Iran nuclear talks......
http://www.debka.com/article/23449/Hollande-and-Netanyahu-to-consider-forming-a-joint-French-Israeli-Arab-front-against-Iran
If he accepts this option, the next decision facing President Hollande will be whether, how and when this grouping is willing to consider resorting to military action to preempt a nuclear-armed Iran. This option has been abandoned by Washington, a decision succinctly articulated Tuesday, Nov. 12, by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney:
Foreign Minister Fabius, whose vote torpedoed the original US proposal for Iran at the first Geneva conference, analyzed the implications of Obama’s policy in a lecture this week marking the 40th anniversary of the French Policy Planning Staff, which largely shapes Paris government foreign and defense policies.
He said: “The United States seems no longer to wish to become absorbed by crises that do not align with its new vision of its national interest. Because nobody can take the place of the United States, this disengagement could create major crises left to themselves. A strategic void could be created in the Middle East, with widespread perception of Western indecision.”
The self-evident corollary to this diagnosis is that by foregoing resistance to the US-Iranian understanding, France, Saudi Arabia and Israel would share America’s responsibility for the major crises erupting in the region, which none of them would be able to control.
DEBKAfile sees another dimension to this argument: Paris, Riyadh and Jerusalem do not feel guilty of wantonly attacking the Obama outreach to Iran; they rather feel they were driven into a corner by a policy inimical to their interests and from which they were forced to step aside.
However, the French president felt the need to talk to Netanyahu at this stage, before deciding whether or not to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by his foreign minister and continue to pursue an independent French path against the Obama administration – possibly, hand in hand with likeminded Middle East governments.
It will determine whether he stands alone on the key issues or is backed by France and Saudi Arabia. In any case, the prime minister will try and sound Putin out on how far Russia is willing to go to fill the “strategic void” left by America in the Middle East. He will ask whether Moscow is willing to work ad hoc with Israel, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to defeat Obama’s Middle East moves – even though each has its own individual interests to look after.
and....
“I don’t know if we will reach an agreement, I think it is quite possible that we can,” a top US official was quoted as saying. The previous deal was all but finalized before France changed its position, canceling a signing ceremony and eventually forcing the talks to be adjourned for a couple weeks.
“We cannot allow Syria, which is faced with major chaos, to disintegrate,” Gul noted. The Kurdish declaration came after several major military victories by Kurdish militias over al-Qaeda.
The tiny Adriatic nation was pushed to accept the plan by the US, which cited it having destroyed its own relatively small chemical arsenal recently. Albanian officials insisted that they don’t have the technology nor the capacity to handle the huge Syrian arsenal, however.
The details of the plan were not made public, but were presented to the OPCW’s Executive Committee just hours before a deadline threatened to pass. It aims to finalize the disarmament by mid-2014.
http://www.businessinsider.com/afghan-security-breach-explosion-2013-11
KABUL (Reuters) - An apparent suicide attack struck Kabul on Saturday next to the venue where Afghanistan's political and tribal elites will debate a vital security pact with the United States, in a major security breach just days ahead of the crucial assembly.
« Breaking News »
DEBKAfile November 17, 2013, 11:15 AM (GMT+02:00)
The Kuwaiti paper Al Jarida reported Sunday that President Barak Obama has stopped taking phone calls from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and refers them to Secretary of State John Kerry. Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem called the report incorrect.
« Breaking News »
DEBKAfile November 17, 2013, 8:17 AM (GMT+02:00)
As the US winds down its Middle East interests, the Gulf emirates and Saudi Arabia have asked Israel to provide them with a military shield, in the expectation of the six powers signing a deal in Geneva Wednesday that leaves Iran with a nuclear weapon capacity. They fear that US forces in the region will henceforth be guided by the understandings reached between Washington and Tehran in preference to their own security, says the WP.
« Breaking News »
DEBKAfile November 16, 2013, 12:08 PM (GMT+02:00)
Home Security Minister Gilead Erdan said Saturday that Israel does not recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium. in a radio interview, he said that if Tehran is allowed to advance up to the threshold of a nuclear weapon, Israel will consider all its options including the militlary one. He warned that the interim deal returning to the table in the next round of talks between the powers and Iran next Wednesday may well become a permanent accord, if sanctions are eased.
Contradicting US Secretary of State John Kerry, Erdan stressed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu knew the content of the proposal put before Iran down to the last detail. He also noted that the 200 centrifuges Iran was running to enrich uranium ten years ago had multiplied to 20,000 at present.
Contradicting US Secretary of State John Kerry, Erdan stressed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu knew the content of the proposal put before Iran down to the last detail. He also noted that the 200 centrifuges Iran was running to enrich uranium ten years ago had multiplied to 20,000 at present.
http://www.debka.com/article/23449/Hollande-and-Netanyahu-to-consider-forming-a-joint-French-Israeli-Arab-front-against-Iran
French President Francois Holland and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrive in Jerusalem Sunday, Nov. 17. Their talks with Israel’s leaders are likely to determine how France, Israel and Saudi Arabia respond to the Obama administration’s current Middle East moves, with critical effect on the next round of nuclear talks taking place in Geneva Wednesday, Nov. 20 between six world powers and Iran.
France will be given the option of aligning with the Middle East powers - Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt - which challenge President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s race for détente with Tehran.
If he accepts this option, the next decision facing President Hollande will be whether, how and when this grouping is willing to consider resorting to military action to preempt a nuclear-armed Iran. This option has been abandoned by Washington, a decision succinctly articulated Tuesday, Nov. 12, by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney:
“The American people do not want a march to war,” he told reporters. Therefore: “…spoiling diplomatic talks with Iran would be a march to war.”
Ergo, opponents of a US-Iranian deal – Carney omitted mention of Iran’s military nuclear program to leave US negotiators a free hand for easy terms – are pushing for war.
Hollande and Netanyahu will have to decide between them whether to create a joint French-Arab-Israeli military option to fill the gap left by Washington’s abdication from the war choice and, if so, whether, how and when to exercise it.
Foreign Minister Fabius, whose vote torpedoed the original US proposal for Iran at the first Geneva conference, analyzed the implications of Obama’s policy in a lecture this week marking the 40th anniversary of the French Policy Planning Staff, which largely shapes Paris government foreign and defense policies.
He said: “The United States seems no longer to wish to become absorbed by crises that do not align with its new vision of its national interest. Because nobody can take the place of the United States, this disengagement could create major crises left to themselves. A strategic void could be created in the Middle East, with widespread perception of Western indecision.”
The self-evident corollary to this diagnosis is that by foregoing resistance to the US-Iranian understanding, France, Saudi Arabia and Israel would share America’s responsibility for the major crises erupting in the region, which none of them would be able to control.
DEBKAfile sees another dimension to this argument: Paris, Riyadh and Jerusalem do not feel guilty of wantonly attacking the Obama outreach to Iran; they rather feel they were driven into a corner by a policy inimical to their interests and from which they were forced to step aside.
Although confronted at home with anger over soaring prices and rated one of the most unpopular French presidents in recent times, Hollande instructed his foreign minister at the six-power negotiations in Geneva on Oct. 9 to stick France’s neck out and challenge the American proposal for a deal with Iran
The French president also chose to visit Israel at a moment of high vocal discord between the Obama administration and Binyamin Netanyahu, with Washington acting to isolate the Israeli leader for his stand-up fight against what he calls “a very bad deal” with Tehran.
However, the French president felt the need to talk to Netanyahu at this stage, before deciding whether or not to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by his foreign minister and continue to pursue an independent French path against the Obama administration – possibly, hand in hand with likeminded Middle East governments.
Hollande’s decision is also of high significance for Netanyahu when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next Wednesday, Nov. 20.
It will determine whether he stands alone on the key issues or is backed by France and Saudi Arabia. In any case, the prime minister will try and sound Putin out on how far Russia is willing to go to fill the “strategic void” left by America in the Middle East. He will ask whether Moscow is willing to work ad hoc with Israel, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to defeat Obama’s Middle East moves – even though each has its own individual interests to look after.
The decisions reached by the French president and Israeli prime minister are therefore of critical import to the next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran next Wednesday.
http://rt.com/news/israel-saudi-iran-nuclear-846/
Israel working with Saudi Arabia on Iran’s nuclear contingency plan - report
Israel’s Mossad, along with Saudi officials, is working on contingency plans that could include an attack on Iran if its nuclear program is not curbed enough during the negotiations in Geneva this week, a new report has revealed.
Both powers have expressed concern that restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program will not be enough. According to The Sunday Times newspaper, Saudi Arabia already gave Israel the green light to use its airspace in the case of an attack on Iran.
It was also revealed that the Saudis were willing to assist an Israeli attack by cooperating with the use of drones, rescue helicopters, and tanker planes. “Once the Geneva agreement is signed, the military option will be back on the table. The Saudis are furious and are willing to give Israel all the help it needs,”an unnamed diplomatic source told the paper.
Tehran has been negotiating sanction relief in Geneva with the P5+1 countries - consisting of the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China - in exchange for assurances that it will not develop a nuclear weapon. Exact terms on offer from both sides have not been made public, but no agreement was made last weekend. The sides will sit down for a new round of talks on November 20.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that lifting sanctions on Iran without demanding sufficient concessions in return will only encourage Tehran on its path to nuclear armament and lead to future conflict.
Israel has been lobbying hard against appeasement, with Netanyahu himself claiming that Iran is about to clinch “the deal of the century.”
On Saturday, Netanyahu spoke to French daily Le Figaro about the situation, stating that Israel and the “leading states in the Arab world” agree when it comes to Tehran and its nuclear capabilities.
“We all think that Iran should not be allowed to have the capacities to make nuclear weapons,” he said.“We all think that a tougher stance should be taken by the international community. We all believe that if Iran were to have nuclear weapons, this could lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, making the Middle East a nuclear tinderbox.”
The prime minister’s comments were made just before French President Francois Hollande was scheduled to arrive in Israel for talks on Iran on Sunday. French objections reportedly caused an obstacle in the Iran talks last weekend.
An attack would be an ‘economic catastrophe’
Iranian political analyst Seyed Mohammad Marandi told RT that an imminent joint attack on Iran was unlikely given the serious ramifications it could provoke for the region.
“It is highly unlikely that the Saudis and Israelis would want to attack Iran because at the end of the day both countries would be losers, they would be seen as aggressors and obviously the Iranians would retaliate,” Marandi told RT.
Although he consented that the Saudis and Israelis have been moving closer together lately, neither of them stood to gain from attacking Iran.
“It would create an economic catastrophe for the world and only the Saudis and the Israelis would be to blame,” said Marandi.
and....
No real dissent in nuclear talks between P5+1 and Iran - Lavrov
The Russian Foreign Minister has revealed that there are no real differences on practical issues between the six-party negotiators and Iran. What is needed now is to set down our understanding in a document, Sergey Lavrov told the Russian TVC channel.
“The negotiations with the Foreign Minister of Iran [Mohammad Javad Zarif] have confirmed that for the first time in many years the sextet of negotiators and Tehran are ready to truly seek common grounds instead of presenting mostly uncorrelated positions,” said the Russian FM in an interview to Postscriptum program.
“Such areas of common interests have been defined and there remain no principle differences in solving practical questions,” Lavrov said. “What we’re talking about now is a correct diplomatic recording of the reached understanding so that it becomes a truly joint document, not imposed on anyone from outside.”
Lavrov said that negotiators on both sides have verified the areas of common interests and now there remain no principle differences in making practical arrangements.
Russia’s Foreign Minister stressed that the understanding reached must now be fixed by diplomatic means so that it becomes a truly joint document, not imposed on anyone from outside.
There is a chance to settle the Iranian nuclear problem because P5+1 [The five members of the Security Council plus Germany] is determined to find a solution with the new leadership of the Iranian Islamic Republic, believes Lavrov.
“The Iranians say they need one year to clear the table of all the questions troubling the IAEA and thereby eliminate the reasons that caused the international sanctions,” Lavrov told the TVC channel, mentioning that he has discussed the Iranian nuclear program issue with the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.
US: Iran Deal ‘Quite Possible’ Next Week
Questions Remain, But Growing Momentum Toward Pact
by Jason Ditz, November 15, 2013
The last round of talks between the P5+1 and Iran ended in last second disappointment, but US officials now say it is “quite possible” a deal will be reached during the next talks, which are scheduled to begin next week in Geneva.
“I don’t know if we will reach an agreement, I think it is quite possible that we can,” a top US official was quoted as saying. The previous deal was all but finalized before France changed its position, canceling a signing ceremony and eventually forcing the talks to be adjourned for a couple weeks.
A lot of officials continue to indicate that a deal is going to happen more or less along those lines, though what they will do about French objections remains unclear.
France aside, the talks continue to have considerable momentum, and officials say the questions can eventually be resolved though some, like Secretary of State John Kerry, suggested it could take months to do so.
Syria.......
Turkey Warns Against Syrian Kurdish Autonomy
Recent Victories Over al-Qaeda Not Sitting Well With Turkish Govt
by Jason Ditz, November 15, 2013
In a televised address today, Turkish President Abdullah Gul condemned the recent establishment of an interim government in Syrian Kurdistan, insisting Turkey would never recognize Syrian Kurdish autonomy under any circumstances.
“We cannot allow Syria, which is faced with major chaos, to disintegrate,” Gul noted. The Kurdish declaration came after several major military victories by Kurdish militias over al-Qaeda.
The Turkish government’sdecision to back Syria’s rebellion came in large part with an eye toward crushing secessionist sentiment in Syrian Kurdistan, with a hope that Sunni Arab nationalist would crack down more seriously on the Kurds than the Assad government had. Instead, the war has torn Syria into myriad spheres of influence, with the Kurds carving out de facto independence in their territory.
While the move has clearly backfired, the Turkish government has not changed its policy, and continues to back the rebellion in general, even as al-Qaeda takes a greater hold over it and fuels the establishment of Kurdish militias to counter term.
In Blow to Syria Disarmament Plan, Albania Rejects Call to Take Arsenal
Nation Has Neither Technology Nor Capacity to Do So
by Jason Ditz, November 15, 2013
Faced with growing public protests, the Albanian government has formally rejected NATO requests to take responsibility for the disarmament of Syria’s chemical weapons program.
The tiny Adriatic nation was pushed to accept the plan by the US, which cited it having destroyed its own relatively small chemical arsenal recently. Albanian officials insisted that they don’t have the technology nor the capacity to handle the huge Syrian arsenal, however.
Finishing the disarmament inside Syria seems extremely unlikely, with the nation embroiled in an ever-worsening civil war, but attempts to con someone else into taking on 1,000+ tons of chemicals have so far failed, with Albanian joining Norway and Lebanon in spurning such calls.
Some are worrying that this could derail the disarmament plans entirely, but the OPCW, which is overseeing the disarmament, insists that the US and Russia have “alternatives” to these hosts. It seems their preference is to throw the arms at some smallish, neutral nation, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only choice.
Watchdog Agrees to Timetable for Syria Chemical Disarmament
Final Roadmap Would End Disarmament in mid-2014
by Jason Ditz, November 15, 2013
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has met a deadline of its own on Syria today, finalizing a timetable of “destruction milestones” for the disarmament of Syria’s arsenal.
The details of the plan were not made public, but were presented to the OPCW’s Executive Committee just hours before a deadline threatened to pass. It aims to finalize the disarmament by mid-2014.
That’s an extremely ambitious timetable, and faces several significant obstacles, not the least of which is the ongoing civil war in Syria, which has made accessing certain sites dangeorus, and difficult to do in a timely fashion.
Rebels aside, the OPCW still lacks funding to completely the plan, and perhaps more importantly lacks any place to send the chemicals for neutralization, since every nation approached so far has spurned involvement in a costly, difficult process.
Syrian troops make further gains in Damascus | ||
Regime forces capture the town of Hejeira in the capital's suburbs and continue to advance in northern city of Aleppo.
Last updated: 13 Nov 2013 20:03
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Syrian troops have captured a contested suburb of Damascus as the government forged ahead with a offensive that already has taken four other opposition strongholds south of the capital.
For more than a year, much of the belt of neighbourhoods and towns just south of Damascus has been a rebel bastion and a key arms conduit for the opposition.
But government forces – reportedly bolstered by fighters from Lebanon's Shia armed group Hezbollah group and Shia fighters from Iraq - have made significant headway in recent weeks in the area as President Bashar al-Assad pushes to shore up his hold on the capital and its doorstep.
The town of Hejeira on Wednesday became the latest rebel-held suburb to fall into government hands. The SANA state news agency said the army seized control of the town, but was still battling rebels on the outskirts.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group confirmed that government forces were in control of most of Hejeira, but said there were still small pockets of resistance.
The opposition's hold on Hejeira became untenable after the military captured the adjacent town of Sabina in recent days.
While the government has driven the rebels from several of their footholds around the capital, the opposition is still within striking distance of the centre of Damascus, and fires barrages of mortar rounds into the city daily.
On Wednesday, mortar shells slammed into the Bab Touma and Zablatani neighborhoods of Damascus, killing at least two people and wounding some 20 others, according to SANA.
In addition to its advances on the periphery of Damascus, the government also has made inroads in recent weeks outside the northern city of Aleppo.
Assad's forces have wrested back a military base near the city's international airport as well as two towns along the highway southeast of the air field.
Aleppo has been a major battlefield since last summer when rebels launched an offensive on the city.
More than a year later, Aleppo is now carved up into rebel- and government-held areas, and fighting has left much of the city in ruins.
'Reoccupying Aleppo'
While the battle for the city has been stalemated for months, the rebels are clearly concerned about the government's latest push.
A group of six prominent rebel brigades has called for all fighters in the city to come together to repel the military offensive, activists say.
The joint declaration said government forces - backed by Shia Hezbollah fighters, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iraqi Abu al-Fadl Abbas armed group - had launched "a fierce offensive to reoccupy" Aleppo.
The fighting in Syria has become increasingly sectarian, with mainly Sunni rebels fighting against loyalists of Assad, who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam.
The armed opposition in Aleppo and the surrounding countryside has been crippled by recent infighting, which has undermined the rebels in their efforts to remove Assad.
After 32 months of the conflict, which started after Assad's forces fired on anti-regime demonstrators and escalated into a full-blown civil war, the fighting has settled into a stalemate in which scores of people are killed every day.
More than 120,000 people have been killed, according to the UN and opposition activists, and more than two million people have fled to neighbouring countries.
Syrian rebels' competition for limited money and weapons turns brutal
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As the war grinds on, resources for the opposition are in increasingly short supply, fueling clashes between factions over a share of the dwindling funds and arms. The competition for weapons across the border inTurkey is growing fiercer. Groups are resorting to kidnappings for ransom to bring in much-needed cash. Most of that money, rebel fighters said, goes toward purchasing weapons.
Mr. Ahmed was one of those kidnapped for ransom in January. Soon after, his captors released a grisly video showing his eye being pulled out and demanding a 300,000-euro ransom ($400,000). Three months later, his ransom unpaid, Ahmed was killed. Members of the opposition found his body in the mountains near the Syrian town of Jabal al-Akrad, 50 miles from the Turkish border, after weeks trying to locate his kidnappers.
Ahmed, a former Syrian Army officer from Latakia, is one of the highest profile leaders to be abducted, but dozens of lower ranking fighters have been kidnapped in the border region since the Syrian war began. Even less is known about their final days than Ahmed's.
“I remember during that time everyone told me, 'Riad got kidnapped. Be careful, you might be kidnapped, too.' I have heard of many other people who have been kidnapped. But we don’t always know about them because they didn’t have videos about their kidnapping like Riad did,” says Free Syrian Army spokesman Jameel Saeb.
The network of high-ranking opposition leaders establishing operations in Turkey has grown since Ahmed defected in 2011 and fled to Ankara, Turkey, with his wife and two children. Hatay Province has become a safe haven not only for Syrian refugees, but a strategic base for opposition fighters to buy supplies, including weapons, and ship them to the front lines. Before he was kidnapped, Ahmed was the leader of one of the largest and most organized rebel groups in northern Syria, known as the Peace Soldiers. The group set up headquarters in Turkey in spring 2011 and purchased mass amounts of weapons in Turkey to send into Syria.
Delivery failures
For months US President Barack Obama held back from joining Saudi Arabia and Qatar in sending arms to Syria, claiming the US did not know enough about the rebels and did not want weapons to end up in the wrong hands. But in June, the administration announced a plan to send a limited supply of arms to FSA Gen. Salim Idris and the Supreme Military Council, an organization comprised of rebel leaders from the Free Syrian Army.
But rebel leaders say some arms are being harbored by a select few while others are being intercepted en route and resold, preventing them from reaching lower-ranking rebels under the umbrella of the Supreme Military Council.
Abu Ahmed, a former regime military commander in Damascus, now works in Reyhanli, Turkey, collecting weapons and supplies for a group of rebel battalions in Syria commanded by Gen. Idris.
"Until now there has not been any government that has supported the arming of the opposition in Syria completely," he said, explaining that they have been purchasing their weapons from designated sellers instead.
The Al Baker battalion, a fighting group operating out of Al Bab, just north of the city of Aleppo, relies on a local blacksmith and his son to make rocket-propelled grenades and other smaller ammunition for the group. Fighters say they receive little outside funding or arms, even though they identify as one of Idris's battalions.
Many of the smaller brigades operating under the FSA banner never see the weapons promised by foreign powers, says Tarik, a Syrian citizen living in San Diego, Calif. who asked to have his last name withheld for security purposes.
Tarik lobbies US government agencies to send more money and resources to Syria and travels frequently to Antakya, Turkey, and Syria. He said these smaller brigades instead buy weapons with money from wealthy businessmen overseas and smuggle them in via Turkey or Lebanon.
Each opposition group or set of battalions typically has a representative that they send into Turkey for this purpose. The purchased weapons are ferried into Syria by gunrunners, most often through one of the two rebel-controlled border crossings.
Rebels say they also rely heavily on defected soldiers or soldiers still working in the regime to provide them with weapons.
Only some of the weapons that reach Syria end up in the hands of the battalions who requested them. Arms smugglers frequently sell the weapons to other rebel groups along the way to make more money, either for their own personal gain or to amass more funds for the battalion. Other times the shipments are delivered to the wrong leaders because of poor communication and planning. Even when the weapons do reach their intended destination, there’s no guarantee they won’t be sold on, stolen, or given to a rebel who tomorrow defects to a rival group.
Necessary risk
Opposition members say that the more rebels compete for money, influence, and weapons, the more dangerous it becomes for those working in Turkey.
When Ahmed was kidnapped, opposition members from several groups, including the FSA and the Syrian National Council, formed an informal committee to gather evidence and find the kidnappers. Members of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda linked opposition group, also helped the committee investigate Ahmed's kidnapping-- a unique collaboration that does not exist inside Syria. In Syria, Al-Nusra operates independently from all other opposition groups and gathers money and weapons from exclusive donors.
Rahman, who asked to be referred to only by his last name for security reasons, was a close friend of Ahmed’s and a member of the committee formed to investigate the case. He said they discovered Ahmed was kidnapped by a rival group using one of Ahmed’s contacts, who had lured him to a meeting. A fighter who was once accused of being a snitch for the Assad government before the war broke out was also implicated in their investigation.
Ahmed disappeared on Jan. 29. Members of the committee said the kidnappers knew Ahmed was wealthy and also had access to weapons. The committee did not make contact with him until the beginning of February, when he asked his brother to pay the ransom money. Just days later the YouTube video surfaced.
Saeb said the two men accused of kidnapping Ahmed were later detained by the committee and imprisoned on the border of Syria. They escaped during negotiations most likely with the help of a member inside of the committee, most likely someone affiliated with Jabhat al-Nusra, Saeb said.
Rahman said despite the growing danger in Turkey for opposition members, the country remains their key to winning the fight against President Bashar al-Assad.
“The only purpose of coming to Turkey is to finish the war and be free,” he said.
Afghanistan.......
KABUL (Reuters) - An apparent suicide attack struck Kabul on Saturday next to the venue where Afghanistan's political and tribal elites will debate a vital security pact with the United States, in a major security breach just days ahead of the crucial assembly.
A large blast was heard soon after 3pm (1030 GMT) in Kabul's west, a Reuters witness at the scene said. A Kabul police spokesman, Hashmat Stanekzai, confirmed the blast and said there were casualties but could not immediately confirm a number.
The blast occurred less than a hundred meters from a huge tent where more than 2,000 prominent Afghans will gather on Thursday to debate a security agreement with the United States once the NATO mission ends next year.
A man fleeing the bombing, Mohammad Amin, who was dazed and covered in blood and dust, described seeing a White Corolla vehicle speed towards a police checkpoint and explode.
Amin said he was standing across the street from the explosion, behind his parked car when the blast occurred.
"Thank God my car protected me because it was so close. My ears are still ringing," Amin told Reuters.
"Thank God my car protected me because it was so close. My ears are still ringing," Amin told Reuters.
A Reuters reporter saw at least six wounded people, as well as a large unchecked fire and numerous smashed cars.
The attack occurred on a road about 80 meters (240 feet) from the entrance to the compound of the Loya Jirga. A loya jirga is a traditional Afghan meeting convened to debate matters of national importance and includes thousands of tribal elders, politicians and other elites.
A loya jirga is due to begin in five days at the tent, in order to debate the approval of a security pact with the United States.
Afghanistan and the United States have not yet agreed on several issues in a bilateral security pact, raising the prospect that Washington may yet pull out all of its troops next year unless differences are ironed out.
Two years ago, the United States ended its military mission in Iraq with a similar "zero option" outcome after the failure of talks with Baghdad.
For almost a year, Washington and Kabul have been seeking to conclude a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that will help determine how many U.S. soldiers and bases remain in Afghanistan after most foreign combat troops exit by the end of next year.
Suicide car bombing hits Afghan capital |
Large blast near Kabul compound where Afghan security pact with US is to be debated at Loya Jirga kills six people.
Last updated: 16 Nov 2013 13:43
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| A suicide car bombing has taken place on the western edge of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least six people, Interior ministry sources said. Interior Ministry sources said Saturday's blast killed six people, and injured 20 others, including one Afghan army officer, a policeman and four civilians. Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson, reporting from Kabul,said debris from the blast had been strewn over a large distance, and that several vehicles had been targeted. The blast occurred at 3:00pm (10:30 GMT) on Saturday near a compound where Afghanistan's security agreement with the United States was to be debated by a Loya Jirga. "The suicide attacker has detonated his explosive-packed car in an area packed with civilians," police chief Mohammad Zaher told AFP. "There have been casualties." Afghan officials said that the bomber was targeting a vehicle carrying Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel. About 3,000 elders are to meet next week for the Loya Jirga, a traditional meeting of elders, to debate the agreement, which would allow US troops to remain in Afghanistan after the final withdrawal of international combat troops at the end of 2014. The explosion came just hours after President Hamid Karzai announced the final draft of the agreement had been completed, after lengthy negotiations between Afghan and US officials. Karzai also said, however, that disagreements remain between the two countries over specific clauses of the agreement. |
Afghanistan finalises draft of pact that allows extended stay for US forces
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan has finalised the draft of a security pact with the United States that will allow continued American military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Afghan diplomats in Islamabad said on Friday.
The document is now ready to be presented to a grand “jirga”, or council, next week to discuss and take a final decision, they said.
Nearly 3,000 people are expected to attend the assembly.
A diplomat, requesting not to identified, told The Express Tribune on Friday that a final draft of bilateral security agreement (BSA) has been sent to the United States.
Sources say Afghan President Hamid Karzai is likely to address the upcoming jirga.
The draft is currently being translated into Pashto and Darri, the native languages in Afghanistan, for the jirga’s participants.
US and Afghanistan have been involved in consultations for nearly two years over certain controversial parts of the pact including the issue of immunity of the US soldiers and exact locations of the bases.
In June, President Karzai had suspended talks on the pact in an angry reaction to the Taliban opening their political office in Qatar.
Karzai was upset at the manner in which the office was opened, with the Taliban white flag and a plaque of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the country’s former name under Taliban rule, outside their office.
Afghan authorities had blamed the American administration for its ‘contradictory’ stance towards the peace process.
Washington later agreed to Karzai’s notion and also dropped the idea of holding talks with the Taliban in Qatar just to pacify Karzai.
However, it took months to revive the talks and now Kabul says the draft has been finalised.
The US had wanted to sign the pact by October and had also warned that it could adopt the policy of a ‘Zero Option’, meaning total withdrawal of troops by 2014.
Karzai later floated the concept of a jirga to take a decision over the pact. But the proposal came under fire by political opponents, who argued that there is no need of such an assembly in the presence of the parliament.
The Afghan president had once said that the US wanted nine permanent bases for its troops, who will stay after the NATO withdrawal.
The Taliban and the Hizb-e-Islami have already rejected the BSA, saying the permanent stay of US troops means a long war.
Opponents claim that Karzai is likely to invite like-minded people to the jirga as a way of ensuring approval for the controversial pact. They also claim that Karzai may use the jirga to seek personal privileges in return for signing the BSA.
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