A powerless Gadhafi could stay in Libya, some NATO countries concede

Moammar Gadhafi remains defiantly in power after more than four months of bombing, and the nations carrying out most of the air strikes want to end the war, even if it means allowing the dictator to step down but remain in Libya.

The bloody stalemate in the ground war has dimmed early hopes that ill-equipped but enthusiastic rebels could topple the despot. With the holy Muslim month of Ramadan looming and no military end in sight, Britain has publicly echoed an offer first floated by France that would allow for Colonel Gadhafi to talk his way into retirement.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/a-powerless-gadhafi-could-stay-in-libya-some-nato-countries-concede/article2110834/

Iran accuses US, Britain, Israel of deadly suicide bomb attack

Iran on Wednesday accused the United States, Britain and Israel of involving in the deadly suicide bomb attack in the country which left 39 killed and more than 50 others wounded.

The attack occurred in front of the Imam Hussein mosque in southeastern port city of Chabahar on Wednesday when people gathered for a mourning ceremony on the religious occasion of Tasua, local satellite Press TV said.

Tasua is commemorated by Shiite Muslims, marking the eve of the day when Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was killed.

According to media, the Pakistan-based Sunni rebel group Jundallah (God' s soldiers) has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Chief of Iran's Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi accused the United States and Britain of involving in the attack, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

"The experience from the past incidents indicate that the U.S. and U.K. intelligent services are behind the crimes like the Wednesday morning bombing in Chabahar," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi told official IRNA news agency that the equipment and facilities nabbed on Wednesday revealed that the bombing agents were supported by the intelligent services of the region and the United States.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that such terrorist acts "are funded by the U.S. and Israeli intelligent services," according to local Mehr News agency.

"In the past, the United States recruited some in Afghanistan to create discord among Shiite and Sunni Muslims (by carrying out terrorist acts)," Larijani was quoted as saying.

Chabahar is the Iranian port city on the coast of Oman Sea situated in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province with the majority of ethnic Baluchis and Sunni Muslims.

"Israel and the U.S. intelligent services are behind these terrorist acts and they should know that such behaviors will receive response from the Iranian nation," Larijani said.

According to the official IRNA news agency, Director General of Sistan-Baluchestan provincial Forensic Medicine Office Fariborz Ayati said some women and children were among the victims.

An unidentified police commander of Sistan-Baluchestan province was quoted as saying by ISNA that four policemen were among the victims as well.

According to an earlier report by ISNA, the explosion occurred at 10:30 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) in front of the governor's office building of Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan province close to an emergency car of the Red Crescent Society.

Over the past three days, there had been threats of bomb attacks against mourners in Sistan-Baluchestan, and the emergency staff has been on alert, Iranian Red Crescent Society chief Mahmoud Mozaffar was quoted as saying by ISNA, adding that among the injured, six were emergency workers.

Meanwhile, the state IRIN TV said three suicide bombers were involved in the attack. Only one of them succeeded, the second was shot dead, and the last was arrested.

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-12/16/c_13650701.htm

Julian Assange bail decision made by UK authorities, not Sweden

The decision to have Julian Assange sent to a London jail and kept there was taken by the British authorities and not by prosecutors in Sweden, as previously thought, the Guardian has learned.

The Crown Prosecution Service will go to the high court tomorrow to seek the reversal of a decision to free the WikiLeaks founder on bail, made yesterday by a judge at City of Westminster magistrates court.

It had been widely thought Sweden had made the decision to oppose bail, with the CPS acting merely as its representative. But today the Swedish prosecutor's office told the Guardian it had "not got a view at all on bail" and that Britain had made the decision to oppose bail.

Lawyers for Assange reacted to the news with shock and said CPS officials had told them this week it was Sweden which had asked them to ensure he was kept in prison.

Karin Rosander, director of communications for Sweden's prosecutor's office, told the Guardian: "The decision was made by the British prosecutor. I got it confirmed by the CPS this morning that the decision to appeal the granting of bail was entirely a matter for the CPS. The Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within Britain. It is entirely up to the British authorities to handle it."

As a result, she said, Sweden will not be submitting any new evidence or arguments to the high court hearing tomorrow morning. "The Swedish authorities are not involved in these proceedings. We have not got a view at all on bail."

After the Swedish statement was put to the CPS, it confirmed that all decisions concerning the opposing of bail being granted to Assange had been taken by its lawyers. It said: "In all extradition cases, decisions on bail issues are always taken by the domestic prosecuting authority. It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction … to make such decisions."

Last week Sweden issued a warrant for Assange's arrest and extradition over sexual assault allegations. On 7 December the British prosecutor, Gemma Lindfield, convinced the senior district court judge Howard Riddle that Assange must be kept in custody because he was a flight risk.

Yesterday the judge accepted that Assange could be released on bail, but he was kept in Wandsworth prison after the CPS said it wanted to appeal against the decision to grant bail to a higher court.

The CPS's formal grounds of appeal for the hearing tomorrow morning, seen by the Guardian, will say that Assange must be kept in prison until a decision is made whether to extradite him, which could take months.


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/15/julian-assange-bail-decision-uk