Airstrikes slow Gadhafi's forces

AJDABIYA, Libya — The road to this city that has been a battle between rebels and government forces is strewn with burned wreckage of military vehicles and numerous unexploded munitions. And dozens of charred bodies.

"The airstrike plan was very perfect for us," said Yasser Hassel, 33, a rebel fighter.

"We trapped them. Their support lines are cut," he said on the road to Ajdabiya. "The French struck accurately, and there were no civilian casualties. Our plan now is to wait for airstrikes against those tanks."

The rebellion against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was almost at an end last week when his forces had reached this city. Just 100 miles south of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, soldiers loyal to Gadhafi and the foreign soldiers paid to fight for him had chased off the rebels in Ajdabiya and were ready to move north.

The weekend airstrikes by France, Britain and the United States have stopped the advance here. But they have not vanquished the pro-Gadhafi forces.

They remain outside the city and holed up inside it as well. When rebels who had retreated to Benghazi rushed out to take the town after the airstrikes they were met with mortar and tank fire from the remaining government forces.

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-23-libyafront23_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

Unrest continues grappling in Mideast, N Africa

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The wave of anti-government protests continued spreading in the Middle East and North African regions in the wake of uprisings that toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

In Bahrain, four protesters were killed and dozens wounded after anti-riot police stormed the Pearl Square in central Manama on Thursday.

The Bahraini army said in a statement the same day that tough measures will be used to keep stability of the country.

"The military staffs from the Bahraini Defense Force (the army) have been deployed in the capital in order to take all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of citizens and to protect their freedom and properties from violence," said the spokesman of the Bahrain Defense Force.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday expressed "deep concern" about deadly clashes in Bahrain and called for restraint.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Thursday also expressed disturbance over the violent raids against anti-government protesters in Bahrain and called on leaders to exercise restraint towards civilians and journalists.

"The reports from Bahrain overnight are deeply troubling, here as elsewhere, violence should not be used against peaceful demonstrators and against journalists." Ban told reporters at the United Nations.

In Yemen, one protester was killed and about 50 were injured Thursday in clashes between police and anti-regime protesters in the capital of Sanaa and southern port city of Aden, local sources told Xinhua.

Recently, several thousands of Iraqis sporadically took to the streets in several provinces across the country protesting unemployment and a sharp rise of food prices, as well as demanding better public services.

On Thursday, Hundreds of Iraqis rallied in southern Iraqi provinces, demanding better living, jobs and public services.

Seven people, including policemen, were wounded by the turmoil, according to a provincial police source.

In the northern African country of Lybia, several hundred people on Wednesday clashed overnight with police and government supporters in the eastern city of Benghazi, demanding the government to resign.

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/18/c_13738182.htm

Government fears nuclear war in Middle East

The cables present Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd as being very "supportive" of Israel.

The Federal Government fears a nuclear confrontation between Iran and Israel could draw Australia into another war in the Middle East, according to US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks and published in Fairfax newspapers today.

The cables present Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd as being very "supportive" of Israel and he is praised for his tough stance against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But the cables also reveal serious concerns within Australia's intelligence bureaus that Australia and the US could be drawn into a nuclear war if Iran and Israel come to blows.

Dr Michael Wesley, executive director of the Lowy Institute, says the revelations are interesting but hardly surprising.

"That's the nightmare scenario that's worried a lot of people for a long time," he said.

"Even though Israel hasn't formally acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons, most people understand that it is a nuclear-armed state.

"Obviously with Iran rapidly gaining those capabilities and having made some fairly uncompromising statements about wiping Israel off the face of the map, you would have to think there would be a considerable threat if Iran does get nuclear weapons."

It has been a tough few weeks for Mr Rudd, who has withstood a barrage of embarrassing revelations contained in the WikiLeaks cables.

Among the cables were perceptions within the US embassy that he is a micro-manager as well as more potentially damaging remarks revealing he favours a tough stance against China.

But for now at least it appears Mr Rudd is among friends in Israel.

He is presently touring the Middle East, where he took the time to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

Mr Rudd paid his respects to those who died in the Holocaust and admitted Australia could have done more to help Jewish people before World War II.

"We as Australia among the other nations of the world attended the conference at Evian in 1938 and we, in Australia, like so many countries around the world, closed our hearts," he said.

"What we did then as a nation was wrong and we know what happened when others did the same."

Embarrassment

Dr Wesley says the WikiLeaks cables with the most potential to harm Australia's foreign policy are the ones with the revelations about China.

"The Chinese are, to use a well-known phrase, brutal realists themselves," he said.

"They had little doubt about where Australia stood, so probably in terms of its embarrassment value, it gives them a chance to exercise a tiny bit of leverage against Rudd in particular.

"But I don't think it's a huge revelation to the Chinese."

Dr Wesley says most of the cables will do little more than embarrass those people named.

"It basically puts some issues on the table that probably the Government would rather not be out in the open," he said.

"A lot of what governments do depends on them keeping their rather frank assessments of each other secret and not in public view.

"If some of this material, for instance, impacts on Australia's image in China or any other country, then that will be a step backwards.

"But in terms of actual hard strategic interests, I don't think it will do a lot of damage."

WikiLeaks has still only released a small percentage of the 250,000 documents it is believed to possess.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/13/3091889.htm

Iran Confirms It Provided Aid to Afghanistan Government, Plans to Continue

Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the payment of aid to neighboring Afghanistan, a day after the U.S. said Iran shouldn’t interfere in Afghan internal affairs.

“The government has provided assistance,” the ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said today at a news conference aired live by state television, in response to a question about Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s confirmation of the payments. “Plans for the reconstruction of Afghanistan have been followed, engineering projects have been executed, and they will continue in the future."

Iran has offered assistance in euros or dollars since ‘‘the transitional government of Afghanistan was established,’’ Karzai told reporters yesterday. ‘‘Sometimes it gives 500,000 euros and sometimes less,’’ he said, adding that his chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, receives the money according to ‘‘my orders.’’

The New York Times said two days ago that in August Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Feda Hussein Maliki, gave a plastic bag filled with euros to Daudzai on Karzai’s personal aircraft. The Times cited an Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The payment, part of a stream that totals millions of dollars, was intended to promote Iran’s interests and to counter U.S. and other Western influence in Afghanistan, the Times said, citing unidentified Afghan and Western officials in Kabul.

‘‘We think countries must all help to lay the foundation for Afghanistan’s economic reconstruction,” Mehmanparast said. “Foreign troops’ excuses for being present there are not acceptable.”

Philip J. Crowley, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said, “We understand that Iran and Afghanistan are neighbors and will have a relationship,” according to an e-mailed statement yesterday. “But Iran should not interfere with the internal affairs of the Afghan government."

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-26/iran-confirms-it-provided-aid-to-afghanistan-government-plans-to-continue.html