http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/war-zones/afghan-local-police-group-deserts-to-taliban-led-insurgents/2012/07/04/gJQAzvNCNW_story.html
The DPC’s leadership announced the protest marches after consultations with the Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam (JUI), a key religious political party, and issued a statement saying that it was religiously forbidden to allow Pakistani soil to be used to ship supplies to kill Muslims in another country.
http://www.debka.com/article/22157/Moscow-may-hand-Iran-S-300-breach-arms-embargo-if-Assad-ousted
A complete European Union oil embargo on Iran came into effect on Sunday
The statement focused on and defended the attack on al-Ikhbariya TV, saying that the private station was “an arm of the regime” and the deaths of its employees would make others wonder when they will be attacked. They also released photos of 11 employees kidnapped during the attack.
KABUL – A group of Afghan militia troops has joined the Taliban-led insurgents, officials said on Wednesday, apparently the first surrender of its kind by the force created as part of a U.S. initiative to keep the militants at bay and help break the battlefield stalemate.
There were few details and conflicting estimates about the number of men who changed sides in various parts of the restive northwestern Badghis province on Tuesday evening. One Afghan security official put the number at 41.
The force is known as the Afghan Local Police (ALP) and was set up under an initiative of the United States in 2010 during the peak of the war to help NATO coalition and Afghan troops prevent the influence and spread of the insurgency.
The ALP men who surrendered in Badghis were armed with assault rifles, said Ghulam Sarwar, a local lawmaker, citing a provincial official. Interior ministry and security officials confirmed the surrenders and the accounts provided by Sarwar.
“This [surrender] may not have a big impact on the security situation of the area, but raises doubts about the loyalties of those employed by Afghan Local Police,” Sarwar said.
The Taliban confirmed that the militia group had joined its ranks and put the number of surrendered men at 86.
* * *
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/07/04/mass-protests-announced-in-pakistan-over-nato-border-supplies/
Mass Protests Announced in Pakistan Over NATO Border Supplies
Pakistan FM Denies 'Secret Deal' With US on Supply Route
by Jason Ditz, July 04, 2012
Yesterday’s announcement that Pakistan’s government intends to follow through on reopening the border to occupied Afghanistan is not sitting well with large numbers of Pakistani factions, with the Defa-e Pakistan Council (DPC) announcing a “black day” and a weekend protest march against the capital, inviting several religious and political blocs to join in.
The DPC’s leadership announced the protest marches after consultations with the Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam (JUI), a key religious political party, and issued a statement saying that it was religiously forbidden to allow Pakistani soil to be used to ship supplies to kill Muslims in another country.
Secular political blocs are complaining primarily that the Pakistani government bypassed parliament’s demands for both an apology and an end to the drone strikes. Foreign Minister Hina Khar denied that parliament’s demands had been deviated from, and likewise rejected claims of a “secret deal” with the Obama Administration.
Despite Khar’s comments, there have been no indications that the US intends to stop drone strikes against Pakistan, and indeed the Obama Administration has repeatedly vowed to continue the strikes at all costs. The supply line is expected to reopen on Thursday.
and.....
Moscow may hand Iran S-300, breach arms embargo if Assad ousted
DEBKAfile Special Report July 5, 2012, 1:21 PM (GMT+02:00)
The Russian S-300 aid defense system
Moscow has removed the gloves in its defense of Syrian ruler Bashar Assad. Wednesday, July 4, senior official Ruslan Pukhov warned: “If the Syrian regime is changed by force or if Russia doesn't like the outcome, it most likely will respond by selling S-300s to Iran."
Pukhov, who sits on the Russian Defense Ministry’s advisory board and heads a defense affairs think tank in Moscow, added: "The fall of the Syrian government would significantly increase the chances of a strike on Iran. Resuming S-300 shipments to Iran may be a very timely decision."
Moscow has since 2010 withheld the S-300 air defense system from Iran at the request of the US and Israel. The Pukhov statement indicated that, just as that was the correct decision for the time, the strategic situation in the Middle East with regard to Syria and Iran has since changed, and so providing Iran with these weapons would be the timely decision now.
Kremlin strategic thinking on the region shifted radically in August 2011.
On August 8, two weeks before NATO and Arab forces drove the Libyan rebel invasion of Tripoli to oust Muammar Qaddafi, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, warned in an interview to the Russian Izvestia, "NATO is planning a military campaign against Syria to help overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad with a long-reaching goal of preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran."
To this day, Moscow is certain that the same Western-Arab coalition will sooner or later intervene militarily in Syria and then move against Iran.
Sources in Washington and Jerusalem found evidence of that suspicion in comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Israel on June 25. He is reported to have scattered vague threats indicating that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s overthrow would be treated by Moscow as violating Security Council resolutions and elicit Russia’s exit from the international arms embargo on the Syrian regime. Putin was not specific.
Russian S-300 missiles batteries would make the targeting of Iranian nuclear sites by US and Israeli warplanes difficult because that weapon is reputed to have a near-zero miss ratio for intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles – even when they come in at very low altitudes.
Pukhov, who sits on the Russian Defense Ministry’s advisory board and heads a defense affairs think tank in Moscow, added: "The fall of the Syrian government would significantly increase the chances of a strike on Iran. Resuming S-300 shipments to Iran may be a very timely decision."
Moscow has since 2010 withheld the S-300 air defense system from Iran at the request of the US and Israel. The Pukhov statement indicated that, just as that was the correct decision for the time, the strategic situation in the Middle East with regard to Syria and Iran has since changed, and so providing Iran with these weapons would be the timely decision now.
Kremlin strategic thinking on the region shifted radically in August 2011.
On August 8, two weeks before NATO and Arab forces drove the Libyan rebel invasion of Tripoli to oust Muammar Qaddafi, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, warned in an interview to the Russian Izvestia, "NATO is planning a military campaign against Syria to help overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad with a long-reaching goal of preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran."
To this day, Moscow is certain that the same Western-Arab coalition will sooner or later intervene militarily in Syria and then move against Iran.
Sources in Washington and Jerusalem found evidence of that suspicion in comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Israel on June 25. He is reported to have scattered vague threats indicating that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s overthrow would be treated by Moscow as violating Security Council resolutions and elicit Russia’s exit from the international arms embargo on the Syrian regime. Putin was not specific.
Russian S-300 missiles batteries would make the targeting of Iranian nuclear sites by US and Israeli warplanes difficult because that weapon is reputed to have a near-zero miss ratio for intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles – even when they come in at very low altitudes.
In late 2009, Moscow began sending Iran some of the technical accessories for the S-300 batteries while withholding the actual missiles and their control and radar systems,DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources report. During 2010 and the first half of 2011, Iranian teams were trained in their use at bases in Russia. Moscow continually assured Tehran that with patience, US-Israeli pressure would abate and the missiles could be released.
In any case, Israeli air crews are at bases in Greece training in counter-measures since developed to outwit the S-300, DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose.
Tehran has tried to manufacture homemade equivalents to the S-300 on its own - drawing on the knowhow of Iranian military personnel trained in their use in Russia to form designer and construction teams working from blueprints provided during their training.
China, which has received these systems from Russia and is replicating them, was quietly approached by Iran for assistance. Beijing is reported to have handed over some of the technical materials but not the key blueprints for enabling their manufacture.
That is why Iranian generals often report progress in producing an air defense system similar to the Russian model and declare it will be operational by mid-2013, but have never displayed a homemade prototype.
Tehran has tried to manufacture homemade equivalents to the S-300 on its own - drawing on the knowhow of Iranian military personnel trained in their use in Russia to form designer and construction teams working from blueprints provided during their training.
China, which has received these systems from Russia and is replicating them, was quietly approached by Iran for assistance. Beijing is reported to have handed over some of the technical materials but not the key blueprints for enabling their manufacture.
That is why Iranian generals often report progress in producing an air defense system similar to the Russian model and declare it will be operational by mid-2013, but have never displayed a homemade prototype.
and......
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18690440
Kenya cancels Iran oil imports over sanctions threat
A complete European Union oil embargo on Iran came into effect on Sunday
Kenya has cancelled plans to import crude oil from Iran following threats of sanctions, an official at the Kenyan energy ministry has said.
The outline deal signed last month was to import about 4m tonnes of oil from the Iranian National Oil Company.
But the US embassy in Nairobi had warned it was important to cut revenue to the Iranian government.
The US and the European Union have just tightened sanctions on Iran over concerns about its nuclear programme.
"Because of international pressure, we have withdrawn that understanding," AFP news agency quotes Patrick Nyoik, the energy ministry's permanent secretary, as saying.
On Sunday, a complete European Union oil embargo on Iran came into effect - in response to US legislation, which sanctions any entity that deals with Iran's Central Bank.
"There are sanctions that are in place for people that are buying oil and products from Iran - there would be repercussions," outgoing US ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration warned earlier on Wednesday about Kenya's oil importation plans.
Last month, Kenya's only refinery said that it would start buying its own crude oil, Reuters news agency reported.
According to Kenya's Business Daily newspaper, under the proposed contract Tehran had been offering Kenya an extended credit facility of 90 days.
and Al Qaeda group operating in syria claims responsibility for numerous terro attacks in syria.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/07/04/terror-group-claims-syria-attacks-tv-station-murders/
Al-Qaeda-styled militant faction al-Nusra has issued a statement claiming credit for a number of major terrorist attacks inside Syria over the past few weeks, including the attack on a private television station and the murder of several of its employees.
The statement focused on and defended the attack on al-Ikhbariya TV, saying that the private station was “an arm of the regime” and the deaths of its employees would make others wonder when they will be attacked. They also released photos of 11 employees kidnapped during the attack.
Al-Nusra is a relatively recent terrorist group, issuing its first statement in January and claiming credit for a number of suicide bombings that were previously blamed on al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
A large number of jihadists have flocked to Syria since al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri formally endorsed a religious war against the Assad regime last year. The existence of such groups has complicated the rhetoric of other rebel groups, which had previously tried to argue that Assad was in league with al-Qaeda.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/04/2882036/facing-diplomatic-isolation-syrias.html
Facing diplomatic isolation, Syria's Assad says he's willing to step aside
BY ROY GUTMAN
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
ISTANBUL -- After losing his most important supporters outside Syria, President Bashar Assad said his office "doesn't mean anything to me" and he's willing to give it up, though preferably after national elections.
"If the president's departure is in the interest of Syria, the president should naturally go. This is self-evident," he told the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. "You should never stay in office one day if the people do not want you; and the elections are the means through which the people show whether they want you or not."
Assad gave the interview Sunday, a day after Russia and China joined the United States and other major powers to call for a transitional government with full executive powers to replace Assad's one-man rule.
Some pro-democracy rebel groups that have been fighting the regime for the past 16 months rejected the plan, drafted by United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan. Their chief complaint was that at the insistence of Russia, Assad's most important backer, the plan didn't explicitly require Assad to go.
Assad withheld criticism of the Annan plan and entertained several questions about how long he would stay in office.
"The most important thing is that everything should be decided inside Syria, not outside it," Assad said, according to the English translation posted on the Syrian presidential website.
He also didn't rule out departing office through some means other than elections, such as the Annan plan, which calls for a transitional government that could include members of the regime if they're acceptable to the opposition. Annan said he doubted the opposition would agree to anyone with "blood on his hands" to be in the transitional government, a clear allusion to Assad.
At least 10,000 Syrians have been killed since Assad deployed his army and security services to suppress the anti-government protests, and the number is probably higher.
It wasn't clear from Assad's remarks if he is just trying to appear conciliatory in the face of a policy shift by Russia, his major supplier of arms, trainers and international diplomatic support.
Assad was not invited to send a representative to the conference about his country's - and his own - future, and in the interview a day after the conference, he noted that he still hadn't been contacted by Annan or by the Russian government.
Separately on Wednesday, Turkish search-and-rescue teams located the bodies of the two pilots whose F4 reconnaissance jet was shot down by Syrian defense forces on June 23.
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