₦airaland Forum

Israel New-Haaretz Daily Newspaper:

19:45
Demand for gasmasks has quadrupled since the airstrike in Syria was reported (Haaretz)

18:28
Three-hour cabinet meeting on the heightened tensions along the Syrian border closes (Haaretz)


17:43
Egypt condemns alleged Israeli strikes in Syria (AP)


17:30
Airspace over northern Israel and Haifa area closed off to civilian flights (Haaretz)


17:17
Deputy DM: Israel is protecting its interests; does not confirm nor deny reports of attack (Haaretz)


16:46
Syrian information minister: Israeli aggression opens the door to all possibilities (Reuters)


15:52
Syrian sends complaint to UN over Israeli strike, saying it aimed to aid rebels (AP)


14:42
U.K.'s FM WIlliam Hague: Israel's right to defend itself must be protected (Haaretz)


14:40
Iran denies Iranian arms headed for Hezbollah were destroyed in Syria overnight strike (Haaretz)


13:47
Syria's deputy FM tells CNN: Israeli strike 'a declaration of war' (Haaretz)


13:34
Lebanon FM calls on Arab League to condemn 'repeated Israeli aggression' (Haaretz)


13:02
Defense Minister Ya'alon to serve as acting PM during Netanyahu's China visit (Haaretz)


12:39
Netanyahu to convene security cabinet Sunday afternoon (Haaretz)


11:30
IDF deploys two Iron Dome batteries in Safed and Haifa (Haaretz)


11:29
Netanyahu makes no comment of Syria strike in first public appearance since reports (Haaretz)


10:58
Home Front Command postpones nation-wide defense exercise due to reports of Syria strike (Haaretz)


10:45
Syria state TV: Israeli strike was a desperate attempt to raise the morale of the rebels (Haaretz)


09:17
Middle East intelligence official confirms second Israeli strike on Syria in 3 days (AP)


09:04
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: Before Deri was jailed I promised him he would head Shas again (Haaretz)


07:35
Western intelligence sources say Israel overnight strike targeted Iranian missiles (Haaretz)


05:59
British parliament member arrested on suspicion of raping two men (Ch. 10)


03:04
Large explosions in Damascus, Syrian sources claim it is an Israeli airstrike (Army Radio)


02:58
Large explosions shake Damascus, State TV says military research center attacked (Reuters)

Shock: @OP

Just out of curiosity, what exactly was your purpose of creating this thread? Were you just looking for people who will agree with you?

I don't get it. You created a thread to have a discussion on a global issue. People came in here, presented their arguments without insulting you and the best way you could respond is with insults? If you already have strong opinions and will rather not engage anyone with a differing opinion, why put up a thread?

I suggest people should just stop responding to this poster and let this thread die a natural death.

the thread was put up to inform,in the event the Israeli provocation leads to retaliation against Israel.the bigots should not come here blaming the Syrians.often times Israel's bullying and aggression goes unreported and unnoticed,and if reported,a distorted version of events is given to suit the terrorist state.but when Israel faces the consequences of its actions,people all of a sudden show interest.

the thread was also put up for serious discussion with informed people who are educated and aware of current issues;not with someone who imagines Syria has a peace accord with Israel.i don't know where he got that from.at least if you don't know something,and you have different views I don't agree with,do not try to imagine or fabricate things.if you do,you wont only be exposedor laughed at,but you'd be disgraced.silly fanatics.

the trend in nairaland is for illiterates to express their views and talk BS.illterates are not welcome in my threads.

ZUBY77: @onyeocha.
One can easily decipher your hatred towards Israel.
Israel is not entirely innocent when it comes to middle east conflicts but Israel cannot allow dangerous weapons in the hands of Hezbollah.

the fact is Hezbollah have long possessed and declared to possess sophisticated weapons.the Israeli city of Haifa was crippled by Hezbollah rockets in the 2006 Lebanon war.

Israel will keep hitting the Syrian army positions under the pretext it is attacking stockpiles of weapons destine for Hezbollah,while in fact Israel only intends to weaken Syria and give an upper hand to the terrorists fighting the Syrian government.

About the 2006 war,
Would it interest you to know that Israel moved about 60 km into the souther Lebanon and the border was redesigned in the ME map?

where did you read that?

can you show us the old and new map? please do.

Israel in the 2006 Lebanon was not able to occupy a single Lebanese village.a UN truce was brokered,and Israel still had to hold indirect negotiations for the Israeli soldiers Hezbollah captured,and conduct a prisoner exchange.it was the germans who acted as mediators,since the EU unlike the US does not regard Hezbollah "a terrorist organization" but a legitimate resistance movement with a political wing that represents the people of Lebanon in both parliament and government.

Throwing a few RPGs into Israel is not particularly my own idea of defeating or withstanding Israels attacks.
Israeli jets flew into Lebanon during the war and distributed white papers to warn civilians to leave some cities before bombing them.

ridiculous.

please go back and read about the 2006 Lebanon war.RPGs if launched from Lebanon cannot reach the Israeli port city of Haifa,israel's second largest city.

Israel defeated 4 arab armies in 6 days,but fought Hezbollah for 33 days and then agreed to a truce.how does that sound?will Israel accept a truce with Hezbollah after 33 days of war,if Israel was winning?

please don't talk in ridiculous ways,like "throwing few RPGs".it doesn't make sense.israel has air advantage yet Hezbollah's guerilla tactics withstood it.and Israel is speculating that after 2006,hezbollah has obtained advanced AA.

Capturing two soldiers and capturing or killing hundreds of hezbollas are not the same.

mumu,obviously you don't know what you are talking about.

the two soldiers were captured before the war started.

My point is that Hezbolla cannot fight Israel. Combined team of Hezbolla and Syria cannot defeat Israel who boasts of United States as its number 1 ally.

Hezbollah did in 2006.

I am not an Israeli fan but they have to defend themselves against Muslim neighbours who are interested in wiping them out of the ME map.

you are not an Israeli fan.it is obvious.israeli fans are usually expected to be smart,intelligent and able to spin propaganda based on twisting facts.you are a mumu Israeli fan,or rather a wannabe who thinks Jesus is from Israel.

bookface: ^^

If you cannot present your arguments without barfing on the forum, then i dare say you do not have a business being here nor discussing sensitive issues that are clearly above what your emotional intelligence can bear.

I don't give a shyt about Israel, and unlike you, I state my argument without necessarily choosing sides. Israel has got a powerful military, enough to deter its neighbours from attacking it. It is also committed to preserving this status quo, Is this fair? damn yes! If you don't like it, feel to hit your head on a wall and die

LoL @ Lebanon being able to deter Israel, despite the fact that Israeli jets roam freely in Lebanon's airspace without impunity or respect!

so does Syria have a peace accord with Israel,yes or no? oloshi!

Lebanon as a small country on its own isn't able to deter Israel,backed by the US.lebanon's strength in deterring Israel lies in Hezbollah,which is backed by Syria and iran.israeli planes roam Lebanese air space,and Hezbollah have also sent reconnaissance drones into Israeli air space.theres nothing physically damaging about planes roaming your skies if they don't bomb you.besides,after the 2006 war Israel has speculated Hezbollah might possess advanced anti-aircraft,which Hezbollah hasn't confirmed or denied.that may just be another surprise awaiting Israel in any future war with Hezbollah against Lebanon.

bookface: ^^
I do not agree with your assertion here. Hezebollah might have sophisticated weapons, but it still does not have the capability to deter Israel or cause it huge harm. Gaining such capabilities from Syria will topple the balance of power and it is not in Israel's interest to see this happen. I think this is very Justified.

you are talking out of blind allegiance to your emotional support for Israel.

as for deterring Israel,since the 2006 Lebanon war Israel launched,and Hezbollah withstood after Hezbollah captured 2 Israeli soldiers and killed 8,israel have not attacked Lebanon.so Hezbollah have successfully been able to deter Israel from launching attacks on Lebanese soil.God knows that if this attack Israel conducted in Damascus today was carried out on Beirut,tel aviv would have been on fire by now.

since the end of the 2006 Lebanon war in which Hezbollah surprised Israel,israel have not launched "one" airstrike on Lebanese territory.that is a very painful fact that disturbs Israel,which throughout its history is used to making its neighbors feel humiliated by using them as a free playground in assasinations and bombings.so yes,so far Hezbollah has deterred Israel for almost 7 years,since Israel have not carried any attack on Lebanon.

If you are a country of 7 million, facing threat of complete annihilation from more than 600 million Arabs, you strike first and then ask questions later!

this statement is both wrong and biased.

Israel which you are referring to as a "country facing the threat of annihilation" was established on the ruins of an annihilated nation,the Palestinians.you sound so "humane" to care about the threat facing a criminal "country" established through annihilating another nation,but forget to remind yourself that "he who lives by the sword will die by the sword".

secondly,the perception that millions of arabs are ganging up against Israel is an old faded concept that is no longer in reality.the arab populations (a great percentage) might still be opposed to Israel,but the majority of arab countries are led by rulers who are mere American puppets unwilling to confront Israel,but even carrying out what is in Israel's interest.a good example is what is going on in Syria and Saudi Arabia and Qatar's involvement against the pro-iran and anti-Israel Syrian regime of bashar al-assad.

Israel does not have much to gain by toppling Assad and having the rebels take over Syria, as a matter of fact, the opposite will be the case. Assad, at least, has not directed any bitterly scathing demonstrations towards Israel since its peace accord several years ago.

you are very stupid for commenting here on what you're ignorant of and wasting my time.must you open your mouth and pour your fanatical opinions,when you're hallucinating or ignorant?

Syria does not have any peace accord with Israel up to this second.you wasted my time replying to you.

Syria and Lebanon remain the only countries actively opposed to Israel.syria is arming Hezbollah in Lebanon,which has been the most potent lethal force in repelling and containing Israel's aggression and occupation.israel wants to eliminate the potent threat with sophisticated weapons that the "axis of resistance"-namely Syria,iran and Hezbollah-represents in the middle east.

Of all vocal supporters of the rebel groups, Israel has remained in a largely neutral position, which includes warning the west against arming the rebels. What Israel has however insisted on is the fact that it will not allow its enemies to gain access to first hand military materials that could eventually be used against its citizens. So long as this is met, Israel wouldn't give a f**k about who is killing who in Syria.

Israel doesn't want the rebels to have sophisticated weapons,just as Israel is against Hezbollah and Syria (supported by iran) to have the upper hand and sophisticated weapons.so if under the guise of civil war Israel can eliminate the greater threat,they will.if the rebels win,then Syria would be in a weak position.and if the rebels misbehave,it would surely be easier for Israel to handle.

the war in Syria being fought by rebels/terrorists is war by proxy on behalf of Israel.

ZUBY77: They are trying to stop dangerous weapons getting into Lebanon from Syria. Hezzbollah are stocking weapons to fight Israel from the North.
There is nothing Syria can do due to internal war.

that is just the pretext Israel is using to excuse their aggression against a sovereign country,syria.hezbollah has long stockpiled sophisticated weapons,and the 2006 war the group fought against Israel is evident of that,as Hezbollah was able to withstand and repel Israel's attacks for 33 days,something four arab countries could not do and were defeated by Israel in just 6 days.

this entire war in Syria with the west supporting rebels and sending in alqaeda salafist/Wahhabi terrorists to topple the regime of assad,is to satisfy Israel.you could as well say that bashar al-assad is being targeted by the west and their cronies like Saudi Arabia and turkey,because assad supported Hezbollah and is allied to iran.there are also shia-sunni sectarian issues that makes opposition to assad attractive for Wahhabi Saudi Arabia and Qatar,both of which are dictatorships and have nothing to do with democracy.

it is therefore only evident that Israel is taking advantage of the situation within Syria to launch attacks and escalate the situation.in the last weeks,the Syrian army have been able to deal hard blows to alqaeda terrorists and the rebel "free Syrian army" group.israel and the west look worried,and therefore Israeli strikes would offer a morale boaster to the terrorists fighting the Syrian regime.otherwise,hezbollah (the Lebanese resistance movement) have lots of weapons and will continue to get them from iran through Syria,to protect Lebanon's territorial integrity against Israeli violations and occupation.the timing of the Israeli strikes is odd and sends a message that the foreign imposed war on Syria has failed,and the government has overcome the western backed Wahhabi terrorists.i just hope this would not escalate into a big war that would burn the middle east and send the world into chaos.russia,iran,and china,and Hezbollah in neighboring lebanon are taking the side of the Syrian regime,while the western countries,israel,turkey and the Wahhabi dictatorships of Qatar and Saudi Arabia are against the regime and supporting terrorists and rebels in Syria.

Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus military site, city's ariport - reports

Published time: May 05, 2013 00:02
Edited time: May 05, 2013 09:59

Strong blasts hit the outskirts of Syria’s capital early on Sunday, with reports saying that they were results of Israeli airstrikes on a military research center and Damascus Airport. Israel is thought to have carried out a similar attack days ago.

Massive explosions have been heard near Mount Qasioun in Damascus. The area hosts the Jamraya military research center, which came under Israeli attack earlier in January and marked the first incursion by Israel into Syrian airspace in six years.

A senior US official confirmed to NBC News that Israeli Air Force bombed the military research center.

The overnight Israeli strike reportedly targeted Iranian-supplied missiles to Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, a Western intelligence source told Reuters. "In last night's attack, as in the previous one, what was attacked were stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hezbollah," the source said.

There have also been reports that the airstrikes targeted the 104th and 105th brigades of the Syrian Republican Guards, a source told RT Arabic.

A senior Israeli official confirmed to AFP that the Israeli airstrike on Syria was carried out near Damascus Airport overnight, targeting Iranian missiles destined for Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement.

"The attack was very close to the airport, the target was Iranian missiles which were destined for Hezbollah," he said.

Mount Qasioun and Damascus Airport are located in different parts of the city, so if both were targets of airstrikes, this would likely require a more complex coordinated attack.

Syrian TV accused Israel of being in alignment with rebel forces.

"The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army," the report said.

There are reports of gunfire shots heard in outskirts of Damascus, apparently indicating that some rebel groups tried to seize the opportunity and went into offensive amid the commotion caused by the airstrikes. However, no major breakthroughs on their part were reported.

Syria's Ministry of Health did not confirm if there were any deaths or injuries.

RT has managed to speak to local journalist Abdallah Mawazini, for a report on the latest developments.

“When the explosion happened in Damascus, all the houses were shaken. There was dust everywhere. Right now we’re receiving more information about the attack, which targeted the Jamraya military research center," he told RT. "Everyone woke up, most of the people ran downstairs – to make sure they are safe. Now we are getting more information. The sound of the explosion was heard everywhere in Damascus. People are scared.”

While no official casualty number has been made public, rumors on Syrian social media say that at least 300 soldiers stationed at Mount Qasioun have been killed and hundreds of others injured, Mawazini said. Many Syrians are calling for retaliation as the possibility of a full-scale war with Israel is speculated upon.

During the attack, one Israeli jet was reportedly shot down by Syria's Air Force, according to Hezbollah's Manar TV channel, citing security sources in Damascus. Two Israeli pilots of the downed IDF jet have been taken to a military area in Damascus under Assad’s control, according to reports in Lebanese and Syrian media.


There has been no immediate official comment from Israel. "We don't respond to this kind of report," an Israeli military spokeswoman told Reuters.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the security cabinet on Thursday night to approve the airstrike, a source told Reuters.

Israeli military has called up several thousand reservists earlier this week for what it called a "surprise" military exercise on its border with Lebanon, AP reported.

Earlier this week, the IDF deployed two Iron Dome batteries near the cities of Haifa and Safed in northern Israel, amid tensions along the border in that area.

“Until we get a clear picture of what exactly was targeted it’s difficult to speculate why the targeting took place. I’d say that the US gave Israel the green light for the previous attack in past months and reportedly gave them an OK to launch future strikes. So this probably isn’t something that happens on the spur of the moment,” news editor at antiwar.com Jason Ditz told RT.

“Of course, Syria is unlikely, being in the middle of a civil war, to launch much of retaliation against Israel directly, but at the same time this probably undermines some of the more Islamist factions in the Syrian rebels especially with reports that they are benefiting from these airstrikes,” he added.

In the meantime Netanyahu is leaving on Sunday afternoon for a five-day trip to China that will focus on economic ties and regional issues such as Iran, Syria and Egypt. His departure however was delayed by two hours to make room for a security cabinet meeting, according to Haaretz newspaper.

Video footage uploaded onto the Internet showed a massive ball of fire rising into the sky. RT could not immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_j8ID-m1pU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e84pVGsP6YU

The Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike on Syrian territory on Friday, reportedly targeting a shipment of advanced missiles. Unnamed US officials claimed that the missiles had been en-route from Iran to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Among the varying descriptions of the actual rockets, Fateh 110s have come up, which are advanced enough to strike Tel Aviv from southern Lebanon and, therefore perceived as a threat by Israel.

On Saturday, before Sunday’s overnight strike, US President Barack Obama stated that Israel has the right to defend against the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

"I'll let the Israeli government confirm or deny whatever strikes that they've taken," Obama said in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo.

Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon earlier told journalists that any alleged delivery of Syrian weapons to Hezbollah would be considered a "red line." Ya'alon then said Israel would not permit "sophisticated weapons" to fall into the hands of "Hezbollah or other rogue elements."

Obama has also said in the past that the crossing of a ‘red line’ would warrant further action from outside. This was in relation to the possibility that Assad forces may have used chemical weapons against Syrians – a claim that is still being investigated, with no evidence so far.

Nonetheless, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Thursday that the US may now consider arming the Syrian opposition – something the US has shied away from openly doing in the two years since the start of the Syrian uprising.

Asked directly if the administration was reconsidering its position on that option, Hagel said "yes". "Arming the rebels — that's an option," he said. "We must continue to look at options."

The conflict in Syria has entered its third year. According to UN estimates, at least 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011.

http://rt.com/news/damascus-syria-explosions-sunday-831/

US supports Israeli airstrike on Syria

Sat May 4, 2013 11:22PM GMT

US President Barack Obama has said Israel has the right to launch airstrikes on Syria, one day after the Israeli regime's second airstrike on the country this year.


In an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo in San Jose, Costa Rica on Saturday, Obama stated that Israel has the right to protect itself from what he called advanced weapons shipments to Lebanon.

He said he would not comment on the veracity of the reports on the attack and would let the Israeli regime "confirm or deny whatever strikes that they've taken."


"What I have said in the past and I continue to believe is that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry” to resistance movements like Hezbollah, Obama stated.

"We coordinate closely with the Israelis, recognizing that they are very close to Syria, they are very close to Lebanon," he added.

Earlier, Israel confirmed it carried out an aerial attack on Syria on Friday, claiming it targeted a shipment of "game-changing" weapons.

The Lebanese military also stated that pairs of Israeli warplanes entered Lebanese airspace three times overnight.

On January 30, the Syrian Army issued a statement saying that two people were killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a research center in Jamraya, which is located about 25 kilometers northwest of Damascus.

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

In addition, several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.

MRS/HGL

http://presstv.com/detail/2013/05/04/301835/us-supports-israeli-airstrike-on-syria/

Iran raps Israeli aggression on Syria, urges united stand against Tel Aviv

Sun May 5, 2013 7:53AM GMT

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has condemned the Israeli military aggression against Syria, urging regional countries to stand up against Tel Aviv.

Mehmanparast on Sunday slammed the Israeli aggression and Tel Aviv’s attempts to create insecurity and instability in the region.

Calling for unity and solidarity among regional countries and their convergence against Israeli threats, Mehmanparast described as calculated Tel Aviv’s attacks against Damascus and the desecration of a revered site belonging to a Shia Muslim figure, Hujr ibn Adi, by the terrorists in Syria.


“The Zionist regime and its allies seek to create ethnic and religious discord among Muslim countries,” Mehmanparast said.

The Syrian state television reported on Sunday that Israel has attacked the Jamraya research center, located northwest of the capital, Damascus. The center had been targeted by another Israeli airstrike back in January.

The Sunday attack came shortly after Tel Aviv confirmed that its warplanes had hit another target in Syria on Friday.

Tel Aviv has made no confirmation on the latest Israeli strike. “We don’t respond to this kind of report,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama said the Israeli regime had the right to launch airstrikes on Syria.

The turmoil in Syria began over two years ago, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed. The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said in April that the situation in the country was improving as the army enjoys popular support in the fight against terrorism.

MYA/HJL/HMV

http://presstv.com/detail/2013/05/05/301886/iran-slams-israeli-attacks-against-syria/

New Israeli airstrike hits research center near Damascus, Syria says

Sun May 5, 2013 4:2AM GMT

Syria has said that the Israeli regime has launched a new strike on the country, targeting a research center in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.

The Syrian state television said the Jamraya research center, located northwest of the capital, was the target of the Israeli missile attack. There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

The Jamraya research center was also targeted by an Israeli airstrike in January.

The Sunday attack came shortly after Tel Aviv confirmed on Friday that its warplanes had hit a “game-changing” target in Syria.

“The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army,” the Syrian state television said.

The Israeli attack “aims at loosening the noose around the terrorists in the eastern Ghouta” region, near Damascus, the state television added.

Tel Aviv has made no confirmation on the new Israeli strike. “We don’t respond to this kind of report,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama said the Israeli regime had the right to launch airstrikes on Syria.

“What I have said in the past and I continue to believe is that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry” to resistance movements like Hezbollah, Obama stated in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The turmoil in Syria began over two years ago, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed. The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said in April that the situation in the country was improving as the army enjoys people’s support in the fight against terrorism.

DB/HSN

http://presstv.com/detail/2013/05/05/301840/israeli-launches-new-airstrike-on-syria/

it is the greatest achievement jonathan would have done if this news is true.

it is embarrassing and a shame for anyone to sit in the midst of war criminals of the G8,like Obama and Cameron,and their predecessors.

there is no honor in hypocrisy when you're licking the a$$ of western leaders who are number one in committing crimes against humanity.

Obama is sending drones into Pakistan,yemen and Afghanistan which continue to kill innocent civilians.

Obama attacked Libya and deposed its leader,while his secretary of state (Hilary Clinton) was jubilating live on tv upon hearing the news that an head of state (qaddafi) was killed by Wahhabi/salafist militants and rebels.

Obama and other western leaders are sending in weapons and alqaeda Wahhabi/salafist terrorists into Syria to overthrow the regime of bashar al-assad,who is pro-iran and anti-Israel.over 70,000 Syrians have died in this civil war sponsored by the west.

if the G8 has any honor and an atom weight of humanity and anyone who attends it does,then Obama should be the first man to be banned from attending.

where is the conscience of people?

On April 14, 2013
2:04 pm

COTONOU (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left for Benin on Sunday for his first stop on a three-nation west African tour that will also take him to Ghana and Niger, the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer.

Energy will be high on Ahmadinejad’s agenda during the trip and Benin said talks with President Thomas Boni Yayi would also focus on education and agriculture.

According to the World Nuclear Association industry group, uranium from landlocked Niger is trucked to ports in neighbouring Benin for export, with most of it sent to Areva subsidiary Comurhex in France.

Iran is in need of uranium for its disputed nuclear programme, but Benin’s foreign minister said Ahmadinejad’s visits to the two countries were not linked.

The Iranian leader, set to leave office after June elections following his constitutionally limited two terms, will depart Benin on Monday following his Sunday afternoon arrival and travel to Niger.

He then heads to Ghana on Tuesday for his final stop before departing Wednesday. Ghana, seen as a rare example of stable democracy in often volatile West Africa, is a major producer of gold and cocoa with a nascent oil industry.

“During our trip to Benin, Niger and Ghana, we will … take long strides in boosting comprehensive ties,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying before leaving Tehran.

“Different memorandums of understanding in the fields of energy, commerce, culture, tourism and health will be signed.”

A statement from Benin’s foreign ministry on Sunday said Ahmadinejad’s visit to the country of some nine million people was in connection with his position as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement of countries.

Iran has also financed the construction of an ampitheatre at Benin’s University of Abomey-Calavi, according to Foreign Minister Nassirou Arifari Bako.

Bako told AFP Ahmadinejad’s talks in Benin were not linked to his visit to Niger.

“We know nothing about the discussions with Niger,” he said.

Niger is one of the world’s top producers of uranium, which Iran has long been seeking to acquire for its controversial nuclear programme.

Western powers suspect Tehran of developing a covert programme aimed at having the capacity to produce a nuclear bomb. Iran denies this and says its work is being conducted for energy and medical purposes.

Niger has recently criticised its historical agreement with France, which gets most of its uranium from the former colony, and has demanded a fairer share of the profits generated by uranium ore mining.

Niger’s foreign minister visited Tehran in February.

Ahmadinejad has previously visited around a dozen African countries.

Most of these have been to seek support for Iran at the United Nations, which has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme, specifically its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

On Tuesday, Iran unveiled a new uranium production facility and two mines, only days after talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear program again ended in deadlock.

Iran’s relations with African countries have not always been smooth.

A diplomatic dispute hurt ties between Iran and Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, when weapons shipped from Iran were seized at a Lagos port in October 2010.

An alleged Iranian Revolutionary Guard member was accused of being one of the suspects behind the shipment, which Iran said was destined for Gambia, though Banjul denied being the intended recipient. The weapons had been labelled as building materials.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/04/iranian-president-on-west-africa-tour/

nice.

(2013/04/10 - 20:03)

[img]http://www.leader.ir/media/album/medium/31167_859.jpg[/img]

Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met Wednesday morning with the Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of Burundi, and his accompanying delegation.

Speaking at the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the positive outlook of the Islamic Republic of Iran on African countries, stressing: "Iran welcomes the progress and development of African countries and their unity."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the hostile moves of a number of European countries and America to colonize African countries and instigate fitna in these countries, further reiterating: "I hope that Africa and Burundi will enjoy a better future and make progress on a daily basis."

His Eminence welcomed the idea of developing relations between Iran and Burundi, adding: "The African Union can become a center of authority for all African countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran supports developing more convergent policies by this union."

The President of Burundi pointed to the 28-year relations between Iran and Burundi and he said that the purpose of his trip to Tehran is to create more dynamism in the relations between the two countries.

The President of Burundi referred to the sufferings of African countries resulting from the colonialism of global powers in Africa, further adding: "African countries, including Burundi, are looking for a better future."

http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=contentShow&id=10533

Israeli deputy PM's Facebook, Twitter accounts hacked, filled with pro-Palestine messages

Published time: November 21, 2012 00:33
Edited time: November 21, 2012 07:38

https://rt.com/files/news/anonymous-hack-israel-vice-prime-minister-200/silvan-shaloms-page-official.si.jpg

The Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts of Israeli Deputy Premier Silvan Shalom have been hacked and filled with pro-Palestine status updates. ZCompanyHackingCrew claimed responsibility for this latest act of cyber war against Israel.

The group also claims to have hacked Shalom’s email and extracted personal mail, contacts and documents. The hackers announced plans to release the documents shortly.

In Shalom's hijacked Twitter feed, the hacker group posted calls for protest against "unjust war and occupation," and asked, "Who can bare to see the horror, the deaths of children and innocent people trying to protect their occupied land?"

The full-scale cyber attack on the top Israeli official comes just days after prominent hacker group Anonymous leaked the personal information of 5,000 Israeli officials.

Anonymous also hacked over 700 Israeli websites, including the Bank of Jerusalem, the Israeli Defense Ministry, the IDF blog, the president's official website and many others, with the majority of the pages still down.

The Israeli finance minister acknowledged the wave of attacks, saying the government is now waging a war on a “second front.”

Over the past few days, Israel has “deflected 44 million cyber-attacks on government websites,” Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told AP.

https://rt.com/files/news/anonymous-hack-israel-vice-prime-minister-200/i1e6e85de10777f68da0ce562fa656d09_facebook.jpg

https://rt.com/files/news/anonymous-hack-israel-vice-prime-minister-200/i4c8745b38170892770f69812c5d92d09_twitter2.jpg

http://rt.com/news/anonymous-hack-israel-vice-prime-minister-200/

‘Anonymous’ vows to wipe Israel off cyberspace

Sun Apr 7, 2013 8:16AM GMT

Several Israeli websites have come under massive cyber attacks in solidarity with Palestinians following a warning by the hacker group Anonymous that threatened to ‘erase’ Israel from the internet.

Several websites including the sites owned by the Bank of Israel, Tax Authority, and the Central Bureau of Statistics came under cyber attacks on Saturday night.

Anonymous has vowed to “erase” Israel from the Internet by disabling Israeli websites during an operation called ‘Op-Israel.’

“You have shown that you do not respect international law,” Anonymous said in a statement referring to the Israeli regime.

“This is why on April 7, elite cyber-squadrons from around the world have decided to unite in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel as one entity to disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace,” the Anonymous statement added, listing 1,300 Israeli websites as targets.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday that the hackers also attacked almost 19,000 Israeli Facebook accounts.

The first ‘Op-Israel’ was launched by Anonymous during the eight-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in November 2012.

Some 700 Israeli websites came under repeated cyber attacks.

The Israeli ministry for financial affairs reported an estimated 44 million unique attacks on the regime’s websites during the cyber operation in November.

In late March, the internet hacking group said on its twitter page that it gained access to the personal data of more than 30,000 Israeli officials, including military officials, politicians and Mossad agents.

According to Haaretz, Anonymous posted the online personal data of 5,000 Israeli officials, including names, ID numbers and personal emails after the first ‘Op-Israel.’

DB/HSN/SL

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/07/296946/cyber-attacks-hit-israeli-websites-again/

Hackers target Israeli websites

By IAN DEITCH | Associated Press – 1 hr 39 mins ago.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A weekend cyberattack campaign targeting Israeli government websites failed to cause serious disruption, officials said Sunday. The attacks followed warnings in the name of the hacking group Anonymous that it was launching a massive attack.

Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, of the government's National Cyber Bureau, said hackers had mostly failed to shut down key sites.

"So far it is as was expected, there is hardly any real damage," Ben Yisrael said. "Anonymous doesn't have the skills to damage the country's vital infrastructure. And if that was its intention, then it wouldn't have announced the attack ahead of time. It wants to create noise in the media about issues that are close to its heart," he said.

Posters using the name of the hacking group Anonymous had warned they would launch a massive attack on Israeli sites in a strike they called (hash)OpIsrael starting April 7.

Israel's Bureau of Statistics was down on Sunday morning but it was unclear if it was hacked. Media said the sites of the Defense and Education Ministry as well as banks had come under attack the night before but they were mostly repelled.

Israeli sites reported brief cyberattacks on the stock market website and the Finance Ministry website Saturday night. But the two institutions denied the reports.

Israeli media said small businesses had been targeted, and some websites' homepages were replaced by anti-Israel slogans. In retaliation, Israeli activists hacked sites of radical Islamist groups and splashed them with pro-Israel messages, media said.

Shlomi Dolev, an expert on network security and cryptography at Ben Gurion University, said attacks of this kind will likely become more common. "It is a good test for our defense systems and we will know better how to deal with more serious threats in the future," he said.

Dolev said Anonymous had declared on its forums that the main assault would be in the evening. Hackers have had little success in their attempts to take over and change Israeli sites so far and are planning "denial of service" attacks where sites are overwhelmed and communications are hindered.

He said Israel is well prepared to deal with the attacks. "This is a real battle. It is good training for our experts," he said.

Hackers have tried before to topple Israeli sites.

In January last year, a hacker network that claimed to be based in Saudi Arabia paralyzed the websites of Israel's stock exchange and national airline and claimed to have published details of thousands of Israeli credit cards.

A concerted effort to cripple Israeli websites during November fighting in Gaza failed to cause serious disruption. Israel said at the time that protesters barraged Israel with more than 60 million hacking attempts.

An official of the militant Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip praised the current attack. "God bless the minds and the efforts of the soldiers of the electronic battle," Ihab Al- Ghussian, Gaza's chief government spokesman, wrote on his official Facebook page.

http://news.yahoo.com/hackers-target-israeli-websites-052006237.html

[size=14pt]HACKERS GROUP 'ANONYMOUS' PROMISE TO WIPE THE ILLEGAL CRIMINAL APARTHEID TERRORIST 'ZIONIST ENTITY' OFF THE INTERNET[/size]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TljaPonPcQ

LagosShia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSEG34wxgaY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-OSh5Hnvw

mehn...look at those words!!!
this man isn't only charismatic but very courageous to publicly and openly tackle the oppressive Saudi monarchy.i'm not surprised they want to kill him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB1VTKvfpmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evwcuBo0izo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evwcuBo0izo

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/304/media/images/66381000/jpg/_66381718_66381680.jpg
Daniele Mancini has been asked to respond to the court notice by 18 March

Airports across India have been advised to prevent Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country, a home ministry official told the BBC.

The advisory follows a Supreme Court order to Mr Mancini to not leave India after Rome's refusal to return two marines charged with the murder of two fishermen in Kerala last year.

The court had allowed the marines to go home to vote in last month's elections.

Mr Mancini had personally assured the court the marines would return on time.

Home ministry officials said their advisory is just a routine follow-up of Thursday's Supreme Court order.

The case of the Italian marines - Massimilian Latorre and Salvatore Girone - has led to a diplomatic row between India and Italy.

On Wednesday, PM Manmohan Singh warned that "there will be consequences" unless Italy returned the marines.

In unusually strong language, the prime minister said that Italy's refusal to send back the marines was "unacceptable".

Rome's decision has come as a major embarrassment for the Indian government and opposition parties have been demanding their immediate return.

The marines are accused of shooting the fishermen in February 2012. They said they mistook them for pirates.

Italy argues that because the case is now the subject of international maritime law, it has been decided that the pair will not return to India "on the expiration of the permission granted to them".

Rome says that it wants its nationals to be tried in Italy. Because the incident took place in international waters, Italy believes India has no jurisdiction in the case.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21797614

Beijing warns new Pope against meddling in China’s internal affairs

Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:55AM GMT

China has warned the Vatican to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and called on the newly elected pope to adopt a “practical and flexible” attitude.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday that Beijing hoped that the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis I, create conditions to improve China-Vatican relations.

Hua said that China had "two basic principles in dealing with relations with the Vatican," which has been cut since 1951.

"It should sever its so-called diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognize the Chinese government as the sole legal representative of all of China,” she said.

"The Vatican should not interfere in China's internal affairs, including under the pretext of religion," she added.

China has an estimated 12 million Roman Catholics, and appoints bishops without papal approval.

On March 13, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was named the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the nickname of Pope Francis I.

Pope Francis replaced Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned on February 28, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so. He stated that the reason for his decision was his deteriorating health due to old age.

SAB/HMV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/15/293673/beijing-warns-pope-on-meddling-in-china/

https://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/130306-ahmadinejad-chavez-530p.photoblog600.jpg
Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA file
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a ceremony marking the start of a two-day visit in Tehran, in a file photo dated April 2, 2009.


By Ali Arouzi, Correspondent, NBC News

TEHRAN, Iran — The day after the death of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, two men chatted in a barbershop halfway around the world.

"Did you hear (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad's friend died?" one asked as he sat in the basement of what was once Tehran's Hilton Hotel on Wednesday.

"Who?" exclaimed the second.
"Hugo Chavez."

"Ah, yes, I heard he died last week, they are just telling people now."

It is not uncommon to hear conspiracy theories in Iran, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that one would come up so early in this particular conversation. Also unsurprising is the conversation itself — here people from all walks of life and all ages constantly discuss politics, their own and others'.

The two men in the barbershop — which offers hot face towels, neck and shoulder massages and shaves went on to talk about Chavez's merits and flaws as if they were host and guest on a political chat show.

They came to the conclusion that Chavez was a bon viveur and that his people ultimately liked him. They made some comparisons between Iran and Venezuela, two oil-rich states that have been alienated by the West.

Too soon, the chat show came to an end.

As the discussion revealed, Chavez was a close friend of Iran — they shared a common antagonism toward the United States. Indeed, Chavez could not have found a better ally than Ahmadinejad, whose government declared a day of mourning after the death was announced.

Ahmadinejad also seemed to put Chavez in the ranks of holy figures, saying he would "return on resurrection day."

"I have no doubt Chavez will return to Earth together with Jesus and the perfect" Imam Mahdi, the most revered figure of Shiite's Muslims, and help "establish peace, justice and kindness" in the world, Ahmadinejad added.

Over the years, Ahmadinejad and Chavez showed what appeared to be genuine warmth for each other. They lavished praise on one another and chastised America. They called "Imperial America" a global threat and demanded a new world order.

Chavez supported Iran’s nuclear program, which Iran says is for civilian purposes, despite international concern. They also both courted controversy and enjoyed the support of their respective working classes.

Iran has sent it deepest condolences to Venezuela and will probably have a high ranking member of the government if not President Ahmadinejad attend the state funeral.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/06/17212893-a-view-from-tehrans-street-hugo-chavez-a-friend#.UThqMK8vTuY.facebook

Hugo Chávez hints at US cancer plot

Venezuelan president suggests spate of cancer among leftwing South American leaders may be inflicted by US technology

Tom Phillips
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 December 2011 13.37 GMT

He has called George W Bush the devil and described Barack Obama as a clown.

But Hugo Chávez's customary jabs at his neighbours to the north took an unusual turn this week, when the Venezuelan president suggested that Washington might be behind a wave of cancer among Latin American heads of state.

"Would it be so strange that they've invented the technology to spread cancer and we won't know about it for 50 years?" Chávez pondered, one day after Argentina's president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced she had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and would undergo surgery in January.

Speaking on Wednesday during an end-of-year address to the armed forces, Chávez hinted that a spate of cancer among the region's leaders could be a US plot – although he conceded he had no proof and did not want to make "reckless" accusations.

"I repeat: I am not accusing anyone. I am simply taking advantage of my freedom to reflect and air my opinions faced with some very strange and hard to explain goings-on," he said at the event, broadcast live on state television.

Recent years have seen a series of leftwing Latin America leaders diagnosed with cancer including Brazil's current president, Dilma Rousseff, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, and the former Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In late June Chávez admitted he was also being treated for cancer, telling Venezuelans that doctors had removed "cancerous cells" from his body.

"I don't know but … it is very odd than we have seen Lugo affected by cancer, Dilma when she was [presidential] candidate, me, going into an election year, not long ago Lula and now Cristina," Chávez said this week.

"It is very hard to explain, even with the law of probabilities, what has been happening to some leaders in Latin America. It's at the very least strange, very strange," the Venezuelan president said, according to government radio Radio Nacional de Venezuela.

Despite his lack of evidence Chávez hinted that other Latin American leaders should watch out – and recalled how US doctors could have infected 2,500 Guatemalans with STDs during the 1940s.

"Evo take care of yourself. Correa, be careful. We just don't know," he said, referring to Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, and Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador.

Chávez said he had received words of warning from Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro, reputedly the target of dozens of failed and often bizarre assassination plots including a fungus-infected diving suit and an exploding cigar.

"Fidel always told me, 'Chávez take care. These people have developed technology. You are very careless. Take care what you eat, what they give you to eat … a little needle and they inject you with I don't know what,'" he said.

While Venezuela's economy remains closely bound to the United States – the South American country exports more than 800,000 barrels of oil there each day – Chávez's colourful attacks on the Washington have been a regular fixture of his presidency.

Apart from the regular insults hurled at its leaders, Chávez has also accused the US of plotting to invade his country and involvement in a 2002 coup attempt that briefly toppled him from power.

In July this year Evo Morales floated a conspiracy theory of his own, suggesting the CIA might deliberately plant drugs on Bolivia's presidential plane in order to discredit his government.

"Do you know what? I think they have to be preparing something," he said. "So much [so] that I'm afraid to go with our airplane to the United States."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/29/hugo-chavez-us-cancer-plot?mobile-redirect=false

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,Hugo Chavez,the great soldier against Western imperialism and arroagance,RIP!

Chavez seen below with the following anti-imperialist leaders respectively:

1. Mahmood Ahmadinejad,President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

2. Bashar al-Assad,President of the Syrian Arab Republic

3. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei,Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

tbaba come back here!

Omo Shia toh badt!

Iran's IRGC cyber-warriors take control of foreign spy drone

Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:42PM

[img]http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20130223/pirhayati20130223202123477.jpg[/img]
The IRGC also captured a US-built ScanEagle drone after it intruded into Iranian airspace in December 2012.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has successfully taken control of a foreign reconnaissance drone on the first day of the Payambar-e Azam 8 (The Great Prophet 8 ) war games, which are being held in the southeastern province of Kerman.


The spokesman of the war games, Brigadier General Hamid Sarkheili, told reporters late on Saturday that the spy aircraft was detected in a location outside the area of the military exercise and then the IRGC forces took control of the drone’s guidance system.

He stated that all the movements of foreign drones and their communications transmissions -- either inside or outside the immediate area where the Payambar-e Azam 8 war games are underway -- are being monitored, and as a result, the IRGC detected the foreign spy drone.

The IRGC Ground Force started the Payambar-e Azam 8 exercise, which includes practice maneuvers of various defense tactics, in southeastern Iran on Saturday.

Special modern warfare units conducted drills, asymmetric warfare tactics were practiced, and various types of unmanned aerial vehicles were tested on the first day of the war games.

A report published in the Wall Street Journal on December 2, 2012 quoted US officials as saying that Washington has stepped up its spying operations on the Bushehr nuclear plant in southern Iran "over the past two months."

The report said the surveillance of the Iranian nuclear facility was being "conducted in part with the Pentagon's fleet of drones operating over the Persian Gulf."

On December 4, 2012, the IRGC Navy commander, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said his forces had captured a US ScanEagle drone over the waters of the Persian Gulf after it intruded into Iranian airspace.

In December 2011, the Iranian military took control of a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft while it was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) from the Afghan border.

The US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was forced to land with minimal damage by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit. The aircraft is one of the United States' most advanced spy drones.

MP/HGL

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/23/290483/iran-cyberwarriors-take-control-of-drone/

In a damning report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Canadian police of raping and abusing aboriginal women, Press TV reports.


However, the shockingly careless response of Canadian authorities to the allegations forced HRW to publish subsequent critiques of both the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Bob Paulson and the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper over their failure to address the claims.

The rights group emphasized the need for a probe into the allegations made against the RCMP.

The Harper government, which is constantly lecturing aboriginal leaders on their need for oversight, has consistently showed contempt towards both international rights observers and the United Nations that intervene in Canada.

The administration argues that since Canada, in their view, is a democracy, the government should be exempted from the kind of scrutiny that HRW and others believe is urgently required.

HRW condemned the Commissioner, who in response to the allegations of rape and abuse sent an email to all officers, stating, “My message to you today is - don't worry about it, I've got your back."

“For the RCMP to demand that the names and the allegations be brought forward to them for them to investigate themselves is just preposterous,” said Idle No More member Autumn EagleSpeaker.

“So really there should be that outside rule of law, that international body to step in to say ‘Canada this is what you need to do to reconcile with the First Peoples of Canada and make things better here’ because it’s not getting better. And again, the Canadian government is not going to fix things when they don't really feel they’re doing anything wrong,” she added.

Indigenous leaders have called on supranational human rights organizations and supporters of aboriginal self-determination to continue calling attention to the abuse of native peoples by Canadian authorities.

CAH/HGH/SL

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/23/290453/canadian-police-abuse-aboriginal-women/