Syria explosion near UN convoy
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IAEA chief to visit Iran for nuclear talks
May 20th, 2012 by Julian Borger No comments »Yukiya Amano will hold talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in attempt to reach breakthrough on inspections
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog will arrive in Tehran on Monday morning for a day of negotiations with the Iranian government on its co-operation with the agency, at the start of a week that is likely to be critical to an international effort to defuse tensions in the Gulf.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will hold talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and senior officials from the country's nuclear programme, with the aim of reaching a breakthrough agreement on inspections of sites and access to scientists suspected of having been involved in work on nuclear weapons.
Two days later, Jalili will meet the EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, and senior diplomats from six world powers – the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany – in Baghdad to discuss other confidence-building measures, including limits on Iranian uranium enrichment.
The degree of progress at both meetings is likely to have an important bearing on the level of tension surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, the likelihood of an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear sites, and global oil prices.
Amano's trip to Tehran is the first by an IAEA director general since his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, visited in 2009. If the Japanese diplomat succeeds in securing an agreement on the IAEA investigation into alleged Iranian work on nuclear weapons, it would vindicate his tough approach to Tehran in the face of criticism that he is too closely aligned with the west.
"The focus of the visit will be on the issue of a framework. We hope the two sides can reach an agreement and draw up a new framework to answer [IAEA] questions and clear up ambiguities," the Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, told local media at the weekend.
The Iranian government has insisted on establishing such a framework before allowing IAEA inspectors to visit sensitive sites such as the Parchin military base, where the agency wants to investigate intelligence reports that Iranian technicians tested high-explosive components of a nuclear warhead.
Iran has denied ever having conducted development work on nuclear weapons.
The independent Institute for Science and International Security in Washington published satellite photos this month showing recent activity that could be an attempt to clean up the Parchin site.
The IAEA chief inspector, Herman Nackaerts, who will be accompanying Amano to Tehran, has been reluctant to enter into any agreement with Iran that would tie the hands of his inspectors in conducting their investigation. Amano's decision to fly to Tehran to try to seal an agreement suggests he believes a compromise can be found.
Diplomats who have followed the long history of negotiations with Tehran since its uranium enrichment and heavy water programmes were first revealed in 2002 point out that a previous agreement on a IAEA "work plan" to investigate allegations of weapons work fell apart in 2008 before inspectors could interview key nuclear scientists.
An IAEA agreement in Tehran could have a positive impact on the Baghdad talks on Wednesday. The negotiations between Jalili, Ashton and the six-nation group will seek to build on a similar meeting in Istanbul last month, where Jalili agreed in principle to negotiate over Iran's nuclear programme.
Western diplomats hope the Baghdad talks will make progress towards a confidence-building deal by which Iran would stop making 20% enriched uranium, a more concentrated material than the fuel used in modern power stations, which is closer to the level of purity needed for making weapons.
In return, the west would provide fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran and provide advice and equipment to improve safety standards at that reactor and at a nuclear power station at Bushehr, on the Gulf coast.
Western officials said Tehran appeared to be keen to strike a bargain as it was faced with broad and damaging sanctions, including an EU oil embargo, the threat of Israeli military action and the substantial weakening of its only significant ally in the region, the Assad regime in Damascus.
"These negotiations could, if the parties have a real and serious will [for them to succeed], and on condition that realism reigns, open the road to a compromise which would permit on one hand the alleviation of the concerns of the west, while on the other hand bring Iran the assurances it needs on the pursuit of nuclear activities and uranium enrichment on its soil for completely civil purposes," the Iranian ambassador to Paris, Ali Ahani, wrote in Le Monde on Friday, in what appeared part of a public relations offensive before the Baghdad talks.
Megrahi dies protesting innocence
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May 20th, 2012 by The Guardian World News No comments »Sole person convicted of 1988 plane bombing that killed 270 people died at home in Libya, his brother tells Reuters
The former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people has died, his brother has said.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died at home aged 59, his brother Abdulhakim told Reuters on Sunday. His health had deteriorated quickly after a long battle with cancer, Abdulhakim said.
East Renfrewshire council said they were investigating the claims of Megrahi's death.
Megrahi was the only man convicted of the bombing, which killed 270 people when Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie four days before Christmas in 1988.
He was sentenced to life in prison in 2001, but was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. At the time, doctors estimated he had around three months to live.
Since his return to Libya, Megrahi rarely appeared in public. His family has on several occasions said that he is near death, in what was seen as an attempt to justify his release.
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May 20th, 2012 by BBC Sport - Sport No comments »Syria: Damascus clashes prompt claims of high-level assassinations
May 20th, 2012 by Haroon Siddique No comments »State media in Syria have denied claims by the Free Syrian Army that it has assassinated six of Bashar al-Assad's highest ranking officials
More from Reuters on the explosion in Douma, in Damascus suburbs, today near a convoy carrying the head of the UN observers:
Major General Robert Mood's car was stopped at an army checkpoint when the bomb detonated in an nearby alleyway and the convoy left, the Reuters journalist said, adding that there were no reports of casualties.
A newsflash from Reuters: Roadside bomb explodes in Syria 150 metres from UN convoy carrying chief major general Robert Mood - Reuters witness.
A convoy of UN truce observers came under bomb attack in Khan Sheikhun, a town in Idlib province, on Tuesday.
There was also a bomb explosion in the vicinity of a convoy of UN observers travelling from Damascus to Deraa, under Syrian army escort, earlier this month.
Lena, from the Revolutionary Council for Damascus told guardian.co.uk that they are still trying to establish the facts of who was killed/injured as a result of a Free Syrian Army operation in the capital last night but she said she suspects at least one or two on the list were killed and the state's claims that they are all alive should be treated with caution. She said the figures in question were poisoned but that she could not give more information.
We have confirmation from the Free Syrian Army, from the battalion itself that an operation took place yesterday. It was carried out and it just went well but we still have no confirmation of those who were hurt or those who died because of it. So now we are still waiting for the news to see who really died and who really didn't but we have confirmation that something happened ....
Asked about the denials by state media of the deaths and reports that two of those on the list of those purportedly killed had given interview to Syria TV, Lena said:
We still have other four figures who did not appear so far and perhaps they may not appear. Some of them might be recovering from what happened last night. We were told that they were poisoned but we do not know who died last night, as I told you, so maybe the regime is taking some time now to try to solve what is happening, trying to cover up for what happened. Maybe they're waiting for those who are still recovering and they will appear on TV after they are well. But we think that at least one or two figures died yesterday.
The following quotes do not appear on the audio recording as there was a problem. Asked the significance of some or all of these people being killed, Lena said:
This would mean that the situation would be very different because these people stand behind Assad and support him. If one of them or two or three of them die it would make a huge difference but we believe security forces would carry out more brutal violence against the people ...We are a bit afraid ...We are waiting for more violence to happen here ...But the more violence there is we know that the end is growing nearer for us.We know that when Hafez al-Assad died the regime waited fro a few days to confirm the news of the death. We know that maybe they are holding the information of these deaths so they can organise the news ...In the next few days we will know for sure.
One of those the Free Syrian Army claims to have killed, Asif Shawkat, head of Syrian intelligence, is also Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law.
Writing about Shawkat in 2010, after Assad made changes within the security and intelligence agencies, Rick Francona, wrote on Middle East Perspectives:
The most interesting move here is the promotion of Asif Shawkat to lieutenant general and the news that he may be the next minister of defence. Shawkat owes virtually all of his good fortune to the fact that he is married to Bushra Hafiz al-Asad. If he becomes the minister of defense, al-Asad will have an absolutely loyal and trustworthy ally in that key position. While almost all of the senior officers in key positions are from the 'Alawite minority of the Latakia region, Shawkat is one better, he's family.
Shawkat, now 60-years-old, has been the chief of Syrian Military Intelligence since early 2005, shortly after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in Beirut. Most Middle East observers (including me) believe there was a Syrian hand in the murder. We also believe Shawkat was involved in the planning, if not the execution.
Another of those reportedly killed, defence minister, Dawood Rajha, was cited in an opposition proposal last year as a credible regime figure to lead a transition process, the Wall Street Journal reported.
This video is said to show gunfire in Kfar Souseh, in the Syrian capital last night.
Videos have also been posted purporting to illustrate the sound of gunfire in Mezze, in Damascus, and Tadamon, also in the capital.
This is what the Local Coordination Committees activist group says about the reports that six high-ranking officials in the Assad regime were killed by rebel fighters:
A number of leaders from the al-Sahabeh battalion confirmed, in a telephone interview with the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, the validity of the news about an operation that targeted the regime's crisis management cell during its meeting at the conference palace. The battalion indicated that additional details would be forthcoming, and could be broadcast live by Commander Khaled Al-Habous. The LCC has not confirmed this news with any other source.
It reported intense gunfire in the capital overnight.
Here are some of its updates from last night (they cannot be independently verified by the Guardian):
Intense gunfire is heard in Baghdad and Abaseen streets.Kfar Souseh: Violent clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the regime's army at Al-Luwan Bridge in the southern highway and arrival of huge reinforcements to the region.
Kfar Souseh: Clashes are growing more fierce, as are the sounds of gunfire. There are reports of wounded among the Free Syrian Army and dead among the regime's army.
Wadi Al-Mashar'ee: Powerful explosions were reported in the sky in the area.
Powerful explosions shake the region of Shaalan and reports of intense gunfire from Abu Rumaneh and Malki regions.
Welcome to Middle East Live. Heavy clashes were reported in Damascus overnight and in a video message (Arabic), the Free Syrian Army claimed to have killed six key figures in the Assad regime.
The six men killed are reportedly:
1) Asif Shawkat (Head of Syrian intelligence)
2) Mohammad Shaar (interior minister)
3) Dawood Rajha (defence minister)
4) Hassan Turkmani (vice president's deputy)
5) Hisham Bikhtyar
6) Mohammad Saeed Bkheytan
This picture of the six men has been posted online..
However, the claims have been denied by state media and activist Rami Jarrah, who blogs/tweets under the name Alexander Page, later tweeted:
Hassan Turkmani and Mohammad Shaar were just on phone call with #Syria statetv asking for apology from any channels claiming they were dead
— Alexander Page (@AlexanderPageSY) May 20, 2012
The state news agency Sana reported:
Assistant Vice-President General Hasan Turkmani said in a statement "The news reported by al-Jazeera is completely baseless and reflects full media bankruptcy".Gen Turkmani added ''My colleagues and I are safe and sound and serving our duties assuredly. These false news go unheeded by the Syrian people because they already know that they are blatant lies.''
For his part, Minister of Interior Lieutenant General Mohammad al-Shaar said "the news reported by al-Jazeera is groundless", asserting "We are used to hearing such news led by the lies and allegation campaign."
''I am speaking from my office at the Interior Ministry…All my colleagues are performing their duties. It is regrettable that we became accustomed to such laughable news by bankrupt channels since the onset of the crisis in Syria that encourage shedding more Syrian blood,'' Minister al-Shaar added ...
Minister of Defense General Dawood Rajha said that the news broadcast by al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya on the assassination of political and security officials are lies and reflect the bankruptcy and failure of the armed groups and those who are supporting them with funds, weapons and media.
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