Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.

Obama administration officials emphasized that the United States is neither supplying nor funding the lethal material, which includes antitank weaponry. Instead, they said, the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

Material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border. Opposition activists who two months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said this week that the flow of weapons — most still bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military — has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood also said it has opened its own supply channel to the rebels, using resources from wealthy private individuals and money from gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, said Mulham al-Drobi, a member of the Brotherhood’s executive committee.

Administration officials also held talks in Washington this week with a delegation of Kurds from sparsely populated eastern Syria, where little violence has occurred. The talks included discussion of what one U.S. official said remained the “theoretical” possibility of opening a second front against Assad’s forces that would compel him to move resources from the west.

The Pentagon has prepared options for Syria extending all the way to air assaults to destroy the nation’s air defenses. U.S. officials, however, have said that such involvement remains very unlikely. Instead, they said, the United States and others are moving forward toward increased coordination of intelligence and arming for the rebel forces.

There is no formal planning going on inside NATO to prepare for defending Turkey from the violence spilling over from Syria, even though Turkey is considering whether to formally invoke NATO's chapters on collective defense, a top Obama administration official said Monday.


The Obama administration also believes that the Annan plan "is failing," is currently searching for a "plan B" in Syria, and is preparing military related options in case they are diplomacy breaks down. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that NATO might have to get involved earlier this month, during a ministerial meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group in Paris.
"Our Supreme Allied Commander [Adm. James Stavridis] can do a certain amount of planning... but there has been no formal tasking and there has been no formal request by the Turks for consultations in an Article 4 or Article 5 scenario," said Liz Sherwood-Randall, the National Security Council's senior director for Europe, in remarks Monday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

They include a correspondence with a reporter from the Israeli Channel 10 TV station who had requested to meet Ghalioun, two emails concerning the transfer of funds from Qatar to Istanbul, and a letter from the Muslim Brotherhood’s most prominent representative in the SNC asking to relieve Bassma Kodmani from her position.

"There was a fundamental decision made at the highest level that we need a real Syria policy with more options for the president," one administration official with knowledge of the internal deliberations said. "Our allies were coming back to us and saying ‘What's your next move?,' and we were forced to admit we didn't have one."

The new push includes adjustments in personnel handling the portfolio. Before March, National Security Council Director Steve Simon headed up the internal interagency process. Now, multiple officials confirm that NSC Senior Director for Strategy Derek Chollet has been added to the leadership of the Syria policy team and has been coordinating the interagency process for several weeks. Simon, Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman, State Dept. Special Advisor Fred Hof, and Ambassador Robert Ford are still very active on the Syria portfolio.

New options are now being considered internally, including another discussion of setting up buffer zones inside Syria, one administration official confirmed. The administration has also authorized direct contact with the internal Syrian opposition, including the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and at least one State Department official has met with the FSA's nominal leaders in Turkey.

There's a growing consensus inside the administration that the violence in Syria is not abating and that multinational diplomatic initiatives such as the plan put forth by U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan are not convincing Assad to enter into a political process to transition to democracy, much less yield power and step down.

The administration's position had been to look the other way while Arab states armed the Syrian opposition, but pledges of aid by Gulf states have not materialized and the Turkish government, which has committed to an anti-Assad position and is hosting the FSA, is waiting for the United States to chart a clear way forward.

יואל מהרשק, מזכיר אגף המשימות של התנועה הקיבוצית, סיפר לוואלה! חדשות כי אנשי הקשר פועלים לארגן באזור הגבול הקמה של מחנות פליטים. "אנחנו מגייסים ציוד, שמיכות, מזון וכן תרומות כספיות, לטובת רכישת הציוד באמצעות איש עסקים ירדני מוכר במדינה" סיפר. מהרשק הוסיף כי למרות המחווה הסורים מסרבים להכניס לתוך המדינה ציוד המגיע לטובת הפליטים, וציין כי הירדנים הביעו חשש מן הסיוע.

Israel's final decision is being delayed due to the war that broke out between Sudan and South Sudan recently.


Foreign Ministry officials said Israel would not send the officers if there is any chance that their lives would be in danger. "The Foreign Ministry has recommended sending the officers to South Sudan, but we must examine the issue further. The situation there is unclear," one official said.


Israel recently decided to deport 1,000 refugees from South Sudan back to their country of origin beginning April 1. However, the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court issued an injunction against the expulsion of migrants from South Sudan before April 15 due to the volatile security situation there.

How deeply involved are Iran and Hezbollah with what is taking place in Syria?

“They’re up to their necks with what is happening there. When we use the term ‘axis of evil,’ people look at it as some kind of literary expression, as some kind of image conjured up by the poetic mind of whoever is saying it. It’s not that. When we talk about the axis of evil, it is in the most down-to-earth sense possible.”

Are Hezbollah fighters active in Syria?

“Certainly. There are military trainers, instructors, and, to the best of my knowledge, combatants as well. They are involved up to their necks.”

President Barack Obama has ramped up U.S. aid, including communications equipment and medical supplies, to Syria’s opposition in hopes of accelerating the downfall of President Bashar Assad, officials said Friday.

The president signed off on the $12 million package last week, U.S. officials said

Obama spoke about potential aid options last month during a lengthy private meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in South Korea. Officials said at the time that Washington and its allies were considering providing Syrian rebels with communication, medical and other “nonlethal” aid.

Washington had been providing satellite phones, cellphone chips and other such equipment already, officials acknowledged, but said the level of assistance will now be increased.

The Obama administration believes the Syrian government, with Iran’s help, is actively jamming private communications and satellite Arabic television networks in an aggressive campaign to cut off anti-government organizers from the outside world.

"We're not getting one ounce of an impression that that's going to be the case," says Muna Jondy, a Syrian opposition official, when asked if the White House is preparing to get involved. "There just isn't an appetite to get involved right now. And I don't think that's going to be changing."

In private meetings with the Obama administration, opposition groups have urged U.S. officials to resist public remarks stating definitively that America will not get involved in the fighting.

"We say to them, 'Can you just not say that out loud,'" Jondy says. "Can't you at least say the Pentagon is drawing up some options?"

"Russia was a convenient thing for the U.S. to hide behind while it watched how things were playing out," says Jondy. "I just know when the [U.S.] government wants something to happen, the U.S. government makes that thing happen."

Recent data reveal that more than 10,000 people have been killed in clashes since the unrest began early last year. Some 20 percent of those killed were believed to be Assad loyalists; more than 80 percent were thought to belong to the opposition. The number of armed rebels is estimated at more than 10,000, but they suffer from chronic shortage of supply and interruptions in international support.
Iranian assistance to Syria, which has been ongoing for years and is dubbed “the shadow army” by Israel, consists of extensive arms shipments, which include rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft missiles that could be used against a potential air strike campaign by international forces, as well as riot dispersal means. The so-called shadow army was coordinated by Imad Mughniyeh and Mohammed Suleiman, who were killed in two separate incidents in 2008. Syria and Hezbollah claim the two were assassinated by Israel.

Iranian and Hezbollah assistance to Assad also includes the training of Syrian troops in urban warfare, as well as drone operations. Western intelligence reports reveal that Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials frequently make top-secret visits to Syria to advise the regime on how to deal with the rebels. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has beefed up the deployment of its troops along the Lebanon-Syria border, in an attempt to prevent arms spillover from Lebanon to Sunni opposition groups. Unlike Hamas, which ended its presence in Syria almost overnight after the crisis began, Hezbollah still maintains close ties with the Syrian regime and uses bases and ammunition reservoirs on Syrian territory.

According to well-informed Turkish and US sources, during his meeting with Secretary Clinton, Davutoğlu put forward a set of measures, including, among others, creating a buffer zone and/or a humanitarian corridor, as well as organizing and equipping the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The secretary of state responded in no uncertain terms that the Obama administration had no interest in pursuing any of these options. In fact, according to one account, Clinton told her Turkish counterpart no less than three times, “We are not there.”

The message conveyed to the Turks was the same one made clear to the Saudis. According to one US source, when Davutoğlu ended up asking Clinton where the administration was on the issue, her response simply repeated the mantra about the Arab League initiative and going to the Security Council again for another go at the Russians. In other words, it was more of the same.

The Obama administration’s reasoning is simple. It calculates, rather correctly, that such regional efforts will likely end up drawing the US in down the road, one way or another. President Obama wishes to nip in the bud any possibility of this happening in an election year. And so, such regional moves were opposed in order for the president not to be forced to take action he’s adamantly intent on avoiding, regardless of the consequences.

In a March 12 meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah asked his Jordanian counterpart to permit weapons shipments into Syria in exchange for economic assistance to Jordan, these officials say. Jordan hasn't yet agreed, they said.

The U.S. has opposed furnishing arms to the rebels, fearing that weapons could end up in the hands of al Qaeda or other extremist groups. But late Thursday, a top U.S. defense official suggested such a policy could potentially shift. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Syrian opposition appeared to be taking steps to unite as a group, a development he said could help clear the way for international aid including arms.

Saudi Arabia has argued strongly for weapons supplies to Syrian rebels despite U.S. concerns. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was traveling Thursday to Saudi Arabia to meet with the king and other senior Saudi officials, was expected to raise any Saudi plans to arm the Syrian rebels, U.S. officials said. The officials said the Obama administration remains opposed to introducing more arms into the conflict.

The Syrian crisis is already affecting Jordan's economy. Before the conflict, about 70% of Jordan's imports and about 25% of its exports were routed through Syria, according to the country's Transport Ministry, which didn't provide dollar figures. Now those imports and exports have fallen to virtually zero, the ministry says.

To help alleviate economic woes, the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, have pumped billions of dollars into Jordan's coffers. Saudi Arabia alone gave nearly $1.5 billion in grants to help Jordan manage its deficit last year, while the U.S. government says it earmarked $660 million in assistance to Jordan in 2012.

"I'm just one guy in a huge pool doing this," he says, adding that his network works with the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a coalition of 40 opposition groups, to get the aid to those that are most in need.

Lorries loaded with donated food, blankets, medical supplies, clothing, mobile phones and almost anything else they can lay their hands on, now depart from the UAE every five to 10 days. From there they travel through Saudi Arabia to Jordan and then across the border into Syria. And that's where it gets tricky.

When the contraband eventually reaches Damascus, it is divided into smaller shipments and transported deeper into the country in smaller vehicles and eventually split into parcels that are placed in backpacks or strapped onto motorcycles and taken to Homs, Hama, Idleb and Deir Ezzor.

The United States had already announced that it had been providing humanitarian aid to opposition groups. And on Sunday an administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the United States had already begun to supply some aid, including communications gear, to the rebel Free Syrian Army. The agreement with Turkey would formalize and increase that aid, though officials insist that no weaponry would be sent.

ran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say.

Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said. They discussed intelligence matters on condition of anonymity.

"Over the past year, Iran has provided security assistance to Damascus to help shore up Assad. Tehran during the last couple of months has been aiding the Syrian regime with lethal assistance - including rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment -- to help it put down the opposition," a U.S. official said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will open the way on Friday to resuming $1.3bn in annual military aid to Egypt despite fears it is slipping in its avowed transition to democracy.

The top US diplomat will also waive legislative requirements on whether Cairo is making progress towards democracy to allow for "the continued flow of foreign military financing to Egypt," the official said on condition of anonymity.

מה היא עירי? שעתיים נסיעה מגשר אלנבי. שם - זו עירי? שם הגיהינום. שם רודן אכזר עושה ככל העולה על רוחו, ולא רק שהעולם ואנחנו נותנים לו לטבוח באזרחיו - אנחנו שותקים גם כשהוא מונע מאתנו לסייע לאנשים האלה.

U.S. officials last week raised concerns that a growing number of Iranian cargo flights crossing Iraq for Syria were carrying weapons and said that the United States had raised the subject with the Iraqis.

One administration official said that with the prosecution still under way, it was impossible for Mrs. Clinton to certify Egypt under the new law, which says that its leaders must carry out “policies to protect freedom of expression, association and religion, and due process of law.” At the same time, Egypt has seated a new Parliament in elections widely seen as free and fair, and it has scheduled a presidential election in May, with a runoff to follow in June. In addition, officials said they believed the aid was crucial to maintain close cooperation with Egypt’s military on regional security and counterterrorism.

Only the military assistance is tied to the certification on basic freedoms, though all assistance to Egypt requires the State Department to certify that the country continues to honor the Camp David peace treaties with Israel. The administration succeeded in including the waiver authority in the new law, giving Mrs. Clinton flexibility to allow some aid, without a blanket waiver.

Within the administration, some officials have argued that the certification should wait until the presidential election, but Egypt’s military has exhausted previously authorized aid and has received no new American funds since the current fiscal year began in October.

Within weeks Egypt risks missing payments on defense contracts, largely with American arms manufacturers, forcing Mrs. Clinton to decide the certification question now. “It’s coming up sooner than some people wanted,” one senior official said.

מקור במשרד החוץ ציין כי בשבוע שעבר, אחרי שפורסמה הודעה לעיתונות לפיה שר החוץ מציע להגיש סיוע הומניטארי לעם בסוריה, התקבלה בלשכת שר החוץ שיחת טלפון מהזמר ארקדי דוכין. האחרון הציע לגייס שורה של אמנים ישראלים מובילים למופע תמיכה בעם הסורי.

התשובה שהגיעה לירושלים היתה מאכזבת אולי, אך לא בלתי צפויה. "לא תודה", היה המסר מהמורדים בסוריה. נציגי הצלב האדום אמרו לאנשי משרד החוץ כי מנהיגי המורדים הסורים אליהם העבירו את ההצעה דחו אותה על הסף, כיוון שלא רצו שום קשר עם ישראל. קבלת הסיוע היתה מציירת את המורדים כ"משתפי פעולה" עם ישראל ומאשרת לכאורה את דבריו של אסד כי ישראל והמערב עומדים מאחורי המרד.

Last week, a group of senior Obama administration officials met to finalize a package of options for aiding both the internal and external Syrian opposition, to include providing direct humanitarian and communications assistance to the Syrian opposition, two administration officials confirmed to The Cable. This meeting of what's known as the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council set forth a new and assertive strategy for expanding U.S. engagement with Syrian activists and providing them with the means to organized themselves, but stops short of providing any direct military assistance to the armed opposition.

For now, riskier options, such as creating a no-fly zone in Syria, using U.S. military force there, or engaging directly with the Free Syrian Army, are all still off the table. But the administration has decided not to oppose, either in public or in private, the arming of the rebels by other countries, the officials said.

"These moves are going to invest the U.S. in a much deeper sense with the opposition," one administration official said. "U.S. policy is now aligned with enabling the opposition to overthrow the Assad regime. This codifies a significant change in our Syria policy."

Some in the administration still hold out hope that the Russians can be persuaded to play a more helpful role in Syria. But two officials confirmed that Russian arms deliveries to Syria are ongoing and one administration official said that the latest shipment included large amounts of advanced anti-aircraft missile systems, which are meant to help Syria repel any attempt to establish a no-fly zone.

Gulf Arab rulers have sent little to Syria's opposition in the way of weapons, money or fighters despite their own international calls to do so, say people close to the Saudi government, Syrian rebel commanders and Syrian exiles involved in the aid effort.

The Gulf leaders say the Syrian rebels need to be able to better defend themselves, but they also share some of the same concerns as the West about any extremists among forces opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, these people say. The U.S. and others haven't advocated arming the rebels, in part out of fear it would create an even more bloody and prolonged conflict.

For now, commanders of the Syrian opposition, outgunned and outmanned by Mr. Assad's forces, are having to turn away the Saudi young men who are beginning to call to volunteer, one Syrian

"I tell them, 'God bless you, sons, but we don't have enough weapons for ourselves. If you want to help, send money,' " the Syrian rebel officer said.

U.S. officials say they see Iran’s hand in the increasingly brutal crackdown on opposition strongholds in Syria, including evidence of Iranian military and intelligence support for government troops accused of mass executions and other atrocities in the past week.

Three U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports from the region described a spike in Iran­ian-supplied arms and other aid for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at a time when the regime is mounting an unprecedented offensive to crush resistance in the key city of Homs.

“The aid from Iran is increasing, and is increasingly focused on lethal assistance,” said one of the officials, insisting on anonymity to discuss intelligence reports from the region.

The expanded Iranian role in the conflict has been underscored by reports — supported by U.S. intelligence findings — that an Iranian operative was recently wounded while working with Syrian security forces inside the country.

“They’ve supplied equipment, weapons and technical assistance — even monitoring tools — to help suppress unrest,” the official said. “Iranian security officials also traveled to Damascus to help deliver this assistance.”

A second senior U.S. official said members of Iran’s main intelligence service, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, are assisting Syrian counterparts in charge of the crackdown. Last month, the Obama administration imposed sanctions against the intelligence service, citing “financial, material and technological support” for the Syrian crackdown. The Obama administration had previously imposed sanctions against Iran’s elite Quds Force for providing training and equipment to Syrian security units.

But a senior Arab diplomat said, “People are more and more frustrated, and are coming to the conclusion that diplomatic efforts are not enough in light of continuing abuse by the regime.” The Saudis and Qataris, said the diplomat speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss national decision-making, are prepared to move “as soon as they physically can,” within days, or weeks at the most. “The delays,” he said, “are logistical, not political.”

Despite U.S. demurral on the question of arms, regional diplomats said they think the Obama administration will not oppose decisions by individual nations to provide weapons to the rebel fighters.

Syrian opposition supporters were also trying to find ways to bring anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons to the Free Syrian Army, which is composed mainly of Syrian soldiers who have defected and volunteer civilians, the source said.

"We are bringing in defensive and offensive weapons... It is coming from everywhere, including Western countries and it is not difficult to get anything through the borders," the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"There is not a decision by any country to arm the rebels but countries are allowing Syrians to buy weapons and send them into the country."

בדו"חות של מכון הדסון מצוינת במפורש העברת כספים ישירה מהדסון למכון לאסטרטגיה ציונית, ולא דרך קרן שלישית כלשהי. מלשכת הקשר לעיתונות של מכון הדסון נמסר בתשובה על שאלת "הארץ": "המכון שימש 'סוכן כספי' (Fiscal Agent) בשביל המכון לאסטרטגיה ציונית בטרם קיבל המכון לאסטרטגיה את הסטטוס המיסויי שלו בארצות הברית. מכון הדסון קיבל תרומות בעבור המכון לאסטרטגיה וביצע בעבורו ניהול חשבונאי תקין. עם זאת, מכון הדסון לא שידל להעברת תרומות למכון לאסטרטגיה ציונית ולא פיקח על מדיניות המחקרים שלו". עם זאת, במכון הדסון לא ענו על השאלה מה היה מקור התרומות שהועברו למכון לאסטרטגיה ציונית ומה היה המניע לשיתוף הפעולה בין שני המכונים.

מתגובות שני המכונים מתברר, כי מכון הדסון היה בעצם צינור להעברת כספים למכון לאסטרטגיה ציונית, מה שמעורר את השאלה מדוע לא פירסם האחרון את המקור האמיתי של התרומות שהועברו אליו דרך מכון הדסון.

Iran has been helping Syria bypass the international sanctions imposed on it for massacring civilians, according to documents from the Syrian president's office obtained by Haaretz.

The documents show that Iran has given the Syrian regime more than $1 billion, which would help it overcome the oil embargo and other moves including restrictions on flights and sanctions against the central bank.

The two documents were authored two months ago and detail discussions by senior Iranian delegations visiting Syria. The documents are written in ambiguous language and only in a number of places do they detail ways Syria would be aided to bypass sanctions. The document repeatedly refers to Syria's wish to "learn from the Iranian experience in this area."

According to the document authored by Azzam, the Iranian delegation announced that it has allocated $1 billion so Iran could buy basic supplies from Syria. Most of the items are very basic and include meat, poultry, olive oil and fruit. It is unclear if Iran actually needs these items or if this is a way to pump up the Syrian economy.

In parallel, the Iranians agreed to export to Syria fertilizer and raw materials for the petrochemical industry; it would spread out payments over a long period.

The Iranian delegations also discussed ways the Syrians could bypass the embargo on oil exports. The Iranians, who have large petroleum deposits, promised to examine the purchase of 150,000 barrels of oil from Syria per day for a year "to use it domestically or resell it to others." This way Syria would be able to continue to export oil despite the sanctions.

CAIRO — The Islamist party that leads the new Egyptian Parliament is threatening to review the 1979 peace treaty with Israel if the United States cuts off aid to the country over a crackdown on American-backed nonprofit groups here.

The Obama administration and Congressional leaders have already warned Egypt that the United States might cut off its annual aid to the country, which in the most recent budget came to $1.3 billion in military supplies and about $250 million in other subsidies, including some money directed to the nonprofit groups under investigation. At least two senators have introduced legislation that could curtail the aid, and the Brotherhood released its statements on Thursday as the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the matter.

The message was folded into Article 9 of a League resolution passed on Sunday that urges Arabs to "provide all kinds of political and material support" to the opposition, a phrase that includes the possibility of giving weapons to Assad's foes.

Diplomats at the meeting confirmed this interpretation.

Still, army defectors and civilian volunteers are becoming increasingly audacious. They have repeatedly picked off government snipers and security chiefs at checkpoints. The regime says it has lost 2,000 men so far. The UN talks of more than 5,000 dead civilians.

Activists shake their heads in dismay at their weakening control of the street; imams preaching non-violence may be the last barrier holding back a surge to arms. “Many people are just waiting to be told they can fight back,” says a young professional from Homs. Protesters now chant slogans celebrating defectors rather than the divided political opposition. A minority of groups have started openly to advocate armed struggle. “The people want Jihad” is a new slogan being discussed.

A university student-cum-rebel in Deir ez-Zor, the eastern oil province, says locals have received weapons from Sunnis in Anbar province across the border in Iraq eager to see Mr Assad’s demise. A handful of battle-hardened Libyan youths spoiling for a new fight have also shown up.

Barada TV is closely affiliated with the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based network of Syrian exiles. Classified U.S. diplomatic cables show that the State Department has funneled as much as $6 million to the group since 2006 to operate the satellite channel and finance other activities inside Syria. The channel is named after the Barada River, which courses through the heart of Damascus, the Syrian capital.

In February 2006, when relations with Damascus were at a nadir, the Bush administration announced that it would award $5 million in grants to “accelerate the work of reformers in Syria.”

But no dissidents inside Syria were willing to take the money, for fear it would lead to their arrest or execution for treason, according to a 2006 cable from the U.S. Embassy, which reported that “no bona fide opposition member will be courageous enough to accept funding.”

Around the same time, Syrian exiles in Europe founded the Movement for Justice and Development. The group, which is banned in Syria, openly advocates for Assad’s removal. U.S. cables describe its leaders as “liberal, moderate Islamists” who are former members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps elite Quds force, was in the Syrian capital this month, one official said on Friday, in what Washington sees as the most concrete sign yet that Iranian aid to Syria includes military hardware.

"We are confident that he was received at the highest levels of the Syrian government, including by President Assad," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said Washington has reason to believe that Iran is supplying security-related equipment "including munitions" to Syrian forces.

"The US government believes Iran has supplied Syria with munitions" for use in the military crackdown, he said.

"They are providing [Assad] with knowledge, weapons and other means and recently with active involvement," Kochavi said.

Whether the wanted man is a dissident Syrian remains unclear -- the family certainly denies any such thing. Nevertheless, the raid by Hezbollah's internal security apparatus follows a pattern of harassment, kidnapping, and cross-border rendition of Syrian anti-regime activists by Syria's many loyalists in Lebanon, which also include rogue police units, pro-Syria political movements, and even Kurdish separatists. As President Bashar al-Assad looks to squelch an astonishingly persistent nine-month revolt, Lebanon is fast becoming another battleground between supporters and opponents of his rule.

The Arsal incursion, however, did not go how Hezbollah planned. The men in black trucks didn't impress the residents of Arsal: True to their reputation as a flinty bunch, the tribes immediately sent out men bedecked with the ubiquitous accessories of any respectable Beqaa smuggler -- the AK-47 and rocket propelled grenade launcher -- and ambushed the convoy before it could lay hands on the purported Syrian fugitive.

Local officials released a statement shortly afterwards, warning Hezbollah against any attempt to repeat its adventure. "Let everyone know that Arsal is not orphaned," it read. "[A]nyone attacking Arsal or any other Lebanese town would be definitely serving the Zionist enemy and Assad's brigades."

Hezbollah, which tepidly denied the incident, hasn't released any casualty figures, but the ensuing firefight was nasty enough that the Lebanese Army dispatched a team to extract the Hezbollah men from the ambush -- and itself came under fire from Sunni mountainfolk with little use for either Shiite militant supporters of the Assad regime, or law enforcement of any sort.

A rare recent visit to Zinjibar, the first by a Western journalist since the Islamist fighters swept into the city, revealed just how entrenched the militants have become here.

“They’ve attacked us three times already today,” Katib said, his emotions rising.

The Islamists emerged in March, taking over the town of Jaar and nearby areas. By the end of May, they had entered Zinjibar. They seized government buildings and looted banks and military depots.

Most troops, police officers and local officials fled Zinjibar, an ancient city that was once a major trading center with the Far East. Tens of thousands of residents fled as well, triggering a humanitarian crisis.

According to Yemeni military commanders and residents, the militants number only 700 to 1,000, and include fighters from Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria. Some wear long hair and thick beards. They call themselves Ansar al-Sharia, or supporters of Sharia — Islamic law. AQAP leaders said this year that they were operating under that name.

Wadhan Ali Said, a slim 20-year-old soldier, bears the scars of a sniper’s bullet in his back. He said he and his fellow troops lived on rice and well water for more than two months before U.S. planes dropped parcels of food into the base in September. On one day, the militants killed 10 soldiers inside the base, he said.

Later in September, after reinforcements arrived, the soldiers managed to lift the siege. But the militants have kept up the pressure, moving in highly organized cells. They use loudspeakers outside the base in a psychological assault on the soldiers.

“They say they are the followers of Osama bin Laden,” Said said. “They give us lectures on Islam. Then, they tell us they will enter the base tonight.”

Now, in the wake of the bank’s exposure and arranged sale, its ledgers have been opened to reveal deeper secrets: a glimpse at the clandestine methods that Hezbollah — a terrorist organization in American eyes that has evolved into Lebanon’s pre-eminent military and political power — uses to finance its operations. The books offer evidence of an intricate global money-laundering apparatus that, with the bank as its hub, appeared to let Hezbollah move huge sums of money into the legitimate financial system, despite sanctions aimed at cutting off its economic lifeblood.

While law enforcement agencies around the world have long believed that Hezbollah is a passive beneficiary of contributions from loyalists abroad involved in drug trafficking and a grab bag of other criminal enterprises, intelligence from several countries points to the direct involvement of high-level Hezbollah officials in the South American cocaine trade.

if anything, Hezbollah’s financial needs have grown alongside its increasing legitimacy here, as it seeks to rebuild after its 2006 war with Israel and expand its portfolio of political and social service activities. The result, analysts believe, has been a deeper reliance on criminal enterprises — especially the South American cocaine trade — and on a mechanism to move its ill-gotten cash around the world.

(Jordanian officials, after extensive surveillance, later told the D.E.A. that the Syrian leg of the shipment was coordinated by a Syrian intelligence officer assigned as a liaison to Hezbollah. From there, multiple sources reported, Hezbollah operatives charged a tax to guarantee shipments into Lebanon.)

Hezbollah received its cut either from the exchange houses, or via the bank itself, according to the D.E.A. And the Treasury Department concluded that Iran also used the bank to avoid sanctions, with Hezbollah’s envoy to Tehran serving as go-between.

Ultimately, the auditors were left with nearly 200 accounts that appeared to add up to a giant money-laundering operation, with Hezbollah smack in the middle, according to American officials. Complex webs of transactions featured the same companies over and over again, most of them owned by Shiite businessmen, many known Hezbollah supporters. Some have since been identified as Hezbollah fronts.

The United States will begin using American foreign aid to promote gay rights abroad, Obama administration officials said on Tuesday.

President Obama issued a memorandum directing American agencies to look for ways to combat efforts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality.

Specifically, Mr. Obama said in the memorandum that the State Department would lead other federal agencies to help ensure that the government provides a “swift and meaningful response to serious incidents that threaten the human rights” of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people abroad.

It was not immediately clear whether that would mean a cut-off of American aid to countries that target the gay community, but it suggests that American agencies will have expanded tools to press foreign countries that are found to abuse the rights of gays, lesbians and others.

Based on findings in the State Department’s latest annual human rights report, several countries, including several vital American allies, could face increased pressure over their treatment of gays and others.

מפקדת החמאס בדמשק נוטשת את סוריה בחשאי, ובמקביל בוחנת כמה חלופות במדינות ערביות אחרות להעברת המפקדה הראשית. כך מסרו מקורות פלסטיניים ל"הארץ". ההחלטה של הנהגת החמאס התקבלה חרף לחץ כבד שהפעיל המשטר האיראני על הארגון, להשאיר את המפקדה שלו בדמשק ולא להפנות עורף לנשיא הסורי, בשאר אל-אסד. איראן העבירה למשעל מסר חריף, שלפיו אם יעזוב את דמשק תופסק הזרמת הכספים ואמצעי הלחימה לארגון.

בשלב זה ממהרים להימלט מסוריה בעיקר פעילים בדרג השני והשלישי של הארגון, בעוד בכירי הלשכה המדינית של חמאס, בהובלת מנהיג הארגון חאלד משעל, ממשיכים לפקוד את הבירה הסורית מעת לעת ולטשטש את ההחלטה לעזוב. בכירי הארגון אף נפגשו בסוריה בסוף השבוע עם נציגים של הפלגים הפלסטיניים שאינם חברים באש"ף.

אנשי החמאס שנטשו את סוריה הם חברי הלשכה המדינית, וכן פעילים האחראים על הפעילות של הזרוע הצבאית, ועל המימון שלה. רובם עזבו עם בני משפחותיהם לכמה יעדים, בהם רצועת עזה, סודאן, קטאר ולבנון.

ל"הארץ" נודע כי החמאס קיבל החלטה לנטוש את דמשק מבלי ליידע את השלטונות הסוריים על המהלך. ההחלטה הבשילה בצמרת הארגון בעקבות ביקורת קשה שהושמעה נגד בכירי החמאס בחו"ל וברצועת עזה, בגין הקשר שלהם לשלטונות הסוריים.

עוד מסרו המקורות הפלסטיניים כי המשטר האיראני הפעיל לחץ כבד על חמאס שלא לעזוב את דמשק, ואף איים להפסיק את הזרמת הכספים לארגון אם יחליט לבסוף להמרות את פיו של הארגון - ולנטוש בכל זאת. הלחצים של איראן כללו איום מפורש בדבר הפסקת העברת אמצעי הלחימה לחמאס וביטול אימונים של הפעילים הצבאיים.

Lavrov opposed the idea of an arms embargo, saying it was unfair to expect the Syrian government not respond to unrest. He thought that for the most part armed opposition groups were provoking the Syrian authorities. These were not empty words.

On Monday the state-run English-language channel, Russia Today, reported that Moscow would be sending the aircraft-carrying missile cruiser, Admiral Kuznetsov, and two escort ships on a two-month tour of the Mediterranean and would be dropping in on the Syrian port of Tartus. Six hundred Russian technicians are currently working there to renovate it as a base for Russian ships. Russia Today said the deployment had been long planned, but no one lost sight of the fact that the USS George HW Bush had just appeared off the coast of Syria. On Thursday, a consignment of Russian Yankhont anti-ship cruise missiles arrived in Syria.

The first answer is money. Apart from active arms contracts worth $4bn, the Moscow Times reported recently that Russia's investment in Syrian infrastructure, energy and tourism amounts to $19.4bn in 2009. A Russian company, Stroitransgaz, is building a natural gas processing plant 200km east of Homs and is providing the technical support for the Arab gas pipeline. The Tatarstan-based Tatneft began pumping Syrian oil last year and in January vowed to spend $12.8m drilling wells near the Iraqi border.

At the meeting, which was held in Istanbul and included Turkish officials, the Syrians requested "assistance" from the Libyan representatives and were offered arms, and potentially volunteers.

"There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria," said a Libyan source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see."

The Telegraph has also learned that preliminary discussions about arms supplies took place when members of the Syrian National Council [SNC] – the country's main opposition movement – visited Libya earlier this month.

"The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council," added Wisam Taris, a human rights campaigner with links to the SNC.

Large shipments of weapons have not yet been sent, said activists, mainly because of logistical difficulties. But proposals for a "buffer zone" inside Syria, monitored by the Arab League, or the likely emergence of an area inside the country controlled entirely by rebels could solve this problem.

But Libyan officials deny the claims. "This is what you hear in the street," said Ramadan Zarmoh, the leader of the Misurata military council. "Officially there is none of this. I would never send any fighters to fight outside the country."

Published 09:08 20.11.11
Latest update 09:08 20.11.11

Netanyahu freezes bills targeting Israeli human rights groups, sources say
New legislation that would cap foreign governments' contributions to 'political' NGOs, said to be stalled indefinitely; sources close to bills' sponsors say move prompted by foreign pressure.
By Jonathan Lis Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu Knesset


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to freeze the parliamentary process that would ratify bills aimed at limiting foreign funding of Israeli human rights organizations, sources said on Saturday, a week after a Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the bills.

According to the sources, Netanyahu decided to indefinitely postpone appeals submitted against the Ministerial Committee for Legislation's vote, meaning that Knesset members wont be able to ratify the bills.
Benjamin Netanyahu - Emil Salman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Photo by: Emil Salman

These bills, sponsored by two members of Netanyahu's Likud party - MKs Tzipi Hotovely and Ofir Akunis, would cap foreign governments' contributions to "political" non-governmental organizations at NIS 20,000.

Speaking with Haaretz, officials said the "bills won't come up [for vote] soon," adding that there are "dozens of appeals awaiting cabinet debate, designed to stall the promotion of bills, and this is one of them."

"As of right now there's no intention to hold a discussion about [the bill] in cabinet meetings. Netanyahu will have to decide when and how – if at all – he would like to revive these bills. This also depends on the pressure he may face," the source added.

Officials close to the bills' proponents told Haaretz Saturday that they feel "Netanyahu is working to jam these bills. Maybe he was scared from the criticism he had heard from foreign representatives and from the Attorney General."

Egypt is preparing to return to negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion loan "within a couple of weeks," Finance Minister Hazem al Beblawi said on Friday.

He said Egypt's council of ministers has "approved in principle" to make contact with the IMF to seek a loan it rejected in June.

Since Egypt's revolution in February, declining investor confidence has skewed Egypt's balance of payments. The country's foreign-currency reserves have dropped by more than a third since the uprising, as investors have dumped Egyptian Treasury bonds and the central bank has spent billions to keep the Egyptian pound from depreciating.

הייתכן שבנימין נתניהו אינו מכיר את הסכם הסחר (הסכם האסוציאציה) בין ישראל לאיחוד האירופי?

ההסכם הפורץ דרך הזה, שנכנס לתוקף ב-2000, העניק לישראל הקלות בתחום המכסים והידק את שיתוף הפעולה עם מדינות האיחוד בתחום הכלכלה, המדע, המשפט, התרבות והחברה. בצד כל אלה, סעיף 2 של ההסכם קובע, כי "היחסים בין הצדדים וכל תנאי ההסכם יושתתו על כיבוד זכויות אדם ועקרונות הדמוקרטיה. אלה ינחו את מדיניות הפנים והחוץ שלהם ויהוו מרכיב חיוני של ההסכם".

האם באמת מאמין נתניהו, שראשי האיחוד האירופי יסתמו את פיהם כאשר ממשלת ישראל תסתום פיות של ארגונים שעוקבים אחרי הפרות של הסעיף המרכזי הזה בהסכם ומדווחים עליהן? יש לקוות, שנתניהו יודע כי רק בורים מוחלטים יכולים לדקלם את הטיעון ש"שום מדינה באירופה לא היתה מוכנה שמדינה זרה תתערב בענייניה הפנימיים"; האיחוד האירופי מקצה מיליארדי יורו לארגוני זכויות אדם בכל אירופה.

אמנם יוזמי הצעת החוק מאפשרים בנדיבותם לחברים האירופים להעביר כסף לעמותות הנהנות מתמיכת ממשלת ישראל. כלומר, הם מצפים שאירופה תסכים שממשלת הימין הישראלית תקבע אילו עמותות ראויות ליהנות מכספי משלם המסים האירופי. למשל, שר האוצר, יובל שטייניץ, לא יפריע לאירופים לתרום לעמותות של המתנחלים, המעודדות התיישבות במאחזים לא חוקיים. יש גם לא מעט ישיבות ועמותות של מתנחלים המשמשות בתי גידול לטרוריסטים יהודים, שישמחו להכניס את ידם לצרור הנקוב של היוונים והאיטלקים. ואולי מאמין נתניהו בכלל הישראלי הישן, שפראיירים לא מתים, הם רק מתחלפים.

בשנת 2008 למשל, גייסה עמותת אלע"ד, כנראה העשירה בעמותות הימין, תרומות בסכום של 47 מיליוני שקלים - סכום שעמותות השמאל יכולות רק לחלום עליו. התקציב הכולל של העמותה באותה שנה עמד על 57 מיליוני שקלים. לשם השוואה, התקציב הכולל של שבע עמותות השמאל הגדולות (שלום עכשיו, האגודה לזכויות האזרח, עיר עמים, בצלם, שוברים שתיקה, יש דין ורופאים לזכויות אדם) גם יחד עומד על כ-37 מיליוני שקלים. רוב הכסף הזה לעמותות השמאל מגיע ממקורות ממשלתיים זרים.

תזרים המזומנים של עמותות הימין הוא לרוב סבוך והרבה פחות שקוף משל עמותות השמאל. כך למשל, לכל עמותת ימין גדולה שעוסקת בהתיישבות וברכישת נכסים יש חברות קשורות ועמותות בנות. ההסבר לכך הוא הצורך להסתיר את זהות המוכרים הפלסטינים פן יבולע להם. אבל זה גם מקשה מאוד על איתור מקורות הכספים. כך למשל, חלק ניכר מנכסי המתנחלים במזרח ירושלים מוחזק על ידי חברות זרות הרשומות במקלטי מס שונים ומשונים: מדינת דלוור בארה"ב, איי קוקוס, איי מרשל ואפילו ליבריה באפריקה.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to support imposing restrictions on foreign funding available to leftist organizations in Israel.

The bill's brief said that it "seeks to bar Israeli organizations from accepting donations from governments and international bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union, in light of the inciting activities by many groups that operate under the guise of 'human rights groups' and wish to affect the political discourse and even the very nature of the State of Israel."

Prime minister concedes 'deep prejudices' in some countries mean the problem will persist for years

The first parliamentary elections since Mubarak’s fall are scheduled for 28 November, but NGO leaders say the transitional government led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has mounted a “smear campaign” against them by accusing them of receiving millions of dollars from foreign donors to destabilize the country - going so far as to say the violence on the streets of Cairo during and after the revolution was supported by foreign funding channelled through NGOs.

Even so, the government’s campaign against NGOs seems to have changed the way ordinary Egyptians view civil society. Activists talk about people who approach them not asking about their development programmes or their political awareness campaigns, but about where they get their funding.

“It became a crony capitalism,” Magda Kandil, the think tank’s new executive director, said of the privatization program advocated by its founders. Because of the corruption, the center now estimates, the assets that Egypt has sold off since 1991 have netted only about $10 billion, $90 billion less than their estimated worth.

“The privatization and economic opening of recent years have created new opportunities for ‘vertical corruption’ at upper levels of government affecting state resources,” said one confidential State Department cable written by an unidentified diplomat in 2006, quoting Hitler Tantawi, a former chief of an internal government financial watchdog called the Administrative Control Authority.

בעוד שהמלצותיה של הועדה כללו הקמה של בית משפט חוקתי והורדת גיל המינימום להתמודדות לפרלמנט ל-25, הן נמנעו מלגעת ולשנות את הסטטוס קוו לגבי יחסי המלך והפרלמנט. על אף שדרישותיה של תנועת המחאה הירדנית לא היו מאוחדות או בהירות במיוחד, עלתה דרישה חד משמעית לשינוי השיטה בה ממונים ראש הממשלה והקבינט: בנוסף לעובדה שלמלך יש היכולת למנות בעצמו את הדרגים הבכירים של השלטון, לפזר את הפרלמנט (כפי שהוא אכן נוהג לעשות לעתים קרובות) או לחוקק חוקים בעצמו, בהעדר פרלמנט. כל הפריווילגיות הללו נותרו ללא שינוי, וקיומן מהווה מכשול שיאתגר כל שינוי דמוקרטי אחר בהליך החקיקה.

שאר התיקונים המשמעותיים כוללים הרחבת החירויות האזרחיות דרך איסור גורף על עינויים והצהרה כי כל תקשורת בין אזרחים תחשב לתקשורת חסויה ופרטית שלא ניתן יהיה לעשות בה צנזורה. הצעה נוספת קובעת כי יש להגביל את יכולה של הממשלה לחוקק חוקים זמניים בהעדרו של פרלמנט (כפי שממשלות עשו בעבר) ואחרת הגבילה את גבול היכולת השיפוטית של בית המשפט הביטחוני בענייני בגידה, ריגול וטרור. המלצה חשובה נוספת קובעת כי יש להגביל את יכולתה של הממשלה לפזר את הפרלמנט מבלי שהיא תאלץ להתפטר בעצמה. מקורות דיווחו שהוועדה דנה גם בהוספת סעיף מגדרי ברשימת הקטגוריות של החוקים האוסרים על אפליה, אך בחרה שלא להוסיף אותו מסיבות דתיות ופוליטיות.

It is clear that the Middle East's political dilemma cannot be properly understood without its economic underpinnings. In this brief article we argue that the current turmoil in the region is fed by two economic undercurrents. First, there is an inherent tension between the region’s demographic and economic structures. As the Middle East undergoes an unprecedented demographic transition, its economic structure remains rigid - unable to generate productive employment opportunities for new entrants to the labour force. Second, and perhaps more importantly, recent happenings in the region call into question the very sustainability of a development model based on a leviathan state and greased by oil and aid windfalls.

It is true that the region's private sector has witnessed an impressive growth recently, there is a question as to how genuinely private is this private sector. Public investment still remains the central driver of private economic activity, especially when oil prices are high. The private sector is usually a mirror image of the state: inefficient, controlled by a tiny clique of elite families tied to ruling regimes, and part of an extensive network of patronage. Its profits depend less on entrepreneurial abilities, more on access to power. Exploiting new economic opportunities therefore becomes a game of insiders. With few exceptions, major business fortunes in the region are accumulated through privilege and patronage.

The Obama administration is lobbying Congress to unblock $200 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority that was frozen due to its bid for UN recognition of statehood over U.S. and Israeli objections.

The United States Congress has blocked nearly $200m in aid for the Palestinians, threatening projects such as food aid, health care, and support for efforts to build a functioning state.

The decision to delay the payments runs counter to the wishes of the Obama administration and reflects Congressional anger at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's so far unrealised pursuit of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and statehood recognition at the UN.

Unfortunately, on the front of HIV/AIDS, there were negative developments. Last July, the ministry of health decided to stop the operation of a big a project by a coalition of civil society organizations working to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and particularly the stigma around this disease which is the main obstacle to making achievements in this regard. This step came shortly after a big press conference by this coalition of organizations where reports and facts regarding HIV in Egypt were presented and discussed The press conference also witnessed the first "coming out" of a person living with HIV in front of media cameras without hiding his face.

The Foreign Ministry has now decided to proceed with the formulation of a diplomatic and security “toolbox” to be used against the Turks. The first move would be to issue a travel warning urging all Israeli military veterans to refrain from traveling to Turkey. The advisory will be especially harsh as it will also urge Israelis to refrain from boarding connections in Turkey.
 
Another planned Israeli move is the facilitation of cooperation with Turkey’s historic rivals, the Armenians. During Lieberman’s visit to the United States this month, the foreign minister is expected to meet with leaders of the Armenian lobby and propose anti-Turkish cooperation in Congress.

Lieberman is also planning to set meetings with the heads of Kurdish rebel group PKK in Europe in order to “cooperate with them and boost them in every possible area.” In these meetings, the Kurds may ask Israel for military aid in the form of training and arms supplies

"What we could do is go to the Security Council and say that a member state of the Security Council, in this case the United States, has blocked our request and therefore we are seeking Security Council support to take the issue to the U.N. General Assembly, invoking Resolution 377," he said. "If that effort succeeds, we will be a non-member state at the United States, not a member state. That's the difference between the two."

Under Resolution 377, the Palestinians would only need nine out of 15 Security Council votes to refer their statehood request to the General Assembly, which can then address the matter immediately (if in session)

"The worst has been avoided," said Oifa Bouriachi, deputy programme manager for emergencies at Medecins Sans Frontieres. "The situation is amazingly, and quickly, improving."

According to U.S. estimates, Hezbollah receives $100 million in supplies and weaponry per year from Tehran, which is transported through Syria. It would become all the more difficult to use Iran as a proxy against Israel if the Syrian borders were suddenly closed.

In addition to sharing weapons and surveillance tools credible reports from Syrian refugees indicate that Tehran sent its own forces to Syria to quash the protests. A number of revolutionary guards from the elite Quds Force are also reported to be there, presumably to train Syrian forces. On May 18, the U.S. Treasury Department mentioned the role of the Quds Force directly, asserting that Mohsen Chizari, the Quds Force's third-in-command, was training the security services to fight against the protestors.

מהמסמך עולה כי בירושלים פעלו בחודשים האחרונים לבלימת כל יוזמה של קטאר באזור, וסיכלו כמה פרויקטים במימון קטארי בישראל ובשטחים. עוד קודם לכן הוחלט בממשלה לסגור סופית בחודש מרץ את משרד הנציגות הישראלית הדיפלומטית בדוחא. סגירת הנציגות כללה את סיום חוזה השכירות ופיטורי שני עובדים מקומיים. פעולה זו, קובע הדוח, שמטה מידי הקטארים קלף הלחץ כלפי ישראל.

בעקבות הטענות על הנטייה הבוטה של רשת הטלווויזיה הפופולרית, החליטה הממשלה למנוע מכתבי אל ג' זירה לפעול בישראל. כיום, כתבים של הרשת יכולים להגיע רק באמצעות דרכונים של מדינות המקיימות קשרים עם ישראל. ככל הנראה, לא יקבלו יותר כתבי הרשת היתר להגיע לישראל.

הצעדים לא הסתיימו בתחום ההסברה, אלא גם כוללים גם את ההיבט הביטחוני. מעתה ייאסר כל שיתוף פעולה בין קטאר לתעשיות הביטחוניות בישראל. בין קטאר לתעשיות הביטחוניות התקיימו מגעים ולפי ההערכה רכשה הנסיכות בעבר מוצרים צבאיים מתקדמי מישראל. מעתה לא תותר עוד מכירה של נשק ישראלי לקטאר.

שנות המצור הכלכלי על עזה הביאו למעשה להתהוות מונופול כלכלי של החמאס בעזה. בצד ההכנסות שהיו לחמאס מהמנהרות – יכלו פקידי החמאס לפקח ביעילות על כל הפעילות הכלכלית ברצועה. הסקטור הפרטי בעזה התמוטט הרי כליל, הייצור והיצוא נפסקו כמעט לחלוטין – והעניקו לחמאס אפשרות פיקוח ושליטה על כל כספי התרומות והנדבות שהגיעו לעזה.

שלטון החמאס נפגע כלכלית גם מכך שהסכם הפיוס עם הרשות ברמאללה לא יוצא אל הפועל. אם ההסכם היה מתבצע היו 50 אלף אנשי הביטחון ופקידי הממשלה של החמאס מצטרפים לציבור הגדול של עובדי הרשות הפלסטינית. כיוון שזה לא קרה, נאלץ החמאס לדאוג למשכורותיהם – וכאמור אין לו כסף לכך. כאשר אין כסף, השלטון נחלש, וארגונים שונים מנצלים זאת – ומבצעים פיגועים כראות עיניהם.

good overview, weak analysis on the US interests

- Iran has cut back or even stopped its funding of Hamas after the Islamist movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, failed to show public support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, diplomats said on Sunday.

Hamas has denied that it is in financial crisis but says it faces liquidity problems stemming from inconsistent revenues from tax collection in the Gaza Strip and foreign aid.

The diplomats cited Iran's displeasure over Hamas' refusal to hold rallies in support of Tehran's ally, Assad, in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria after an uprising against his rule. Hamas' leadership outside the Gaza Strip is headquartered in Damascus.

Hamas is also widely believed to receive money from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most popular and organized political force. Diplomats said those payments also may have been reduced because the Brotherhood has diverted funds to support the so-called Arab Spring revolts.

Its troubles have prompted Iran's leadership to consider offering $5.8 billion in financial help, including a three-month loan worth $1.5 billion to be made available immediately, French business daily Les Echos said.

It added that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has backed the idea of the aid, which was outlined in a secret report by the Center for Strategic Research, a think tank linked to the Iranian leadership.

South Korea, a long-time major donor of food to North Korea, openly refuses to extend aid now, citing the country’s nuclear weapons program and its attacks on the South. Washington, which prefers to stay in lockstep with its South Korean ally, has been less transparent.

All donor governments, together with the United Nations, should develop uniform standards for North Korea so that each is not left to negotiate its own terms—which is the case right now. Such individual arrangements increase Pyongyang’s bargaining power and undermine efforts to gain agreement for random monitoring of aid, increased numbers of Korean speaking staff, access to markets, and greater international presence. If all donors insist on the same standards and enforce them, food aid would be far more likely to reach those for whom it is intended.

The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, in partnership with other bodies, is sending a humanitarian aid shipment to assist the new country, which voted overwhelmingly in January to secede from Sudan, and is starting to assess needs on the ground for a long-term aid mission. South Sudan faces major challenges, including widespread illiteracy, chronic hunger, meager infrastructure, numerous internal rebellions and continuing tensions with the regime in Khartoum.

נתניהו הכריז על הכרתה של ישראל במדינה האפריקנית החדשה, שלח איחולים ואמר שהממשלה בראשותו תשמח לעזור לצמיחתה הכלכלית

Syrian soldiers tell bearded men "welcome to Nasrallah's group"

But, insofar as an army travels on its stomach, the Tunisian town is the logistical hub for Libya's Western front. The city's few hotels are filled with young Libyan men in the red, black, and green caps of the Libyan opposition, and the Tunisian town's food distributors, supermarkets, and gasoline tankers provide the vast majority of the rebels' needs in the nearby Nafusa mountains.

The company's off-site warehouse, where he spoke, contained hundreds of crates of food packs from UNHCR, for which he has contracted to distribute food to refugee families, he said. Much of that food, however,goes to feed hungry rebel fighters. "They open the box, and who knows, I just send the food where they tell me."

At the end of that run, Nalut, which is still under shelling most nights, has two depots, one for food and one for gasoline. Anti-Qaddafi locals at Nalut gather the supplies sent from Tataoine, sending them on to 13 other towns under control of the anti-Gaddafi militias,

Almost everything about the flotilla stuck in Greece and waiting to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza seems to be a parable for something else, part of an unstated effort to recast the Israeli-Palestinian narrative in extreme terms. Instead of helping to clarify what Gaza needs and how it might build a future, the saga has merely brought out the public relations demons on all sides.

The international outrage that followed helped force an easing of the siege. One result, largely unacknowledged by the flotilla leaders: far more goods have gone into Gaza over the past year, and while the 1.6 million people there still need many things, basic supplies are not among them.

His argument about the flotilla points to the larger dynamic: the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is increasingly disintegrating from a debate over borders and security into a battle between those claiming that Israel is a genocidal machine and those who dismiss every attack on its policy as an assault on its essence.

The motivations of the rebels vary, but most of their leaders are former senior officers in the southern army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), or militia leaders who fought with Sudan's government during the 21-year year civil war, which ended in a peace deal paving the way for the south's independence.

Spending on the SPLA accounts for more than a quarter of South Sudan's budget, and is about three times as much as the money spent on health and education combined.

One of the rebel groups, Peter Gadet's South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), says it is fighting corruption, lack of development, and the domination of the Dinka ethnic group.

The Dinkas form South Sudan's biggest ethnic group, and are accused of holding most of the key position in the southern army and government.

None of the rebel groups have been able to satisfactorily explain how they got this new weaponry.

General Muhammad Ali Jafari, the Revolutionary Guard commander, and General Qasem Soleimani, who leads its elite al-Quds force, both now face EU asset freezes and travel bans. They are already subject to US sanctions.

The EU document cites three Iranians as "providing equipment and support to help the Syrian regime suppress protests". Hossein Taeb is described as the Revolutionary Guard's deputy commander for intelligence. The guard answers directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and works closely with Iran's allies in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. It is a priority target for western intelligence agencies.

Turkish media reported this week that President Assad's brother Maher, who has masterminded the military crackdown, is working with Iranian intelligence organisation Savama, which has also been tracking Syrian opposition figures in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has pledged a four billion dollars aid to Egypt in the form of long term loans and grants, Egypt's military chief said on Saturday.

Radwan said Qatar had provided $500 million for budgetary support in the past week. "That is a gift," he said, when asked if there were any conditions attached to the Qatari cash.

The government has declined a loan from the World Bank because it found the terms of the loan incompatible with the national interest, Egyptian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga said on Monday.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal said Egypt was wary of the United States’ recent offer of financial support, doubting possible ulterior motives behind it.

It also said Abul Naga had lodged a complaint with the US Embassy in Egypt, and warned of violating Egypt’s sovereignty by dictating conditions for loans. The complaint came in response to an announcement by the United States Agency for International Development that it would grant Egypt US$165 million to finance projects for education, civic activities and human rights.

Abul Naga objected to the agency announcing loans to Egypt without consulting competent Egyptian officials.

These, often unchecked, financial and military contributions to the Yemeni government and security services contributed to the entrenchment of unofficial security-military hybrid organizations, and to the growth of an elite power struggle that has been brewing within the country for several years. Because of this security assistance, President Saleh was able to control the military, and strengthen elite units under the command of his son Ahmed and three nephews Tareq, Yahya, and Ammar, at the expense of the traditional military forces. The sum total of U.S. and Western government involvement in the Yemen has, therefore, been to indirectly bolster the military power and political legitimacy of patronage circles linked to President Saleh, and to intensify the President’s informal authoritarian power networks.

At the core of this financial intervention in Egypt is an attempt to accelerate the neoliberal program that was pursued by the Mubarak regime. The IFI financial packages ostensibly promote measures such as ‘employment creation’, ‘infrastructure expansion’ and other seemingly laudable goals, but, in reality, these are premised upon the classic neoliberal policies of privatization, de-regulation and opening to foreign investment. Despite the claims of democratic transition, the institutions of the Egyptian state are being refashioned within this neoliberal drive as an enabling mechanism of the market.
If successful, the likely outcome of this – particularly in the face of heightened political mobilization and the unfulfilled expectations of the Egyptian people – is a society that at a superficial level takes some limited appearances of the form of liberal democracy but, in actuality, remains a highly authoritarian neoliberal state dominated by an alliance of the military &business elites

In Tunisia the prominent Nahdha party has benefited from Gulf (especially Qatari) patronage in media and propaganda contributing to its edge over the numerous secular and leftist parties emerging there. Several Islamist parties have emerged since the fall of Ben Ali, some coming out of historic tendencies like Nahdha or more recent and more conservative trends which lack deep appeal among the Tunisian masses. The Islamists’ strongest competitors are left-wing parties, which will very likely be important in the July polls by forming coalitions (to counter an-Nahdha) and by shifting alliances between coalitions with Islamists and other leftist and secular parties. In Egypt several leftist parties have emerged which appear likely to be able to capitalize on the growing workers’ movement there and coming into open competition with the Brotherhood.

Iranian snipers

April 25, 2008

AFP reports that Iranian troops are in Syria supporting the regime of Beshar Assad, according to injured Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Mostafa, an injured Syrian refugee, said: “There were both plainclothes and uniformed Iranian soldiers. I saw them with my own eyes. We asked them not to attack us, but they didn’t speak Arabic.”

The 23-year-old man added that his attackers wore black shirts, which is uncommon in Syria, and wore beards. He added that the Syrian military is forbidden to wear beards.

On Tuesday, British Foreign Minister William Hague accused the Islamic Republic of cooperating with the Syrian government to extinguish the protests, saying: “Iran is combining brutal suppression of opposition leaders at home with the provision of equipment and technical advice to help the Syrian regime crush protests in Syria.”

"Cutting off [aid to] Pakistan would be a great strategy if killing [Osama bin Laden] was the [one] piece of business we had in South Asia," said one former U.S. official who worked on the issue. "Provided," he continued, "we are willing to wash off our hands of the Afghan war, and accept being cut-off from further access to counter-terrorism opportunities."