have said they hope for a final EU decision in June.
“My guess is it’s going to take some time” to reach a decision, said one EU diplomat briefed on the discussions. “There is no unanimity yet” on blacklisting Hezbollah, the person added, citing “big doubts” among a handful of member states.
Two other diplomats said about six countries appeared reluctant, including Finland, Austria and Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Sweden has also traditionally been cautious.
[…]
One of the main concerns is the clarity of evidence linking Hezbollah to the Burgas attacks, which even some officials from member states in favor of blacklisting say appears circumstantial. The new Bulgarian government’s caution about whether to include Hezbollah on the terror list has also weighed on discussions, several diplomats said.
Italy leads charge against EU move to blacklist Hezbollah
▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Jun-05/219485-italy-leads-charge-against-eu-move-to-blacklist-hezbollah.ashx
But representatives of several European governments, led by Italy, challenged the British request, arguing that it threatened Lebanon’s already fragile security situation, said the sources, who spoke on anonymity.
[…]
Last month, the U.K. proposed blacklisting Hezbollah for its alleged involvement in a July 2012 bombing in the Bulgarian city of Burgas, which claimed the lives of five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver.
UK bid to blacklist Hezbollah faces EU opposition
▻http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/uk-bid-to-blacklist-hezbollah-faces-eu-opposition-8644603.html
Although Israel blamed Hezbollah for the Burgas bombing, it took until February this year for the Bulgarian government to say there was a “justifiable assumption” that the Burgas bomber and two suspected accomplices were linked to the group.
Little evidence has been made public to support the claims. The two fugitive suspects are said to be a Canadian citizen, born in Lebanon, and an Australian. But their real names, current whereabouts and links to Hezbollah have not been released. The identity of the dead bomber is also unknown.
“An attack takes place and immediately all over the world, governments are saying it was Hezbollah,” said Elena Pavlova, a Middle East analyst based in Sofia. “Yet, we have waited a year and still no one has given any proof.”
Along with local journalist Ruslan Yordanov, she found al Qa’ida-linked martyrdom videos online, claiming responsibility a day after the bombing in Burgas. They wonder whether evidence pointing towards alternative perpetrators was deliberately ignored to meet the demands of Israeli and Western governments seeking an excuse to ban Hezbollah.
Bulgaria’s former interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who was the public face of the investigation until his government resigned earlier this year, denies there was any pressure from international partners.
Mardi, Reuters explique que « des officiels bulgares » ont maintenu les preuves collectées jusqu’à présent, cités dans le cadre de l’accusation contre le Hezbollah au niveau européen… et dès mercredi le nouveau ministre de l’intérieur bulgare explique qu’il ne faut plus utiliser les accusations bulgares.
La durée de vie de la phrase qui suit aura donc été inférieure à 24 heures :
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/04/us-eu-hezbollah-idUSBRE95313B20130604
Bulgarian officials have countered that a recent reconstruction of events connected with last year’s bombing in the coastal city of Burgas has confirmed evidence collected so far.
No hijacking by Somali pirates in nearly a year
▻http://www.stripes.com/no-hijacking-by-somali-pirates-in-nearly-a-year-1.219327
UNITED NATIONS — The fight against Somali pirates has been so effective that they haven’t been able to mount a successful hijacking in nearly a year, the chair of the global group trying to combat the pirates said Thursday.
U.S. diplomat Donna Leigh Hopkins credits the combined efforts of international naval forces and stepped-up security on ships including the use of armed guards. But there are also other factors including the jailing of some 1,140 Somali pirate in 21 countries “which started deglamorizing piracy,” she said.
“The number of active pirates is perhaps 3,000,” Winkler said. “So if you put a thousand behind bars, and 300-400 die every year at sea from hunger (or) drowning ... you will quickly come down” in numbers.
(nouvelle URL : ▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/03/somali-pirate-hijacking )
Entretien de l’ambassadeur saoudien à Beyrouth avec le Safir:
The Saudi flexibility coincided with the appointment of Tammam Salam to head the cabinet. This appointment appeared to represent the ’key’ that re-opened the closed doors between Al-Riyadh and the former majority forces and that froze the ’tourism veto’ against Lebanon by reactivating the Saudi and Gulf flights to Beirut. This raises several questions concerning the dimensions of this transformation and its future extent.
“Al-Asiri told As-Safir that the Kingdom is not in a state of estrangement with any Lebanese part ’and I have been in touch with all the domestic political forces ever since I was appointed in Beirut…’ Concerning his recent meeting with Minister Gibran Bassil, Al-Asiri indicated that the atmosphere was a positive one and ’General Michel Aoun is welcome and so is any other Lebanese figure regardless of its political affiliation.’ He added with a smile: ’Our relationship with General Aoun was severed for a while perhaps because when our brothers at the Free Patriotic Movement are angry with some domestic sides, their anger reflects on us. Now however, we are back to communicating with them.’
“What about the relationship with Hezbollah. Al-Asiri said that he is in constant communication with Hezbollah through different means. He added that the differences over some political ideas with the party is not a problem and is rather a healthy and natural thing… And on whether he expects to hold a meeting soon with a delegation from Hezbollah, Al-Asiri said: ’Our doors and hearts are open. The Party is welcome…’ And on where they stand with regards to the Resistance weapons, Al-Asiri only said: This is a Lebanese domestic issue.
Antoine Hayek, dans An-Nashra, interprète la position de l’ambassadeur saoudien dans le cadre d’un remodelage régional de l’influence saoudienne et iranienne. L’anecdote de la tour Khalifa, détruite par un seul missile iranien, vise à montrer que les pays du Golfe ne peuvent se permettre le moindre début d’hostilité avec l’Iran et que l’heure est venue, sous le patronage américain et russe, de se répartir mieux les rôles : à l’Arabie le leadership sunnite, pourvu que les chiites soient reconnus comme une composante importante dans la région.
“An Arab diplomat who has been working at the United Nations for decades, said that while he was accompanying a senior American diplomat on an official visit to the Dubai Emirate to meet with a senior Gulf prince – whose opinion is valued in his country – and during a very secret meeting held in a hotel overlooking Burj al-Arab, the American official, and after praising the construction wave in the Emirate, expressed his admiration towards the aforementioned tower for showing signs of economic growth. After a period of silence, the Arab prince responded by saying: “You see this great tower, it would take one Iranian missile to destroy it to the ground and bring back the image of the barren desert.”
“The statements of the Arab prince did not go down easily, considering that the veteran American diplomat relayed in the report he raised to his country’s Department of State the opinion of the Gulf prince. Therefore, this comment was deeply debated and discussed by the Department of State, which eventually reached the conclusion that the Arab and Gulf states did not want any military war with Iran, in order to protect their economic and oil interests, considering that any miscalculation could take the Gulf and oil states decades backward. Indeed, this is true in light of the Iranian missile capability which exceeds the military capabilities of all the Gulf states combined. Hence, the ongoing maneuvers between Iran on one hand and Washington on the other, should not exceed the point of exerting pressures to earn the largest possible concessions.
“The Arab-UN diplomat said that what pushed him to reveal this incident was to confirm that the developments witnessed on the Lebanese arena during the past weeks was the result of an Iranian-Saudi understanding which saw the light under joint American-Russian tutelage, after the American-Iranian talks went beyond the limits of the nuclear file by far, i.e. tackled the nature of the Iranian role as the policemen of the Gulf and the guarantor of its security, that of its neighbors and the Strait of Hormuz, in parallel to the progress along the course of the American-Russian talks over the Syrian crisis. Speaking of Lebanon, the diplomat considered that nothing drastic will be achieved in the few coming days or weeks, indicating that the solutions were awaiting the advancement of the Saudi-Iranian understanding.
“At a time when the first is trying to strip its “frenemy” Qatar of the Sunni card…, the second is stressing the necessity of maintaining the Iranian Shi’i branch throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds, including in Lebanon. Consequently, Tehran does not mind the Saudi step or seeing Hezbollah contacting the Kingdom, as long as the Saudi demand is limited to the Sunni card and not the Islamic one in general… However, what concerns the diplomat is the mystery surrounding the Qatari position which is refusing to relinquish this Sunni card, even if in favor of the interests of the largest and richest Gulf state. Hence, the regional and international focus is now on Doha’s reaction, especially after it burned many of its cards in the fire of the Syrian crisis, which has been ablaze for more than two years.”
▻http://www.elnashra.com/news/show/607569/%C3%91%C3%8F%C3%89-%C3%87%C3%A1%C3%9D%C3%9A%C3%A1-%C3%87%C3%A1%C3%9E%C3%98
Une autre campagne contre l’Ambassadeur américain à Manama
"This diplomat has crossed all red lines as he runs the National Dialogue, distributes letters and recommendations in English to participants, according to evidence we have.
“We don’t want a statement being issued by parliament condemning his interference, a strong decision has to be taken by MPs and sent to the government to stop this man from further damaging the nation.”
Mr Al Dossary’s comments follow allegations on Sunday by MP and dialogue participant Latifa Al Gaoud that a key opposition document submitted to the talks had been drafted in English before being translated into Arabic.
Ms Al Gaoud, who is a member of the National Independent Bloc, said some of the words had not even been translated into Arabic and suggested the document had been drawn up with help from the US Embassy.
C’est sans compter que toutes les réformes gouvernementales sont rédigées avec l’aide de consultants étrangers...en anglais, à commencer par Freshfields qui a contribué à la rédaction des réformes recommendés par le rapport Bassiouni.
▻http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=351120
Palestinian students force British envoy out of West Bank university -
Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-students-force-british-envoy-out-of-west-bank-university-1.5074
Dozens of Palestinian students at a West Bank university heckled a British diplomat and attacked his car on Tuesday, preventing him from speaking on campus.
British Consul-General Sir Vincent Fean was mobbed by students at Birzeit University who chanted and held banners protesting what they said was Britain’s support for the establishment of Israel and its policies.
Ce Dany Ayalon est vraiment un phénomène. Toujours une bonne blague raciste à raconter en fin de banquet…
▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israel-ready-for-apology.aspx?pageID=238&nID=39253&NewsCatID=338
Israel is ready to send a letter like one Washington sent Islamabad over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in order to mend ties with Turkey, a senior Israeli diplomat has said.
“I see some kind of improvement and opportunities,” Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, told daily Hürriyet about Turkish-Israeli relations, which have been frozen since the Mavi Marmara raid that resulted in the killing of nine civilians by Israeli commandos in 2010.
Georges Abdallah is Free | Al Akhbar English
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/georges-abdallah-free
French authorities have always believed Georges’ brothers to be part of the “armed revolutionary groups in Lebanon.” They accused the Abdallah family of being behind the operation on Rennes street in Paris on 17 July 1986 when an Israeli diplomat and US military attaché were assassinated.
The accusation was a blatant lie, especially after the counter-terrorism investigations office at the Public Prosecution in Paris found that neither Abdallah nor his family members were implicated in the attack.
Today, the family has many concerns about the future. Georges Abdallah is under threat of being assassinated in his French cell.
In his memoirs published in 2003, Avant de Tout Oublier, former counter-terrorism judge Alain Marsaud wrote: “Abdallah was originally indicted for something he did not do. After a short period, we got a hold of the evidence which put us on the right track and allowed us to identify those responsible for the 1986 attacks.”
“Blaming Fouad Saleh for the 1986 attacks led to an immediate lifting of pressure, and returned the situation of Georges Abdallah to its right position,” he wrote. “A few hours after the Rennes street attack, our investigations had led us to the Abdallah brothers and several witnesses who identified Abdallah’s brothers. But this confusion was immediately clarified: one of the bombers, called Habib Haidar, who was directly implicated in the Rennes street attack, had an uncanny resemblance to Emile Abdallah.”
On the heels of allegations that the Abdallah family was behind the attack and the announcement of a financial reward for information about their whereabouts, the family held a press conference in Kobayat.
According to Joseph, this put the French intelligence services in an awkward position. For the previous several hours, they had been promoting silly police tales about the family arriving in Paris, carrying out the operation, and then fleeing.
At the conference, the Abdallahs demanded that the financial reward be paid to the families of the victims of the attacks that Georges Abdallah was accused of being behind.
...
Today, the family has many concerns about the future. Georges Abdallah is under threat of being assassinated in his French cell. He also needs to be provided with protection in his home country, which is wide open to all the planet’s intelligence services.
The assassination threats are not merely a theory. When William Casey was head of the CIA, he went to France to pressure the French government through its then-security minister Robert Pandraud.
In the 1991 book Les Masques du Terrorisme, Patrice de Méritens and Charles Villeneuve described a meeting over lunch between Casey and Pandraud: “William threatens Robert with a fork. The message is clear: if Abdallah does not receive a life sentence, the US will consider that France did not respect the basic rule of justice and failed to honor its commitments thereof, which will lead to a diplomatic boycott.
“A few seconds later came the typical reply: I have something better to propose to you, Pandraud coldly explained. Abdallah gets released. Then we send him to the Middle East and provide you with all the information about him.
“You, the US, this great country with all its networks in the region, will not find it difficult to eliminate him. And the matter will be put to rest forever.”
Israel suspected over Iran nuclear programme inquiry leaks | World news | The Guardian
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/10/israel-suspected-iran-nuclear-programme-leaks
One western source said the “intelligence summary” supplied with the leaked diagram “reads like an attempt to justify the assassinations”.
According to one European diplomat, however, the principal impact of the leak would be to compromise the ongoing IAEA investigation into whether Iran has tried to develop a nuclear weapon at any point. “This is just one small snapshot of what the IAEA is working on, and part of a much broader collection of data from multiple sources,” the diplomat said.
“The particular document turns out to have a huge error but the IAEA was aware of it and saw it in the context of everything it has. It paints a convincing case.”
Un peu plus haut dans l’article :
The latest leak, published by the Associated Press (AP), purported to be an Iranian diagram showing the physics of a nuclear blast, but scientists quickly pointed out an elementary mistake that cast doubt on its significance and authenticity. An article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists declared: “This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax.”
Rappel : l’article du Guardian qui reproduisait le fameux document était cité par @Nidal : ►http://seenthis.net/messages/100433
A Global Energy Shift
►http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/198-natural-resources/52101-a-global-energy-shift.html
By James Parker
The Diplomat
November 28, 2012
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published the World Energy Outlook report in which a large shift in global energy production through 2030 is predicted. North America will undergo a “supply boom”, leading to lower global energy prices, following the extraction of shale gas and unconventional oil. However, these extraction processes, including oil from tar sands, raise environmental concerns. Simultaneously, in China, Japan and India the demand for natural resources will soar. This monumental shift in the world’s energy supply and demand could increase tensions in the Asia-Pacific and in the Middle East as the world’s largest economies are shifting their geopolitical focus according to their energy needs.
Little Man Syndrome: The Height Of North Korea’s Failure | NK News
►http://www.nknews.org/2012/11/little-man-syndrome-the-height-of-north-koreas-failure
Book Review: A Socioeconomic History of North Korea
by Gianluca Spezza , November 7, 2012
James Pearson wrote an article for The Diplomat in 2010 which sought to contradict what he saw as the widespread – yet, he argued, unjustified – notion that North Korea is a ‘failed state’, that it has not been able to provide its citizens with answers to their basic needs. For those who weren’t fully convinced by Pearson, the relatively recent Socioeconomic History of North Korea, by Daniel Schwekendiek, will offer some appeal.
The young author’s name may not be the easiest to pronounce, but his book makes for an innovative, informative and fascinating read – albeit perhaps a bit on the technical side. Schwekendiek describes a country where the political leadership has managed to survive a remarkable series of negative events, but has inevitably failed its own citizens. This failure is described from three different chapters, dedicated to social, economic and anthropometric perspectives.
Article du Daily Telegraph : « La France pourrait envoyer des armes antiaériennes aux rebelles syriens »
►http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9526239/France-may-send-anti-aircraft-guns-to-Syrian-rebels.html
On y apprend d’abord que la France envoie de l’argent vers 5 zones contrôlées par des rebelles, manière d’essayer de créer par la tangente ces buffer zones que l’opposition de la Chine et de la Russie au Conseil de sécurité empêchait de faire directement :
Last week it started providing direct financial aid to five rebel-held cities in Syria, providing money to be used for restoring water supplies, bakeries and schools in an effort to restore a veneer of normality.
Mais surtout on apprend que, d’après les confidences d’un diplomate français à l’agence Reuters, la France cherche à identifier des groupes rebelles"fiables" auxquels envoyer des armes anti-aériennes :
France may break with Western policy by providing Syria’s rebels with artillery and anti-aircraft guns, a diplomat has said.
France is seeking to identify trustworthy rebel commanders controlling “liberated” territory in the provinces of Deir al-Zor, Aleppo and Idlib, the diplomat said.
“We need to work seriously, build a relationship of trust to see who is who so that an eventual decision can be taken,” he said. “It takes time.”
Ces nouvelles ont également été rapportées par la chaîne Russia Today (vidéo sous-titrée en français) :
►http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2TuUgLuNdV4
Brahimi confirmed as new UN Syria envoy
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/brahimi-confirmed-new-un-syria-envoy
The United Nations on Friday confirmed that veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria as the 17-month-old conflict slides deeper into civil war.
EU move to upgrade relations with Israel
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/23/israel-eu
One senior EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that despite private complaints of the inconsistency of chastising Israel with one hand while rewarding it with the other, not one minister was prepared to oppose Tuesday’s agreement.
“I was struck by the fact that a whole range of relations was offered to Israel – at the request of Israel – as if nothing is happening on the ground,” the diplomat said. “Most ministers are too afraid to speak out in case they are singled out as being too critical towards Israel, because, in the end, relations with Israel are on the one hand relations with the Jewish community at large and on the other hand with Washington – nobody wants to have fuss with Washington. So [ministers] are fine with making political statements but they refrain from taking concrete action.”
Un diplomate britannique livre ses réflexions sur la vie quotidienne en Corée du Nord
Audio 1h29 - Vaut le détour
►http://www.brookings.edu/events/2012/06/25-beyond-official-north-korea
Beyond Official North Korea : A British Diplomat’s Observations of Daily Life
All too often, coverage of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) focuses on its nuclear ambitions, military culture, and the outsized personae of its leaders. From 2006 to 2008, former British ambassador to North Korea John Everard lived in Pyongyang from several months before the DPRK’s first nuclear test almost until Kim Jong Il’s stroke in 2008. During his travels around the DPRK, Everard had the rare opportunity to speak to ordinary North Koreans.
On June 25, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies (CNAPS) at Brookings and the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) at Stanford University hosted John Everard for a discussion of his book, Only Beautiful, Please (Shorenstein APARC, June 2012) and his observations of daily life in North Korea. Panelists included David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program at Stanford University and Brookings Senior Fellow Jonathan Pollack. Senior Fellow Richard Bush, director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings, moderated the discussion.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the Syria crisis will quickly “spiral out of control” unless substantial pressure is put on President Bashar al-Assad.
Annan renewed calls for the major powers to warn Assad of “clear consequences” if he does not comply with a six-point international peace plan, one diplomat inside a closed-door council briefing told AFP.
To read more: ►http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=406762
Annan’s new road map for peace in Syria
Kofi Annan is tinkering with a radical idea for reviving his moribund peace plan for Syria — a road map for political transition there that would be negotiated through a “contact group” that could include, among other nations, Russia and Iran.
The former secretary general’s new plan was outlined Tuesday by a diplomat who is familiar with the United Nations mission. The proposal, which is expected to be presented to the U.N. Security Council later this week, comes as Annan’s peace mediation with President Bashar al-Assad appears to have hit a dead end in Damascus, leading to growing concerns that the Syria crisis will spiral into all-out civil war.
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►http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/annans-new-road-map-for-peace-in-syria/2012/06/05/gJQAMuDiGV_story.html