Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Middle East
Newsline: 10 allies join U.S. in move to expel Syria diplomats
The United States joined with 10 nations to expel top Syrian diplomats, increasing international pressure on President Bashar Assad. In Damascus, the United Nations envoy said the uprising had reached “a tipping point” after a massacre of more than 100 villagers, nearly half of them children. In his remarks, Kofi Annan, the envoy for the U.N. and the Arab League, was dismissive of the Syrian government refrain that outsiders were responsible for the bloodshed. After meeting with Assad on Tuesday, he called on the Syrian president to take “bold steps” to end the fighting and salvage a peace plan that has been increasingly criticized for failing to end the violence. Even as Annan made his appeals, in a coordinated action at least 11 nations expelled the Syrian diplomats to express outrage over the deaths of 108 villagers in Houla, near Homs, on Friday. But Syria’s diplomatic chastening did little to sway its public posture, demonstrating the limited leverage of the West as it continues to look to Annan and a peace initiative that has shown no sign of ushering in an end to more than 14 months of violence. With little room to maneuver, the United States joined Australia, Canada, Britain, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain, to oust Syrian diplomats. In Washington, the State Department said the United States was evicting the Syrian charge d’affaires, Zuheir Jabbour, giving him 72 hours to leave the country. Despite the tough talk, there remained little support for any manner of armed intervention, which is what many Syria analysts and exiles believe is required to make Damascus budge. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said that military intervention was not the right course of action at this time because it would provoke wider carnage and chaos.
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_20733430/most-108-syrian-victims-49-them-children-were
Newsline: US expels top Syrian diplomat from Washington
The U.S. State Department is kicking out Syria’s top diplomat to Washington, joining several other countries in expelling Syrian officials in a bid to increase pressure on leader Bashar Assad. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday that the U.S. government has given Syria’s charge d’affaires 72 hours to leave the country. “In response to the May 25 massacre in the village of Houla, today the United States informed the Syrian Charge d’Affaires Zuheir Jabbour of his expulsion from the United States,” she said in a statement. “We took this action in coordination with partner countries including Australia, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/29/us-expels-top-syrian-diplomat-from-washington-joins-other-nations-in-protest/
Newsline: France, Britain, Australia and Canada expel Syrian diplomats
France, Britain, Australia and Canada are expelling senior Syrian diplomats, officials said Tuesday, increasing pressure on Damascus after a massacre in which the United Nations says families were shot at close range in their homes. French President Francois Hollande told reporters Tuesday that Ambassador Lamia Shakkour will be notified “today or tomorrow” that she must leave. British officials said Tuesday that the U.K. is expelling three Syrian diplomats in protest at the killings, among them Charge d’Affaires Ghassan Dalla, the country’s top ranking diplomat in London. In Canada, Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement that the Syrian diplomats and their families have five days to leave Canada. Another Syrian diplomat expected in Canada will be refused entry. In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Charge d’Affaires Jawdat Ali, the most senior Syrian diplomat in Australia, is to be expelled along with another diplomat from the Syrian Embassy. He said they were told to leave the country within 72 hours, in response to the massacre in Houla. In Vienna, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikolaus Lutterotti said the Syrian ambassador is being summoned to the ministry where officials will deliver a very hard protest about the massacre. When asked if the expulsions were EU-wide, Lutterotti said this had not yet been decided. He said the ambassador to Austria would not be expelled as he holds an additional function as the representative to the UN organizations in Vienna. The Syrian ambassador to Britain left the country in March. The United States and Britain have closed their embassies in Syria.
http://wcfcourier.com/news/world/europe/european-nations-australia-expel-syrian-diplomats/article_6ef36bb4-22de-50bb-8aa7-5db147aeaf00.html
Newsline: Bahrain jails six for plotting attack on Saudi Embassy
Six Bahrainis have been jailed for 15 years each for being part of an Iran-backed terrorist cell planning attacks in Bahrain. They were also convicted of seeking to overthrow the government, suspend the Constitution and encroach on individual freedoms and rights by High Criminal Court. It is believed they planned attacks on targets in Bahrain, including King Fahad Causeway, the Saudi Embassy and the Interior Ministry. Three of them are still at large and were sentenced in absentia, including alleged masterminds. The convicted men, who confessed to the charges during initial questioning, caused chaos in court after the judge read out the verdict, shouting political slogans and police were forced to escort them out of the courtroom. Defence lawyers earlier requested judges to throw out the case, arguing it was unconstitutional as the country’s law is unclear with regard to terror cases. Four of the defendants are said to have been arrested in Qatar before being handed over to Bahrain’s security services, while the fifth was later arrested in Bahrain. They were reportedly on their way to Iran to receive training in explosives and firearms. A senior policeman earlier stated phone records were available showing the men had communicated with the head of the Iran-backed terror cell based in the UK.
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/LAW_218114.html
Newsline: Al Qaeda-held Saudi diplomat appeals for release
A Saudi diplomat kidnapped nearly a month ago in Yemen’s south has appealed to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to meet Al Qaeda demands to secure his release, according to a video posted on jihadist Internet forums. “I appeal to King Abdullah… and the Saudi government to save me and release me from Al Qaeda organisation in return for releasing the sisters detained in (Saudi) general investigation prisons and fulfilling the remaining demands of the organisation,” Abdullah Al Khalidi said in the video. A Saudi interior ministry spokesman, cited by the official SPA news agency, warned that the abductors were “responsible for the security of Abdullah Al Khalidi.” The spokesman added that there was no indication of when the video was recorded.
http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=120209&heading=Other%20Top%20Stories
Newsline: Freed Russian Bikers Await Visas to Exit Iraq
Four Russian bikers jailed for five days after entering Iraq without valid visas were stranded at the Russian Embassy in Baghdad over the weekend as they waited for paperwork allowing them to leave the country. The bikers obtained fake visas from an organization posing as a travel agency, Russian officials said. The Foreign Ministry said little could be done to secure exit visas for the bikers because all Iraqi government offices were closed on Friday and Saturday, the Iraqi weekend. The Russian Embassy planned to contact the Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Sunday and, if the visas could be obtained in one day, the bikers would return to Russia on Monday. The bikers — Oleg Kapkayev, Alexander Vardanyants, Oleg Maximov and Maxim Ignatyev — entered Iraq from the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, which they did not need visas to enter, RIA-Novosti reported. After entering Iraq, the bikers were detained in the city of Kirkuk as they headed toward Baghdad. They were released after the Russian Embassy stepped in. The Foreign Ministry negotiated the bikers’ release on Thursday.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/freed-bikers-await-visas-to-exit-iraq/459332.html
Newsline: ‘Missing’ documents traced in Israeli embassy car blast case
Documents reported “missing” from a Delhi court in a case against journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, held for his alleged role in the Feb 13 blast in an Israeli embassy car here, were traced and given to a judge. Papers related to Kazmi’s remand application and order sheet were traced by the staff of a magistrate court, which earlier heard the case, and placed before Additional Sessions Judge Surinder Singh Rathi. The documents were placed in the court after Judge Rathi pulled up the magistrate court staff. “The accused (Kazmi) has a constitutional right to know the grounds and reasons of his prolonged detention and the same cannot be denied to him under any circumstances,” said Kazmi’s petition. He told the court that the magistrate court’s order denied him access to such order whereby his detention had been permitted. On Feb 13, four people were injured when an Israeli embassy car was struck by a bomb near the prime minister’s house in central Delhi. Tal Yehoshua Koren, wife of the Israeli defence attache, suffered multiple injuries when a motorcycle rider attached a magnetic explosive device to her car and sped away. Within seconds, the device exploded, setting the car on fire.
http://twocircles.net/2012may25/israeli_embassy_car_blast_missing_documents_traced.html
Newsline: Spain says embassy policeman found dead in Yemen
The Interior Ministry say a Spanish policeman stationed at the country’s embassy in Yemen has been found dead with a gunshot to the head. A ministry statement says the death of 38-year-old Antonio Cejudo was being investigated. It would not say if the case was being treated as a suicide. Cejudo had been missing for several days. His body was found in a hard-to-reach mountainous area, and his service revolver was by him. Cejudo had been stationed in Yemen for two years. The alarm was raised when Cejudo failed to arrive in Madrid on Thursday as planned for a few days of vacation.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/22/spain-says-embassy-policeman-found-dead-in-yemen/
Newsline: Bill introduced to allow Israelis to visit U.S. without a visa
Congressman Brad Sherman (Democrat, California), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the Visa Waiver for Israel Act, a bill allowing Israel’s entrance into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. The Visa Waiver Program allows nationals from certain countries to enter the U.S. as temporary visitors for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa from a U.S. consulate abroad. The Embassy of Israel released a statement in support of the legislation, “The Embassy of Israel welcomes the introduction of the Visa Waiver for Israel Act. The passage of this legislation would further strengthen the special and deep relationship between Israel and the United States.” There are 36 countries currently in the Visa Waiver Program, including western and central European countries, as well as South Korea, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2010, 17.1 million visitors entered the United States under the Visa Waiver program, constituting 42% of all overseas visitors. Israel is one of the “road map countries” which are most interested in joining the Visa Waiver Program and have been in discussions with the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security to join the program since 2005. “Almost one-third of a million Israelis entered the U.S. as temporary visitors annually in recent years,” said Sherman. “Each had to get a US visa through a bureaucratic process that sometimes takes weeks. The number of Israeli visitors would increase substantially if Israel enters the Visa Waiver Program.”
http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2012/05/21/bill-introduced-to-allow-israelis-to-visit-u-s-without-a-visa/
Newsline: US Embassy in Lebanon warns over violence
The US Embassy in Lebanon has issued a warning to its citizens in the country to avoid public areas and exercise caution. Violence between pro and anti-Syrian groups in Beirut left two people dead and 18 injured early Monday, sparking concerns the conflict in Syria is spilling across the border into Lebanon. “The US Embassy advises US citizens in Lebanon of the potential for continued demonstrations, road blockages, and violence throughout this period,” the embassy said in an email to American citizens. The US Embassy advises US citizens to maintain low profiles in public, it said.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/us-embassy-in-lebanon-warns-over-violence-458613.html
