tagged w/ Syria
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At least 17 people have been killed and at least 14 injured in a car bomb attack in the Syrian capital Damascus, Syrian television reports.
The car bomb, which Syrian public television said contained about 200kg of explosives, detonated in a southern suburb of the capital at about 8am [0500 GMT] on Saturday.
All of the victims are believed to be civilians.
The bombing occurred at an intersection leading to Saydah Zeinab, a holy shrine for Shia Muslims that is visited by Iranian and Iraqi pilgrims.
The blast site is close to a security post in the Sidi Qada district near the airport road, Abdul Hameed Tawfiq, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus reported.
The area is a heavily populated area of Damascus, he said.
Investigation under way
Security forces have sealed off the site of the blast and an investigation has been launched by counter-terrorism officers, he said.
No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least 17 people have been killed and at least 14 injured in a car bomb attack... more
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"A car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, killing 17 people and wounding 14, Syrian state television reported.
The car was rigged with some 200 kgs (440 pounds) of explosives, the television said.
The blast occurred near a security installation on the airport road at an intersection leading to the Sit Zeinab shrine, popular with Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran and Lebanon.
Security forces cordoned off the area, witnesses said.
It was the first explosion in Syria since the car bomb assassination of Imad Moughniyah, military commander of the Islamist group Hezbollah, in February.
Last month, a senior security officer was killed at a beach resort near the port city of Tartous in mysterious circumstances, shaking the tightly controlled country.""A car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, killing 17... more
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Syria has massed thousands of troops along its border with northern Lebanon in what officials in Beirut fear is a prelude to the first incursion since Syrian forces pulled out three years ago.
Although Damascus insists that its forces are conducting an anti-smuggling operation, the Lebanese Government is eyeing the moves with unease, believing that the unusual scale of the deployment has more to do with tensions between the two countries over recent sectarian clashes in northern Lebanon.
“People around here are worried. We don't know why the Syrians have arrived like this,” said Ali, 18, a farmer in the tiny hillside hamlet of Hekr Janin overlooking the border.
Much of Lebanon's northern border with Syria follows the Kabir, or Great river, which despite its name, is little more than a trickle after the hot summer months. Lined by trees and bamboo thickets, the river meanders through a narrow floodplain of meadows and crop fields flanked by steep hills of black basalt.
The Lebanese media report that between 8,000 and 10,000 Syrian special forces have taken up positions along some of the hills overlooking the Kabir.
Their surprise deployment comes after several months of clashes in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, pitting the majority Sunnis against the minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam.
The small Alawite community in Lebanon is a close ally of the Syrian regime. President Assad of Syria is an Alawite and most top positions in the Syrian security and military apparatus are filled by them
Much of northern Lebanon is populated by Sunnis, the majority of whom are supporters of the Future Movement, which is headed by Saad Hariri, the son and political heir of Rafik Hariri, whose 2005 assassination is widely blamed on Syria.
Last month Mr Assad said that he had warned his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Suleiman, of the “problem of extremism” - a reference to Islamic militants, who he said were responsible for destabilising northern Lebanon. He said that he had urged Mr Suleiman to dispatch Lebanese troops to confront the extremists.
Mr Assad has also likened the situation between Syria and Lebanon to that of Russia and Georgia. His comments sparked speculation in Beirut that Damascus could be contemplating a military incursion into northern Lebanon to protect the Alawite community from the Sunni militants.
Tucked into a dusty olive grove on a hill overlooking the Kabir river, more than a dozen white canvas Syrian military tents were clearly visible from Hekr Janin and the neighbouring Lebanese village of Dabbabiyeh.
Two miles to the east, in a large field beside a small village, another encampment could be seen, with more trucks parked in a neat row along with a small building festooned with antennas. “None of them were here two weeks ago,” said Khaled, a shepherd, who used to take his flock of 300 sheep to graze on the lush green grass growing beside the river.
Now, Khaled said, it had become too dangerous to approach the river. Four days ago he said that Syrian soldiers had opened fire at him from the other side of the border when he was cutting wood near the river. “I could feel the wind of the bullets passing by,” he said. “They are shooting at anyone going close to the river.” Syria has massed thousands of troops along its border with northern Lebanon in what... more
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Israel says any future military conflict with Syria may include chemical warfare and fighting against guerrilla and regular army forces.
"Syria has a large, equipped and trained regular army, and lately we have identified some guerilla activity in its ranks," head of the GOC Army Headquarters, Major-General Avi Mizrahi, told Land Maneuver conference.
Mizrahi also declared that senior Israeli military officials estimate that Israel would face a major missile threat should a conflict break out. "We are taking this possibility into account."
"If the Air Force can prevent (Syrian) forces from making their way to the front lines, this will help our forces," the general added.
According to Mizrahi, Israel has increased training since the end of the 2006 war against Lebanon , but there was still room for improvement.
"We still have a long way to go before we reach exceptional operational capabilities; currently our situation is reasonable," he concluded.
Israel and Syria have so far held four rounds of indirect talks over a schedule for Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights which was occupied by the Israeli regime in the 1967 Middle East War.
The fifth round of Turkish-brokered peace talks between Syria and Israel was postponed at Israel's request on Thursday.
HRF/BGHIsrael says any future military conflict with Syria may include chemical warfare and... more
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Israel's foreign minister declared victory Thursday in a tight race to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the head of the governing party, getting a chance to be the country's first female leader in 34 years.
Tzipi Livni, 50, said she would immediately turn to the task of trying to cobble together a new government.
"The national responsibility (bestowed) by the public brings me to approach this job with great awe," Livni said.
Official results showed Livni winning by a 1.1 percentage point margin in the Kadima Party primary elections; a far narrower victory than the double-digit romp polls had predicted.
Livni, a political moderate, barely edged out hawkish rival Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister, in a contest that could have far-reaching implications for peacemaking with the Palestinians and Syria.
Israel's foreign minister declared victory Thursday in a tight race to replace... more
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George Bush's policies have increased the problems for peace the Middle East. But other nations have stepped up to keep the peace process alive until a more responsible U.S. administration returns the United States to its indispensable mediating role, says Patrick Seale.
The four leaders who met in Damascus this past week have this in common: They recognize the extreme danger of the present situation in the region, and the unwelcome fact that U.S. President George W. Bush, far from acting to resolve conflicts, is largely responsible for the prevailing tensions.
The mini-summit in the Syrian capital brought together President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of Qatar, and their host, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
These four leaders are not seeking to expel the United States from Middle East peacemaking. On the contrary, they concede that a U.S. role will ultimately be indispensable. But they feel the urgent need to step into the vacuum created by American failure and wrong-headedness -- a vacuum likely to last well into 2009 -- until the next U.S. President gets into his stride and Israel resolves its current political turmoil.
Among the many potential flashpoints in the region, which might explode into violent conflict at any moment, are Israel's unresolved conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and with Hizbullah in Lebanon, and the unsettled state of Iraq. Overhanging the entire region is the threat of a clash between Iran on the one hand and Israel and/or the United States on the other. It is obvious that any such clash would be immensely damaging to the security and prosperity of the entire Gulf region.
Fear about the regional fall-out from these many conflicts continues to inspire Qatar's highly-active diplomacy. This small but rich Gulf emirate has won a brilliant reputation as a peacemaker. It has successfully mediated between Lebanon's warring factions; it aspires to play a similar role in Yemen; and it has sought to ease tensions between Iran and the Arab Gulf. Behind the scenes, it has also tried to encourage a dialogue between Israel and the Arabs.
The four leaders meeting in Damascus are determined to keep current talks going between conflicting parties and, more ambitiously, to formulate a credible regional peace agenda, which the next U.S. President and the next Israeli Prime Minister will not be able to ignore.
Sarkozy -- a self-declared "friend of Israel"-- is concerned that time for a regional settlement is running out, in part at least because of Israel's relentless expansion into Palestinian territory and Iran's nuclear programme.
According to sources close to him, he is convinced that the creation of a Palestinian state, a Syrian-Israeli peace treaty and a deal with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions are the only guarantees of Israel's long-term security. Without progress on all three fronts, Israel would, he believes, be condemned to live in a hostile environment for the foreseeable future and have to fight endless wars. Its very existence would then be in danger.
Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan, on good terms with both Israel and Syria, is well-placed to host the Syrian-Israeli talks which have been taking place in Ankara -- so far only indirect talks, but likely to progress to direct negotiations once agreement is reached on the basic principles of a peace settlement, and once a new American president, committed to peace, takes office...
George Bush's policies have increased the problems for peace the Middle East. But... more
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Syria hopes a series of indirect talks with Israel will soon lead to direct negotiations.
Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad said that possibility was discussed during a summit attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the leaders of Turkey and Qatar.
Word of the Syrian proposal came during a landmark visit to Damascus by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took part in a summit Thursday that also included the leaders of Turkey and Qatar.
Syria and Israel have been involved in indirect talks in Turkey for the past few months. There have been four rounds of talks so far, and Syria hopes to begin a fifth round early next week, according to a senior official close to the negotiations.
The Syrian government has put forward a six-point proposal outlining goals for furthering indirect talks with Israel, a senior Syrian government official. The Syrian government handed the proposal to Turkey to pass along to Israel, the senior official said.
Israeli officials did not immediately confirm whether they had received a copy of Syria's proposals, but they did say they were trying to set up another round of talks with Turkish mediation.
Syria hopes a series of indirect talks with Israel will soon lead to direct... more
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The Human Rights Council at the United Nations has now banned any criticism regarding Sharia Law and human rights in the Islamic World
According to President Doru Romulus Costea - and following the efforts of delegates from Egypt, Pakistan and Iran - the Council will no longer tolerate criticism of either Sharia or specific fatwas in the name of human rights.
In many parts of the Islamic world, it is becomingly increasing clear not only that the Koran (the written record of the original oral transmissions of Mohammad’s life teachings) and the Hadith (the later delineations of those teachings) are considered sacrosanct in their perfection, but also the various implementations of these teachings, known as Sharia Law.
No evolution or refinements are required. No matter that nearly every multitudinous Muslim sect or group has a differing interpretation of this God-given Sharia Law. Nor that the stoning to death of women, beheading of men, and all the 6th century niceties of feudal Arabia are still part and parcel of the immovable Islamic tradition. Never mind that Sunni will decimate Shia - and vice versa - over differences of interpretations far more modest than those between (modern) Catholics and Protestants, between Hindus and Buddhists. Islamic sect can war on Islamic sect, Arab can criticize Arab.
Because Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and all other religions are imperfect, they are fair game for any and all attacks. Since Israel, Zionism, America and the Western World were created and developed outside the Islamic World and its divine perfection, they are likewise subject to criticism.
Now, not only has the Islamic God forbidden outside criticism of the Sharia Law, but the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) is its enjoined messenger on earth.
Of course, observers of the HRC should not be surprised. The ostensibly prestigious body has become a revolving door for countries with an ambivalent (or even well nigh invisible) relationship with freedom and democracy. In the two years following its replacement of the equally dictatorship-friendly Human Rights Commission, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia have all been elected to the Council. As a majority of the Council’s resolutions are concerned with Israel, it would effectively cease functioning were it not for its compulsive focus on the Jewish state.
Due to this resolution the Council - and thus, perversely, the UN - is endorsing a worldview in which human interpretation and understanding has been placed beyond the pale of critical thinking and investigation as long as it’s part of Sharia Law or the Islamic tradition. Perhaps we should rename the United Nations and call it the “Nations of Islam - United in Unique and Ineffable Perfection.” Sounds appropriate.The Human Rights Council at the United Nations has now banned any criticism regarding... more
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad headed to Moscow today to discuss an expansion of his pariah state’s military cooperation with Russia.
The trip is raising fears that the new Cold War that has erupted in the Caucasus will spill over into the Middle East, long a battleground between East and West, and crush tentative hopes for peace.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad headed to Moscow today to discuss an expansion of his... more
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We got to an enclosed holding area in the arrivals section of the airport. He shoved the folder into my hand and gestured toward four sets of Homeland Security guards sitting at large desks. Attached to each desk were metal poles capped with red, white and blue siren lights. I approached two guards carrying weapons and wearing uniforms similar to New York City police officers, but they shook their heads, laughed and said, "Over there," pointing in the direction of four overflowing holding pens. I approached different desks until I found an official who nodded and shoved my green folder in a crowded metal file holder. When I asked him why I was there, he glared at me, took a sip from his water bottle, bit into a sandwich, and began to dig between his molars with his forefinger. I found a seat next to a man who looked about my age -- in his late 20s -- and waited.
Omar (not his real name) finished his fifth year in biomedical engineering at City College in June. He had just arrived from Beirut, where he visited his family and was waiting to go home to the apartment he shared with his brother in Harlem. Despite his near-perfect English and designer jeans, Omar looked scared. He rubbed his hands and rocked softly in his seat. He had been waiting for hours already, and, as he pointed out, a number of people -- some sick, elderly, pregnant or holding sobbing babies -- had too. There were approximately 70 people detained in our cordoned-off section: All were Arab (with the exception of me and the friend I traveled with), and almost all had arrived from Dubai, Amman or Damascus. Many were U.S. citizens.
We were in the front row, sitting a few feet from two guards' desks. They sneered at each bewildered arrival, told jokes in whispers, swiveled in their office chairs and greeted passing guards who stopped to talk -- guards who had a habit of looping their fingers into their holsters. One asked his friend how many nationalities were represented in the room. "About 20. Some of everything today."
No one who had been detained knew precisely why they were there. A few people were led into private rooms; others were questioned out in the open at desks a few feet from the crowd and then allowed to pass through customs. Some were sent to another section of the holding area with large computer screens and cameras, and then brought back. The uninformed consensus among the detainees was that some people would be fingerprinted, have their irises scanned and be sent back to the countries from which they had disembarked, regardless of citizenship status; others would be fingerprinted and allowed to stay; and the unlucky ones would be detained indefinitely and moved to a more permanent facility.
There was one British tourist in the group. Paul (also not his real name) was traveling with three friends who had passed through customs soon after their plane landed and were waiting for him on the other side of the metal barrier; he suspected he had been detained because of his dark skin. When he asked if he could go to the bathroom, one of the guards said, "I wouldn't." "What if someone has to?" I asked. "They will just have to hold it," the guard responded with a smile. Paul began to cry. I watched as he, over the course of four hours, went from feeling exuberant about his trip to New York to despising the entire country. "I speak the Queen's English," he said to me. "I'm third-generation British. I came to America because I've always wanted to come here, and now they've got me so scared that all I want to do is go home. We're paying for your stupid war anyway."
More in the link...We got to an enclosed holding area in the arrivals section of the airport. He shoved... more
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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Syria and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time, taking a step toward healing tensions that have fueled decades of turmoil in Lebanon.
Many Lebanese had long seen Damascus' refusal of ties as proof it had not given up claims that its smaller neighbor is part of Syrian territory and still aimed to dominate Lebanon. The deal is a significant symbolic victory for them, acknowledging Lebanon as an independent state.
Syria, however, only agreed to relations after its influence in Lebanon was guaranteed by the creation on Tuesday of a unity government in Beirut that gives Damascus-allied Hezbollah a strong say in Lebanese decision-making.
Still, the agreement - along with the unity government - could go a long way to easing three years of continuous crisis in Lebanon, where the power struggle between pro-Western and pro-Syrian factions brought the country to the brink of a new civil war. But the rivalry remains uneasy, and any attempt by either to dominate could spark new unrest.
Syria controlled Lebanon for nearly 30 years, after sending its army in as peacekeepers during the 1975-90 civil war. Its direct hold was broken in 2005, when anger over the slaying of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri - blamed by many on Damascus - forced the troops to leave.
Even after the withdrawal, anti-Syria Lebanese accused Damascus of trying to maintain its influence, saying it was egging Hezbollah to topple the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. They also accused Syria of being behind a string of assassinations of anti-Syria figures since 2005 to intimidate Beirut and destabilize the country.
Syria denies any role in the Hariri killing or the other attacks.DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Syria and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to establish full... more
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Syria has blocked a new visit by International Atomic Energy Agency experts seeking to follow up on intelligence that Damascus built a secret nuclear program built with the help of North Korea, diplomats told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The diplomats also said Washington was circulating a note among members of the IAEA board opposing a Syrian push for a seat on the 35-nation board. The board normally works by consensus and a seat held by Damascus could thus hamper any investigation into its alleged nuclear activities.
In response, Syria said UN nuclear inspectors could not make a return visit as its agreement with the UN agency allowed only one trip.
A Foreign Ministry official said Syria had told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was ready to answer any questions.
Syria fears a massive atomic agency investigation similar to the probe Iran has been subjected to more than five years. Syria has blocked a new visit by International Atomic Energy Agency experts seeking to... more
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Syrian authorities have released Aref Dalila, a dissident who was jailed seven years ago after calling for greater public freedoms and democracy in the single party country, according to his lawyer.
Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights said the economist and campaigner was back with his family in the port city of Latakia on Thursday after being granted a presidential pardon.
"Aref Dalila was freed in line with a presidential pardon after having spent seven years in jail," Ammar Qurabi of the National Organisation for Human Rights told the AFP news agency.
Dalila was a leader of The Damascus Spring, a movement including intellectuals and opposition figures, which campaigned for democracy when Bashar al-Assad, Syria's current president, succeeded his late father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.
Security forces suppressed the movement several months later and jailed its leaders.
The 68-year-old Dalila was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to change the Syrian constitution, inciting armed rebellion and spreading false information.
Thursday's release came after more than two dozen Syrian and Arab human rights groups urged Syria to free Dalila, who they said was in ailing health.
However, Qurabi said that Dalila was in good health.
France and the United States have been leading international calls to free Dalila and other secular political prisoners in Syria.
Syrian authorities have released Aref Dalila, a dissident who was jailed seven years... more
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The Israel Air Force's anti-aircraft division on Tuesday carried out a large exercise testing its response to simultaneous missile strikes by Syria, Hezbollah and Iran.
The exercise began with a single Syrian missile strike on Israel.
Experts predict that a real strike would comprise of multiple strikes from a number of different countries, which was what happened next in Tuesday's exercise. The simulated Syrian attack was soon joined by salvos of missiles launched by Hezbollah and Iran.
The exercise comes amid heightened tensions between Jerusalem and Tehran over Iran's nuclear aspirations and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel's destruction.
Also, despite indirect peace talks, Syria could still respond to Israel's strike on an alleged nuclear site within its territory last year. Hezbollah has also vowed to attack Israel, whom it blames for the assassination of its deputy commander Imad Mughniyah.
The Israel Air Force's anti-aircraft division on Tuesday carried out a large... more
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The World Today - August 6
Israel warns it may launch a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities as concerns increase over Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon. Israel, in the past, has done this to Iraq and Syria. On several occasions Iranian officials have called for the destruction of Israel and Tehran supports Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists operating against Israel.
The World Today - August 6
Israel warns it may launch a pre-emptive attack on... more
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A senior military official close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been assassinated, according to Arab media reports.
The official, identified as Brig Gen Mohammed Suleiman, was shot dead on Friday night at a beach resort near the port city of Tartus, the reports say.
The Free Syria website, which opposes the Syrian government, described him as President Assad's top security adviser. Pan-Arab newspapers al-Hayat and Asharq al-Awsat say Mr Suleiman had responsibility for sensitive security issues.
Mr Suleiman was also reported to serve as Syria's liaison officer to Hezbollah - a powerful political and military organisation of Shia Muslims in Lebanon.
Damascus has so far refused to comment on the alleged shooting.
A senior military official close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been... more
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The Turkish soap opera "Noor" has proven a huge hit in the Arab world -- except among Muslim clerics -- thanks to the dreamy "Mohannad," husband of the show's namesake. It's also reportedly shaking up marriages from Saudi Arabia to Syria. NBC reports that a "recent divorcee allegedly told her husband 'I want to sleep with Mohannad one night and then die.'" Women's breathless devotion to the star has even inspired a Mohannad joke that's making the rounds: "A Saudi woman was touring Turkey with her husband and son when her husband went missing. As she described him to the police, her son shouted, 'But that's not what Daddy looks like.' 'Be quiet,' she whispers, 'They might just give me Mohannad.'"
"Learn from him how he treats her, how he loves her, how he cares about her"
Mohannad is a hunk, but, more important, he is a loving and supportive husband who allows his wife to pursue her passions and a career outside of the home. In an interview with NBC, women's activist Dr. Fawzaya Abu Khalid explained: "[Saudi women] haven't seen such a sensitive, passionate, giving personality. It is the first time women have a role model for male beauty and passion and can compare him with their husbands. It is the first time they found out their husbands are not nice, that they are not being treated the way they should be, and that there is an option outside." Indeed, 24-year-old Heba Hamdan, a housewife in Amman, Jordan, told the Associated Press that she lectured her husband: "Learn from him [Mohannad] how he treats her, how he loves her, how he cares about her." Hamdan was also inspired by the show to pursue her own career.
In case you think the reportage overstates the impact of the show, consider a fascinating study that found that access in rural India to soap operas with independent female characters brought about feminist thinking and measurable improvement in women's status. Maybe the revolution will be televised ... in the form of a soap opera. The Turkish soap opera "Noor" has proven a huge hit in the Arab world --... more
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Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, warned yesterday that any attack on Iran's nuclear programme would have grave consequences for the US, Israel and the whole world.
But Assad, Iran's most important Arab ally, also promised to discuss the issue with Tehran, suggesting that Syria, itself shunned by the US, could mediate in a crisis which has escalated, with Iranian and Israeli sabre-rattling in the last fortnight.
"It will cost the US and the planet dear," he told France Inter radio yesterday during his visit to Paris. "Israel will pay directly the price of this war. Iran has said so. The problem is that when one starts such action in the Middle East, one cannot manage ... reactions that can spread out over years or even decades."
Assad attacked the "warmonger's logic" of the Bush administration, but added: "We are going to have discussions with our Iranian friends to get to the heart of the matter. This is the first time that we had been asked to play a role."
There were also warnings from Hamid Karzai, the US-backed Afghan president. He told Radio Liberty that he did not want his country to be used to launch any attack on Iran. "Afghanistan wants to be a friend of Iran as a neighbour," Karzai said.
Last night Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, said that he would welcome bilateral talks with the US if both parties were on "equal footing."
"When two people want to talk, both have to be on equal terms. Dialogue doesn't make any sense if one side stands in a higher position and the other in a lower position," he said in a speech.
Iran denies planning to build nuclear weapons and claims its atomic programme is for civilian energy. But the country is facing UN sanctions for refusing to comply with demands made by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog. Diplomatic activity continues, with talks scheduled this weekend between the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Iran's nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.
The five permanent members of the UN security council and Germany have offered Iran a package of incentives, including help generating nuclear power if it halts uranium enrichment - a process that can be used to build warheads. Tehran has insisted it will not do this.
The issue is controversial inside Iran. Ahmadinejad has hit back at criticism of his nuclear policy as "provocative". The criticism came from Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Velayati has said Iran should continue talks.
Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, warned yesterday that any attack on Iran's... more
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"The announcement came after Mr Sarkozy held talks with Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman and then Syria's leader Bashar Assad in Paris.
Lebanon and Syria broke off diplomatic ties after former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005. Beirut accused Syria of involvement.
Mr Assad's welcome in Paris marks his return to the world stage.
"I would like to say what a historic step forward it is for France that Syrian President Bashar Assad is determined to open a diplomatic representation in Lebanon, and that Lebanon should open a diplomatic representation in Syria," Mr Sarkozy announced after meeting both men.
There has been no announcement by either Syria or Lebanon, but Mr Sarkozy said their leaders had authorised him to speak on their behalf.
Relations between Syria and Lebanon have been tense since the forced withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in mid-2005 after Mr Hariri's assassination.
But the two nations have not had diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level since they became independent in the 1940s."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCUDU73X_t84&refer=home
"The announcement came after Mr Sarkozy held talks with Lebanon's President... more
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With all the talk of Ethiopians starving because farmland is being diverted to planting crops that are to be processed into biofuel, but are uneatable I figured this would be a great read. Thank you Guardian...
The Royal Society, the European Commission and the UK government have all managed, in the last few days, to take the wind out of the sails of the biofuel industry, publishing reports that suggest biofuels could be causing more harm than good, the crops not being as environmentally friendly as first thought, with the Commons environmental audit committee calling for a moratorium on biofuel targets until more research can be done.
What struck me as astonishing about these reports is that they all managed to ignore the one crop which has been successfully used for many years to create bioethanol and biodiesel, is environmentally friendlier to produce than sugar beet, palm oil, corn or any of the crops mentioned in the report and can grow in practically any temperate to hot climate leaving the ground in better condition than when it was planted.
That plant is hemp.
Last year, the Conservative MP David Maclean tabled a question to the then environment secretary, Ian Pearson, asking what assessment had been made about the potential to grow hemp as a biofuel crop in England. Pearson responded:
Research into the potential of hemp as a biofuel crop suggests it is not currently competitive compared to other sources of biomass. However, hemp does have a number of high-value end uses. For example, as a fibre crop it is used in car panels, construction and as horse bedding. In addition, hempseed oil is used in food, cosmetics and various industrial applications. As a result, there is little interest in this country at present in growing it for biofuel production.
So the government cannot point to ignorance of hemp's uses, which makes hemp's omission from any of the recent reports even more perplexing.
The fact that hemp does not need to have land cleared to grow it, grows faster than any of the crops currently used and leaves the ground in a better state when it is harvested should surely be enough for it to be considered a perfect crop to offset the carbon currently produced by fossil fuels and by the less efficient biofuels currently being so roundly criticised by the various official research bodies.
The influential Biodiesel magazine reported last year on the cultivation of hemp as a biofuel and it too could only point to its lack of economic competitiveness (due to its minimal production) as a reason for not seeing it as a viable biofuel. But surely if it was mass-produced, this one drawback could be overcome and its many benefits as an efficient biofuel could be harnessed.
As far as research and implementation of hemp for biofuel, the US is way ahead of Europe and there are a range of websites dedicated to the use of hemp as a fuel for cars.
In the UK, companies such as Hemp Global Solutions have been set up very much with climate change and the reduction of carbon emissions in mind, but there is little, if any, research in this country that has looked into the viability of the hemp plant as a fuel for cars.
So why was there not a single mention of this miracle crop, that, in addition to being able to be used as fuel, can also be used as paper, cloth, converted into plastic and is a rich food source containing high levels of protein?With all the talk of Ethiopians starving because farmland is being diverted to... more
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