Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for October 21, 2012
Newsline: Israeli embassy car bombing suspect claims he was framed
Journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmed Kazmi, who was released on bail after seven months in the Israeli diplomat car attack case on Friday, has claimed that he was framed because he use to regularly make phone calls on Iranian numbers for official purposes. “I was picked up because I use to call Iran every day for journalistic purposes. They needed a scapegoat living in the Lodhi Road area,” he said. Kazmi said that he is sure that the case will not result in conviction and that the “truth will prevail”. “Generally bail is given when the court is satisfied that the case will not result in conviction. I am innocent and I will love to hear at the end of the case that I’m free from all charges,” said the journalist. “I have definitely been framed. I have been in journalism for the last 30 years. I started with an Iranian news agency in 1983 and therefore it was natural for me to travel to Iran. All allegations are false. They tried to frame me because of outside powers,” he added. He, however, refused to comment on whether he knows Houshang Afshar Irani and Sedaghatzadeh Masoud – the two prime accused in the case. Irani was identified as the man who attached a magnetic charge to the car of the wife of the Israeli diplomat in Delhi and Masoud is believed to be the overall co-ordinator of the international operation. Kazmi alleged that all media reports in the case have been one-sided and now that he is free he is sure that the truth will prevail. “I’m ready for a long fight. I’m not going anywhere. I will fight till truth comes out,” he said.
Newsline: Reopening Egypt’s embassy in Israel seen as disgrace
The Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged the Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi not to reopen the Egyptian embassy in Israel, considering the move as disgraceful to Egypt as well as to Islamists. In a statement issued on Saturday, Sadr advised Mursi to “refrain from reopening the Egyptian embassy in Israel” adding that “one can never trust Israel, neither by good words or by politics.” He said opening an embassy in the Jewish state “will harm Egypt and the reputation of the Islamists in the same time.” While there is no specific timing of Sadr’s statement but Mursi’s letter to his “great friend,” the Israeli President Shimon Perez, dated on July 19th, made headlines in the Arab press. Mursi’s letter, which was published recently by Israeli media and reproduced by Egyptian media, was about the appointment of the ambassador Atef Salem Al-Ahl, as Egypt’s ambassador extraordinary to Israel.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/20/244955.html
Newsline: Saudi Embassy in Beirut urges nationals to keep away from volatile areas
One day after the bombing attack that targeted senior security officials and angry popular reactions to the incident, the Saudi Embassy in Beirut has urged its nationals to keep away from tense areas. In a press statement, the Embassy also asked citizens to stay at home and to keep in touch with the Saudi embassy staff. Lebanon declared Saturday a day of mourning for the eight people killed in Friday’s bomb blast in Beirut’s mainly Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafiyeh. The attack targeted Sunni Muslim security chief Wissam al-Hassan. Friday’s bombing which also injured more than 80 people and caused large-scale damage was the clearest sign so far that the conflict in Syria was engulfing its smaller neighbor.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2269546&language=en
Diplomatic Briefing 