Gaza: Ban Ki-moon forms independent panel to investigate recent conflict

UN,  10 November 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the formation of an internal inquiry aimed at reviewing “certain incidents” reported at United Nations facilities in the Gaza Strip during the recent summer conflict there between Palestinian factions and the State of Israel.

During his visit last month to the war-ravaged enclave, the Secretary-General called for a thorough investigation into incidents where UN facilities – including schools run by the UN agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) – sustained hits resulting in the deaths of numerous innocent civilians and UN staff members.

In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, the Secretary-General declared that he had established the “internal and independent” UN Headquarters Board of Inquiry to review and investigate “a number of specific incidents in which death or injuries occurred at, and/or damage was done to United Nations premises.”

In addition, added Mr. Dujarric, the Board will also “review and investigate incidents in which weapons were found to be present on United Nations premises.”

The fighting – which raged from 8 July to 26 August – saw entire neighbourhoods in the Strip flattened, and almost one-third of Gaza’s population uprooted. The violence killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including more than 500 children, and more than 70 Israelis while also damaging or destroying over 100,000 homes.

While in Gaza last month, Mr. Ban voiced horror at the extent of the destruction, stating that “nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed.”

The Board of Inquiry will be led by Patrick Cammaert of The Netherlands and will include Maria Vicien-Milburn of Argentina, Lee O’Brien of the United States, Pierre Lemelin of Canada and K.C. Reddy of India.
[un.org]
10/11/14
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Briefing Security Council, UN deputy chief urges protection for frontline ‘humanitarian heroes’

UN,19 August 2014 – United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson had one main message – “we must protect humanitarian workers” – as he marked World Humanitarian Day with a special briefing to the Security Council, addressing a subject critical to people caught in conflict.
Recalling that the Day commemorates the 19 August 2003 bombing of the UN premises at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Mr. Eliasson said the occasion is “dedicated to the memory of all the staff members and partners who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty for the humanitarian imperative.”

“We have since then seen shocking tragedies and terrorist acts against UN personnel and premises in places like Algeria, Nigeria, Somalia and Afghanistan. These appalling incidents remain fresh in our minds,” he added during his briefing, which also included statements from Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Masood Director and Co-Founder of The Liaison, an Afghan non-governmental organization (NGO).
Humanitarian workers from the UN, the ICRC, international organizations and NGO’s dedicate their lives to assisting millions of women, children and men affected by conflicts and natural disasters around the world. Working in some of the most dangerous places, they take great risks to help people in desperate need.
“Yet, all too frequently,” Mr. Eliasson continued “their safety is compromised in the most despicable of ways: by threats, by attacks, and by the use of illegal methods of warfare that endanger lives or damage the infrastructure needed for the delivery of assistance.”
Such acts are part of a brutalization seen today in which parties to conflict often ignore international humanitarian law and target civilians for political and military gains. They have used collective punishment, incited ethnic violence, impeded the delivery of humanitarian assistance and attacked humanitarian actors.
He commented: “What this represents is nothing less than a deficit of humanity. Regretfully, this trend is getting worse, rather than better.”
Last year, more humanitarian workers were kidnapped, seriously injured or killed than ever before: 155 were reportedly killed; 171 were wounded and 134 kidnapped – representing a 66 per cent increase from 2012. According to preliminary figures, 2014 has already witnessed the deaths of 79 humanitarian workers in addition to 33 wounded and 50 kidnapped.
“In Somalia alone,” Mr. Eliasson asserted, “over a dozen humanitarian staff were kidnapped or detained during the first quarter of 2014. In recent weeks, several humanitarian workers have been killed in South Sudan and in Gaza.”
The consequences are not only felt by humanitarian workers and their families but also by the millions of people who cannot be reached when assistance is sabotaged by violence. They are felt by the children who do not get vaccinated; the sick and wounded who go untreated; and by those forced from their homes and left without shelter.
In recent years, the majority of incidents have occurred in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria – with the overwhelming majority of victims being national humanitarian workers struggling to save the lives of their own people.
“As we mourn these losses, and recall the plight of the many wounded and kidnapped, we must not accept this as the necessary cost of operating in risky environments,” Mr. Eliasson argued. “Our shared responsibility is to do everything we can to provide humanitarians with the safety and the space they need to do their life-saving work.”
Humanitarian action must not be politicized. A clear distinction between humanitarian actors and political or military actors must be guarded – even when military objectives are to protect civilians.
“If these lines are blurred, perceptions of humanitarian organizations can change quickly and radically and further expose them to violence,” warned the UN deputy chief. “For this reason, political and military actors must respect the need for humanitarian actors to carry out their work in an impartial, neutral and independent manner. Dialogue on how to best maintain this distinction – strike this balance, I would say – is an on-going endeavour.”
“This must include preserving the ability of humanitarian workers to engage with all parties to conflict. Such engagement serves humanitarian purposes. But I want to stress that it does not confer legal status or political legitimacy on non-state groups,” he explained.
Mr. Eliasson outlined four priority actions for the Security Council to support urgently needed humanitarian work in conflict situations. First, it can routinely call on parties to conflict to uphold their legal obligations – and condemn them when they do not.
Second, the Council can ensure that measures to safeguard peace and security, such as the negotiation of peace agreements or deployment of UN peacekeeping operations, do not blur the lines between political, military and humanitarian objectives. “Humanitarian efforts, essential as they are, are no substitute for political action to resolve the causes of conflicts,” Mr. Eliasson underscored.
Third, the Council can impose targeted measures against parties to conflict who violate their obligations to respect and protect humanitarian workers and the civilian population.
And finally, it can use all tools at its disposal to seek accountability for those who perpetrate attacks against humanitarian workers and assets. “This means supporting investigations and prosecutions at the national level, creating special criminal tribunals or mixed arrangements, making use of commissions of enquiry and fact finding missions, and referring relevant situations to the International Criminal Court,” elaborated the Deputy Secretary-General.
Those who take civilian populations hostage – consciously spreading fear and using intimidation to reach their goals – must never succeed.
Mr. Eliasson closed by reiterating that attacks against humanitarian workers and facilities were part of a deeply disturbing trend. “I think of the increase in unacceptable and cowardly attacks against civilians in armed conflict, and the sadly growing lack of respect for international humanitarian law. Let us not accept, but let us stop, the growing deficit of humanity,” he pressed.
On World Humanitarian Day, the Deputy Secretary-General encouraged everyone to honour the victims. “Let us protect the heroes on the frontlines of disaster and war, and let us do everything we can to help them – and to help us all – to alleviate human suffering in a difficult time of turmoil and violence in the world,” he concluded.
 [un.org]
19/8/14

Women, children allowed to leave besieged Syria city Homs

Women and children trapped in a besieged Syrian city will be permitted to leave “immediately” under a deal that marked the first tangible sign of progress in peace talks.
“What we have been told by the [Syria] government side is that women and children in the besieged area of the [Homs] old city are welcome to leave immediately,” Agence France-Presse quoted U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi as telling a news conference after talks with government and opposition delegations.
“Hopefully starting tomorrow, women and children will be able to leave the Old City in Homs,” Brahimi said.
The subject of Homs -- where hundreds of families in the Old City are living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies -- has been discussed at length since the two parties started face-to-face talks on Saturday.


“You know that the center of the city has been under siege for a very, very long time and now I hope that we are approaching a solution for at least the civilians.” Brahimi added.
The veteran diplomat said the opposition delegation, which has been calling on the government to release tens of thousands of detainees, had agreed to a government request to provide a list of detainees held by armed rebel groups.
Brahimi also said he would meet the two sides jointly on Monday, when they are expected to discuss opposition demands for the creation of a transitional governing body.
The mediator said he was pleased with the general tone of peace talks.
“I am happy, because in general there is mutual respect and they are aware of the fact that this attempt is important and we must continue. I hope that this mood will continue.”
However, he acknowledged that the agreement on the city of Homs fell short of his hope to send a humanitarian aid convoy, the Associated Press reported
But, he said, “to bring Syria out of the ditch in which it has fallen will take time.”
AFP also reported him saying that the talks had touched on continued efforts to have convoys of humanitarian aid brought into Homs.
Homs, one of the first cities to rise against President Bashar Assad, once more came under mortar attacks from the government.

Assad’s future

Brahimi defended the pace of the talks, which have yet to touch upon the issue of President Bashar al-Assad’s future.
“I think being too slow is a better way than going too fast,” he said. “If you run, you may gain one hour and lose one week.”
Brahimi said the thorniest topic - a possible transitional government - will not come up until at least Monday.
“I think this belittles the importance of this conference and the goal that was drawn for it,” said Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad.
The Western-backed opposition, made up largely of exiled Syrians, said Assad has lost legitimacy and can no longer lead a country after unleashing the military on largely peaceful protests nearly three years ago.
While the government accused the rebellion with being rife with terrorists and that Assad is the only person able to end the fighting that has killed more than 130,000 people.
Homs was considered a promising place to start the negotiations.
The city was one of the first areas that plunged into armed conflict in 2011. Neighborhoods in the old city have been ravaged following repeated government assaults to reclaim control from rebels.
The city had a pre-war population of 1 million, but most residents have since fled. Activists say about 800 families are trapped, without regular access to food, medicine and basic necessities.
“The regime is blocking all convoys to Homs and has been doing so for months,” said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks remain sensitive. “The situation in Homs is extremely urgent. Anything the government says to the contrary is false.”
Monzer Akbik, an opposition spokesman, said the coalition was still determined to stay for the political talks set to begin Monday. He accused the government of using “stalling techniques.”

Violence ranges on Damascus outskirts

Meanwhile, Syrian rebels and government troops clashed Sunday in restive districts of Damascus, a monitoring group said, as representatives of the warring sides met for peace talks in Geneva.
“Fierce fighting raged between rebels and troops in Jobar (in eastern Damascus) and the Port Said area of Qadam (in the south),” AFP quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying.
A mortar round fired by rebels hit the city’s central Qassaa district, wounding seven people, state news agency SANA reported.
Meanwhile troops pounded opposition-held Douma northeast of the capital, the Britain-based Observatory said.
It also reported the choking siege of the Yarmuk Palestinian camp in southern Damascus by regime troops had claimed six more lives on Sunday because of food and medical shortages.
  http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/26/Women-children-allowed-to-leave-besieged-Syria-city-.html
(With AFP and Associated Press)
26/1/14
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Related:
 

• Syrian regime and opposition agree to direct talks

• Syrian opposition insists Assad should go as past

• Syrian peace talks stuck over Assad's future

Syrian regime and opposition agree to direct talks

Delegations representing the Syrian regime opposition have agreed to meet in the same room for direct talks on Saturday, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said Friday.

"I met the delegations of the opposition and the government separately yesterday and again today and tomorrow we expect, we have agreed, that we will meet in the same room," Brahimi told journalists.

The meeting would start at the United Nations in Geneva at 10am (0900 GMT), he said.
A first face-to-face meeting between the two warring sides since the Syrian conflict broke out almost three years ago had been due to take place Friday as part of the ongoing Geneva 2 peace talks.
But attempts to bring the government and opposition delegations together initially stumbled, prompting Brahimi to speak to both sides separately in an effort to bring them both to the negotiating table.


Government threatens to quit peace talks

That goal had at first seemed a long way off however, with Syria’s government delegation  threatening to quit the peace conference altogether earlier on Friday.

Syrian state television said Foreign Minister Walid Muallem had told Brahimi that "should serious sessions fail to take place tomorrow, the official Syrian delegation will leave Geneva".

Muallem told Brahimi “the Syrian delegation is serious and ready to start, but the other side is not,” it said.

The opposition had been refusing to meet with the regime’s representatives until the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had first signed up to a 2012 protocol, known as Geneva 1, that calls for an interim government to oversee a transition to a new political order.

But following Brahimi’s announcement, an opposition delegate member said this issue had now been resolved.

“We are satisfied with Mr Brahimi’s statement today and that the regime has accepted Geneva 1 (communique). And on this basis we will meet the Assad delegation tomorrow morning,” Anas al-Abdah told Reuters.

“It will be a short session in which only Brahimi will speak, to be followed by another session, a longer session in the afternoon,” he added.

Practical steps

Brahimi has indicated that his aim is to start by seeking practical steps, like local ceasefires, prisoner releases and access for international aid deliveries, before embarking on the tougher political negotiations.

Syria’s civil war has already killed at least 130,000 people, driven up to a third of the country’s 22 million people from their homes and made half dependent on aid, including hundreds of thousands cut off by fighting.

Among the hurdles to progress, the Islamist militants who control most rebel-held territory are boycotting the talks and say anyone attending negotiations that fail to bring down Assad would be traitors.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
http://www.france24.com/en/20140124-geneva-2-syria-regime-opposition-agree-direct-talks/
24/1/14
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• Syrian opposition insists Assad should go as past

• Syrian peace talks stuck over Assad's future

Russian Arms Supplies to Syria ‘No Breach of Law’ - Putin ..... one does not really need to back the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies and eat their intestines

LONDON, June 16 (RIA Novosti) – President Vladimir Putin on Sunday defended Russia’s weapons supplies to Syria saying they are in the framework of the international law.“If we speak calmly, I want to stress that Russia supplies arms to the legitimate government of Syria in full compliance with the norms of international law and we call on our partners to act in the same way,” Putin told reporters after talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday.“We are not breaching any rules,” Putin said."I think you will not deny that one does not really need to back the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies and eat their intestines," Putin said referring to a video footage of a rebel eating what appeared to be a government soldier’s heart.

“Do you want to support these people? Do you want to supply these people with arms?” Putin said adding that this has no relation to humanitarian values in Europe.Speaking on the planned international conference on Syria proposed earlier by Russia and the United States, Putin said: “I don’t think this conference is ruined.” “I fully agree with the Prime Minister [Cameron] that this is one of the most appropriate means of resolving the Syrian problem,” he said.Putin said he hoped the upcoming G8 summit in Northern Ireland “will have a positive influence” on the Syrian conflict.The US said this week that it had clear evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government had used chemical weapons against the rebels. The claim was supported by Britain, but dismissed as “unconvincing” on Friday by Russia, which is widely viewed as an ally of Syria and has vetoed several Western-backed UN Security Council resolutions aimed to pressure Assad into ending the use of force.
Russian officials have previously said they will deliver on existing arms deals with Syria involving "defensive weapons," but President Putin said recently that the S-300 sale had not been completed.
The delivery of S-300 is of significance, defense analysts say, as it is a highly capable system which would make any outside intervention by foreign air forces extremely hazardous.Updated at 22.46 with Putin's quotes. http://en.rian.ru16/6/13
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• Putin warns Cameron against arming Syrian rebels as UK weighs options.....

Russia and UK still have very different approaches to the Syrian crisis,British PM Cameron said after meeting Putin adding that the decision to arm rebels is yet to be made.Russia’s President warned against such a move citing rebels' atrocities.

"The blood is on the hands of both parties” of the conflict, not only Bashar Assad’s government but also the rebels, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin stressed at the press conference at 10 Downing Street.

"I think you will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras," Putin said referring to a video footage on the Internet of a rebel fighter eating the heart of a government soldier. Later however it was concluded the fighter was holding a lung.

"Is it them who you want to supply with weapons?" he said adding that it does not correspond with international humanitarian norms.

Putin also defended Russia's arms supplies to the official government of Syria saying they are "in accordance with international laws.” .........http://rt.com/news/putin-cameron-syria-summit-786/
16/6/13

----------------------------------------------Related:

• Putin: Do not arm Syrian rebels who 'eat human organs' 
•  
• Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin hat den Westen davor gewarnt, Waffen an die syrischen Rebellen zu liefern. "Diese Menschen essen die Organe ihrer Feinde" 

 -------------------

• Outrage at Syrian rebel shown 'eating soldier's heart'

• Η Μόσχα υπολογίζει στην κατανόηση του Ισραήλ σχετικά με τα συστήματα S-300

Lavrov: Syria Government Gaining Ground, No Need to Use Chemical Arms

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was no need for the Syrian government to use chemical arms since the Syrian Army was making steady advances on the ground.
"The regime, as the opposition is saying out in the open, is enjoying military success on the ground," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters during a joint press appearance with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino."What sense is there for the regime to use chemical arms -- especially in such small amounts?" Lavrov asked.
Russia said on Friday that US allegations Assad had used chemical weapons during the fight with the foreign-backed militants were fabricated and unconvincing.

US President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would boost military support for the armed opposition as a result.Lavrov said it would be wrong for the US administration "to be sending signals" to the opposition that may scupper the chances of a peace conference being held in Geneva in the coming weeks.He added that that a no-fly zone that Washington was reportedly thinking of implementing over a part of Syria near the Jordanian border "would in either case violate international law.""We hope that our American colleagues will act in accordance with the implementation of the Russian-US initiative concerning preparations for an international conference on Syria," Lavrov said.The so-called Geneva 2 talks are aimed at getting the two warring sides at the negotiating table for the first time.www.almanar.com.lb15/6/13 -----------------------------------------

• Siria. Bonino a Lavrov: su forniture armi serve autolimitazione....

Mosca, 15 giu. (TMNews)
– La “fornitura d’armi” e’ una “questione di scelte politiche” e in particolare alla luce del proseguire della crisi siriana e dello spargimento di sangue, serve “autolimitazione”. Così il ministro degli Esteri, Emma Bonino, alla stampa italiana, dopo il colloquio con il collega Sergei Lavrov. “Per questo ho detto al mio collega Lavrov che io capisco bene gli accordi commerciali, ma in questo momento e’ una questione di scelte politiche.
Mi auguro che [da parte loro e degli altri] ci sia autolimitazione”.
http://www.internazionale.it/news/siria/2013/06/15/bonino-a-lavrov-su-forniture-armi-serve-autolimitazione/
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• Siria: Lavrov, insensato per il regime usare armi chimiche....

(AGI) - Mosca, 15 giu. - "Il regime siriano sta registrando un certo successo militare sul terreno. Che senso avrebbe per loro usare le armi chimiche, soprattutto se in quantitativi limitati?". Lo ha affermato il ministro degli Esteri russo, Sergei Lavrov che ha affrontato il tema caldo delle armi chimiche in Siria in una conferenza stampa con il ministro Emma Bonino a Mosca. Il ministro italiano ha avuto un incontro bilaterale con Lavrov preceduto da un incontro 2+2 della commissione economica bilaterale Italia-Russia. Sara' il viceministro degli Esteri, Marta Dassu' a organizzare i lavori della Commissione con una nuova visita a Mosca il fine giugno.
http://www.agi.it/estero/notizie/201306151138-est-rt10038-siria_lavrov_insensato_per_il_regime_usare_armi_chimiche
----------------------------------------

• Εκατοντάδες στρατιώτες των ΗΠΑ αναπτύχθηκαν στα σύνορα Ιορδανίας – Συρίας...

Η βρετανική εφημερίδα The Times, η οποία μετέδωσε αυτή την πληροφορία, σημειώνει πως οι ΗΠΑ κατ’ αυτόν τον τρόπο σκοπεύουν να «στρώσουν το δρόμο για Δύση για τον εξοπλισμό των Σύριων εξεγερμένων».

Η ανάπτυξη αμερικανών στρατιωτών έγινε με το πρόσχημα των στρατιωτικών ασκήσεων, τα οποία πραγματοποιούν αυτή την εβδομάδα οι ΗΠΑ και η Ιορδανία. Μετά την ολοκλήρωση αυτών των ασκήσεων, οι πεζοναύτες θα παραμείνουν στις βόρειες περιοχές της Ιορδανίας, κοντά στα σύνορα με τη Συρία για μερικούς μήνες.

Την παραμονή, οι αρχές των ΗΠΑ δήλωσαν πως έχουν αξιόπιστες πληροφορίες για τη χρήση χημικών όπλων από τις συριακές ένοπλες δυνάμεις.
http://greek.ruvr.ru/2013_06_15/115850629/


Related:

• US Chemical Weapons Report in Syria ‘Fabricated’ – Russian MP

• ΗΠΑ "Ο Ασαντ χρησιμοποίησε χημικά αλλά ... λίγα"!

• Russia dismisses US claims of Syrian chemical weapons use....

Contemplating Syria, Hezbollah retaliation ....

Move to deflect focus from the Syrian battle to the Israeli front could provide relief for the constant media and international attention that has been focused on the Syrian conflict.

The alleged attacks by Israel against Syria, supposedly targeting an arms facility and advanced Iranian surface-to-surface missiles believed to be headed for Hezbollah, raises pressure on the Syrian regime and the Lebanese terrorist organization to make a concrete attack against Israel.

With what could be reportedly ongoing Israeli bombardments of Syrian territory for the entire world to see, it is now hard to fathom that Syria and Hezbollah would allow for much more loss of face before responding.


In what is reported to be the third attack by Israel on Syria this year, and with more airstrikes possibly coming, the pressure is increasing for some sort of response. While it is possible that Hezbollah could resort to attacking soft Jewish or Israeli targets abroad, as it has done before, it also may respond directly against Israel.

The Shi’ite axis of Hezbollah and Iran have suffered tremendously in the eyes of the Sunni world for its support of Syrian President Bashar Assad. It seems shared animosity has, for now, trumped Israel’s alleged actions against Assad’s regime, which is viciously defending itself against a Sunni-led opposition.

Perhaps quietly, many of the Sunnis were cheering the attack, but publicly, the Arabs fell into line.

Assad and Hezbollah are now desperate for a new public relations program.

According to an article by Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a speech last week by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah shifted the group’s rhetoric to focus on its protection of Shi’ite shrines in Syria and its role in the resistance against Israel.

In this light, stated Badran, Nasrallah’s second trip to Iran in the past two weeks was perhaps a chance for Iran to offer its partner strategic guidance on refocusing on a winning slogan – resistance against Israel.

“Hezbollah’s effort to link its role in Syria with the struggle against [the Jewish state] explains [its] decision to send [a] drone over Israel last week,” Badran said.

This was also confirmed on Sunday by a report in the Lebanese daily An-Nahar, which stated that the Islamic Jihad, which is closely allied with Iran, said it would respond for the attacks on Syria.

“Syria has its hands full, but I’m surprised the regime hasn’t attacked Israel already as a way of deflecting attention to the common Israeli enemy,” Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow and director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Stein Program on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence, and the former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the US Department of the Treasury, told The Jerusalem Post.

“As for Iran and Hezbollah, they’re already at full tilt in a shadow war against Israel and the West,” he said.

A move to deflect the focus from the Syrian battle to the Israeli front could provide relief for the constant media and international attention that has been focused on the Syrian conflict.

At the same time, Hezbollah and Syria know they would pay severely for any direct attack on Israel, but how much longer can they absorb Israeli attacks without responding? 
 .jpost.com
6/5/13
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Related:

• Report: Israeli attack on Syria kills dozens of troops.....

• U.N. chief urges restraint after Israeli air strikes in Syria ....

• «ΚΗΡΥΞΗ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΥ».....Με αντίποινα απειλεί η Συρία....Προηγήθηκε επίθεση του Ισραήλ από αέρος σε στρατιωτικό κέντρο κοντά στη Δαμασκό....

• Οι αντάρτες στη Συρία έχουν χρησιμοποιήσει επικίνδυνο νευροτοξικό αέριο στις επιθέσεις τους, σύμφωνα με τον ΟΗΕ....

China frigate locked radar on Japan navy/Ο κινεζικός στόλος σημάδεψε ιαπωνικό σκάφος-Senkaku/Diaoyu issue

A Chinese military frigate locked weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese navy vessel, Tokyo's defence minister said Tuesday, in an apparent upping of the stakes in a bitter territorial row.The move, described by the minister and a Japanese analyst as "dangerous", marks the first time the two nation's navies have locked horns in a dispute that has some commentators warning about a possible armed conflict."On January 30, something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defense Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea," Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Tokyo."The defence ministry today confirmed radar for targeting was used." Onodera said a Japanese military helicopter was also locked with a similar radar on January 19. He did not specify whether the helicopter was airborne or on the deck of a ship at the time.


Officials said on both occasions the targeting had lasted "minutes"."Directing such radar is very abnormal," he said. "We recognise it could create a very dangerous situation if a single misstep occurred."We will seek the Chinese side's self-restraint from taking such dangerous action."The move is a ratcheting-up of an already tense situation in the East China Sea, where Asia's two largest economies are at loggerheads over the sovereignty of an uninhabited island chain.Hisao Iwashima, a Japanese defense analyst formerly of Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies, said Beijing needed to answer for what its navy had done."It could have been a test but it the Japanese side wouldn't have known if it was, or if it would lead to a launch," he told AFP."The Chinese side is responsible for explaining why it took such potentially dangerous action."Also Tuesday Tokyo summoned China's envoy in protest at the presence a day earlier of Chinese government -- but not military -- ships in the waters around the Tokyo-controlled Senkakus, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.No mention was made in the announcement of the actions of any Chinese military vessels. It was not believed that the military ships had been in what Japan considers its waters at the time of the episode."The foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador over ships entering the waters near Senkaku islands," said an official.Two maritime surveillance boats had spent around 14 hours in the area, one of the longest periods they have been present, the coastguard said.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference the actions were "absolutely unacceptable", adding Ambassador Cheng Yonghua had been called to the foreign ministry to hear Japan's "strong protest".Chinese ships have repeatedly ventured into the waters, in what observers say is Beijing's bid to create a "new normal" in which Tokyo does not have effective control over the archipelago.A Chinese government plane entered the chain's airspace in December, setting off sorties by Japanese fighter jets.In recent weeks both countries have dispatched military planes, which on at least one occasion have shadowed each other, although there have been no clashes.The radar targeting announced Tuesday has not previously been reported and is believed to be the first time the two navies have crossed swords, albeit at a distance and without a shot being fired.But analysts say the ramping up of rhetoric -- Japan's new nationalist premier has maintained his robust pre-election stance on China -- and the more frequent confrontations raise the risk of an accidental armed conflict.On a Saturday visit to Okinawa, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to defend Japan against "provocations".His government has approved a rise in defence spending for the first time in over a decade, with some of the cash earmarked for beefing up defence of the contested island chain.Japan's already well-equipped coastguard said last week it would create a special unit over three years with 10 new large patrol boats, two helicopter carriers and a 600-strong force dedicated to overseeing Japanese territory in the East China Sea.Abe's posturing, which plays well with his powerbase, has, however, been accompanied by apparent olive branches offered to Beijing. In a television interview he suggested China and Japan needed to hold a summit and has sent two emissaries to Beijing in recent weeks.
 .globalpost.com5/2/13 ----------------------------
 

• Ο κινεζικός στόλος σημάδεψε ιαπωνικό σκάφος-Senkaku/Diaoyu issue

Σενκάκου/Ντιαογού

Στο «παρά πέντε» φαίνεται πως αποφεύχθηκε η σύρραξη μεταξύ Ιαπωνίας και Κίνας στις 30 Ιανουαρίου όταν, σύμφωνα με τη διαμαρτυρία του υπουργείου Άμυνας της Ιαπωνίας, κινεζικό μαχητικό πλοίο «κλείδωσε» το αυτόματο ραντάρ του πολυβόλου του κατά ιαπωνικού σκάφους.

Την αποκάλυψη έκανε ο υπουργός Άμυνας της Ιαπωνίας, Ιτσουνόρι Ονοντέρα, ο οποίος πρόσθεσε ότι το επεισόδιο έλαβε χώρα στις 30 Ιανουαρίου κοντά στα διεκδικούμενα και από τις δύο χώρες νησιά της θάλασσας της Ανατολικής Κίνας. Το περιστατικό προκάλεσε την επίσημη διαμαρτυρία των Ιαπώνων προς Πεκίνο.

«Ένας λάθος χειρισμός και η κατάσταση θα γινόταν ιδιαίτερα επικίνδυνη», δήλωσε ο Ιάπωνας υπουργός, αφήνοντας να εννοηθεί ότι οι δύο χώρες βρέθηκαν ένα βήμα από θερμό στρατιωτικό επεισόδιο. Ο πρέσβης της Κίνας στο Τόκιο Τσενγκ Γιονγκχουά, από την πλευρά του, απέρριψε το ιαπωνικό διάβημα για τις κινεζικές κινήσεις στην περιοχή, ενώ η Χουά Τσουνγίνγκ, εκπρόσωπος του υπουργείου εξωτερικών νωρίτερα προέτρεψε την Ιαπωνία να σταματήσει να «να προκαλεί»: «Θεωρούμε ότι αυτό που επείγει περισσότερο είναι η Ιαπωνία να σταματήσει τις προκλητικές κινήσεις, όπως είναι η τακτική αποστολή πλοίων και αεροσκαφών στα ύδατα γύρω από τα νησιά Ντιαογού... και να αναζητήσει, μέσω συνομιλιών με την Κίνα, έναν αποτελεσματικό τρόπο ώστε το ζήτημα να ελεγχθεί και να λυθεί αποτελεσματικά». Η διαμάχη των δύο μεγάλων δυνάμεων της Άπω Ανατολής για τα νησιά Σενκάκου/Ντιαογού έχει κλιμακωθεί τους τελευταίους μήνες, όταν το 2012 η κυβέρνηση της Ιαπωνίας αγόρασε τρία από τα οκτώ ακατοίκητα νησιά και νησίδες από τον ιδιώτη ιδιοκτήτη τους, προκαλώντας την οργή του Πεκίνου. Αν και πρόσφατα είχε διαφανεί και από τις δυο πλευρές διάθεση για επίλυση του θέματος, με συναντήσεις κορυφής και ειδικούς απεσταλμένους από τις κυβερνήσεις και των δυο χωρών, το νέο επεισόδιο φαίνεται να αποτελεί ένα (τουλάχιστον) βήμα στη διαπραγματευτική διαδικασία..ethnos.gr5/2/13 ---ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ:

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• China plans to map Diaoyu Islands

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Turkish PM slams Israel over Syria attack

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of waging "state terrorism" after it struck targets in Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of waging "state terrorism" as he condemned the air
strike on Syria as an unacceptable violation of international law.
"Those who have been treating Israel like a spoilt child should expect anything from them, at any time," said Erdogan on Sunday.
"As I say time and again, Israel has a mentality of waging state terrorism. Right now, there is no telling what it might do and where it might do it," he told reporters.

Erdogan, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, was speaking after Israel's outgoing Defence Minister Ehud Barak implicitly confirmed that it had staged Wednesday's bombing raid which Damascus said targeted a military complex near the capital.
"We cannot regard a violation of air space as acceptable. What Israel does is completely against international law... it is beyond condemnation," Erdogan said.
"I am worried that in a situation like this, any scenario can play out in the future."
Earlier on Sunday, Barak refrained from a direct confirmation as he brought the issue up at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
"I cannot add anything to what you have read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago," Barak told participants.
But he added: "It's another proof that when we say something we mean it. We say that we don't think that it should be allowable to bring advanced weapon systems into Lebanon, the Hezbollah from Syria, when [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad falls."
According to US officials, Wednesday’s attack hit a convoy of anti-aircraft weapons inside Syria bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah group but Israel has not publicly acknowledged the air strike.
The Syrian military said the target of Israeli jets was a scientific research centre. The facility is in the area of Jamraya, northwest of the capital.
'Destabilising Syria'
Following Barak's comments, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Israel of trying to destabilise Syria and said Damascus was able to confront "current threats ...and aggression" against it.
Syria's state news agency SANA said Assad made the remarks in a meeting with Saeed Jalili, Iran's national security council secretary, at meeting in Damascus. It was Assad's first reported response to the attack.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that if Syria were to disintegrate, Assad could lose control of his chemical weapons and other arms.
Purported images of the targeted site, aired by Syrian state television on Saturday, show destroyed cars, trucks and military vehicles. A building has broken widows and damaged interiors, but no major structural damage.
Meanwhile, Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed Assad for not responding to the air strike, calling it proof of his weakness and acquiescence to Israel.
On Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is in the process of forming a new ruling coalition, said his new government would have to deal with weapons "being stockpiled near us and threatening our cities and civilians" - an apparent reference to the deteriorating situation in Syria.
Barak said "Hezbollah from Lebanon and the Iranians are the only allies that Assad has left".
He said in his view Assad's fall "is coming imminently" and when it happens, "this will be a major blow to the Iranians and Hezbollah."
"I think that they will pay the price," he said.
.aljazeera.com
3/2/13
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Related:

• Any attack on Syria will be taken as an attack on Iran - Tehran aide

• Syria warns Israel of 'surprise' retaliation

Any attack on Syria will be taken as an attack on Iran - Tehran aide

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser on international affairs to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamanei, warned Saturday that any attack on Syria will be taken as an attack on Iran or its allies, according to the Reuters news agency.

Tehran has already made strongly-worded warnings against an overthrow of al-Assad, who’s engaged in a large-scale armed struggle against the opposition forces that are doing their utmost to come to power.

The conflict in Syria has been raging since March 2011.

According to the United Nations, over 60,000 have already fallen victim to the fighting.

The government in Damascus claims that they have to deal with resistance by heavily-armed gunmen, relying on outside support.

Voice of Russia, Reuters

.ruvr.ru

26/01/13

President Assad outlines political solution to Syrian conflict

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 Syria’s president has outlined a plan to end the country's conflict, starting with a halt to international support to “al Qaeda-linked terrorist groups.” The solution proposes a new constitution and government, as well as national reconciliation.
President Bashar Assad said that his government had never refused a political solution, but would not negotiate with terrorists. He then stressed that the only solution was a Syrian proposal to end the crisis.
“The political solution entails regional and international powers halting their support for armed groups, which will be followed by a halt in our security forces' crackdown against them,” Assad said in his first public address to the people of Syria since June.


He claimed the move would be followed by dialogue with all parties who work in Syria’s interests, in the form of a national conference on the creation of a truce and the drafting of a new constitution to be put to public vote. The charter would form the basis of the new Syrian government.
The final step would be a national reconciliation process, including amnesty for those imprisoned during the crisis.
Assad stated that his government had not yet found any  partners willing to back a solution to Syria’s ongoing crisis. However, he did thank Russia, China and Iran for not “interfering in Syrian affairs.”
He also criticized the Syrian opposition, referring to the rebels as “Western puppets” and “terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda.” 
"We have terrorists who follow the ideology of al-Qaeda. We brothers fight against these people. Most of them are not Syrian… We will teach them a lesson," Assad said.
He called for a national mobilization to fight the “murderous criminals” besieging the country.
"Everyone must defend it… the attack on the entire nation… every citizen who is aware… and refusing to join solutions is taking the nation backwards," he said.
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International condemnation

Reaction from the international community followed Assad’s speech almost instantaneously with the nascent opposition group the National Coalition dismissing it as an attempt to thwart diplomatic solutions to the conflict.
While Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague described Assad’s words as “beyond hypocritical” and said that his “empty promises would not fool anyone.”
The European Union said that it was time for the Syrian leader to step down following the speech.
Assad gave his speech in Damascus’ central opera house to a throng of staunch supporters, who punctuated his speech with cheers of encouragement.
The Syrian leader was mobbed by exultant supporters after the speech.
"With blood and soul we sacrifice for you, O Bashar!" the crowd chanted following the speech.
According to figures collated by the UN, at least 60,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since it began 21 months ago.
The UN-Arab League peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is pushing for a transitional government, one ambiguous on the question of Assad's future role. Opposition groups have demanded the immediate resignation of the Syrian leader.
 http://rt.com
6/1/13

Syria shells capital area as protests surge / two generals reportedly defect.

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Ex-general Abdel Aziz Jassem al-Shallal purportedly joins rebels on YouTube, saying army turned into "murderous gangs". ( 28-Dec-2012 ) 

State warplanes pound Damascus province, as anti-regime rallies erupt across country and two generals reportedly defect.

Syrian military planes have launched air raids in Damascus province after overnight bombardments and clashes across the country.
The raids on Friday came as Syrians took to the streets in fresh nationwide rallies against President Bashar al-Assad.
Government forces in the suburbs of Damascus have been trying to take back areas they had lost after rebel attacks on military checkpoints and activists say that further air raids were expected there.
In Damascus city, several rockets hit the Qaboon district in the northeast of the capital, activists said, while clashes between rebels and the army erupted in the southern neighbourhood of Qadam, which was also bombarded.
Fighting was also reported in Daraya, a town in southern Damascus, which Assad's forces have been trying to retake for weeks.
There were also clashes in Yalda in the south and Douma in the northeast,  as well as an attack on a military position northeast of Damascus between the  provincial town of Irbin and the suburb of Harasta.
In Aleppo, Syria's northern commercial hub, clashes took place between rebel fighters and army forces around an air force intelligence building in the Zahira quarter, a neighbourhood that has been surrounded by rebels for weeks.
Overnight shelling was also reported in the central provinces of Hama and Homs.
Generals' defection
At least 142 people were reported killed in violence across Syria. Activists say that more than 40,000 have been killed since an uprising against Assad began in mid-March 2011.
Meanwhile, officials at Turkey's foreign ministry on Friday said two Syrian air force generals have defected and crossed the border.
The officials said the two generals were "regional Syrian Air Force commanders" and are now in a camp where army defectors stay in Turkey.
They refused to give the generals' identities or say how they escaped from Syria. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorised to talk to the press.
The defection comes days after the commander of Syria's military police Major General Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal defected to Turkey.
Shallal is among the most senior members of Assad's military to defect. Dozens of Syrian generals have defected since the uprising began.
.aljazeera.com
28/12/12