British PM ‘nervous’ about Scotland

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British Prime Minister David Cameron says he is nervous but confident that Scottish people will vote against leaving the United Kingdom (UK) in the upcoming independence referendum.  

“I’m emotional and nervous. But only nervous because it matters so much,” Cameron said in an interview on Saturday.

“I think the debate is going well. I think, the last few visits I’ve made, I’ve sensed that in the business community. The commentary has settled down, the argument is going better and I feel more confident. But it is a massive decision, so it’s right to be both emotional and nervous,” he also said.

On Thursday, he said Scotland will be better off if it stays together and that one million jobs could be put at risk if Scotland were to leave the UK.

On Friday, a pro-independence protest was held in Scotland following attempts by Cameron to urge the Scottish people and businesses to reject independence in next month’s referendum.

A new poll for the Scottish Daily Mail newspaper published on Friday showed that support for Scottish independence is gaining momentum among voters. The opinion poll shows support for independence has grown by four percent, rising to 47 percent from 43 percent since a similar Survation poll was released earlier this month.

Scotland’s constitutional future will be decided on September 18 in a vote brought about by the Scottish National Party-led government in Edinburgh. The independence referendum could result in Scotland’s breakaway from the UK after more than 300 years of political union.

SRK/NN/AS

 

Pakistan PM rejects resignation calls

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Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has remained defiant in the face of calls for him to relinquish power despite a massive march on his house by outraged anti-government protesters.

Late on Saturday, Pakistani security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of protesters who were trying to march on Sharif’s home after another round of talks between the Islamabad government and opposition failed to bear result.
Reports say dozens of protesters were injured in the attack by security guards. Pakistani media put the number of participants in the Saturday march at around 25,000.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistani premier downplayed the political unrest in the country as “a tiny storm,” saying he would not give into calls for him to step down.

“This is just a tiny storm, a tumult, which would be ended in a few days,” said the Pakistani leader in reference to the ongoing anti-government demonstrations in the country.

Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan, who heads the Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, the head of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), have been leading daily protest rallies in the capital Islamabad since August 14.

The two opposition figures have pledged to remain peaceful and called on Pakistani security forces not to use force against the demonstrators.

Khan and Qadri say the country’s May 2013 general election, which was won by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party, was fraudulent. They also want an overhaul of the country’s electoral system to make it fair.

Sharif has ordered the Supreme Court to set up an investigative team to look into the elections.

MKA/NN/AS

 

‘Iran to firmly confront intruding UAVs’

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A senior Iranian military commander says the country’s air defense will firmly deal with any spy drones intruding into Iran’s airspace.

“We will either safely ground drones seeking to intrude into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s airspace like the [US] RQ-170 [which was intercepted in 2011] or will strongly issue an order for their annihilation like the Israeli spy drone which was shot down a few days ago,” Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili said on Saturday.

Esmaili added that the Israeli drone was brought down by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) air defense, which operates under the command of the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base.

In a statement on Sunday, Iran’s IRGC said its forces had intercepted and shot down an Israeli spy drone with a surface-to-air missile. The Israeli-made Hermes drone was heading to Natanz nuclear facility in the central Iranian province of Isfahan.

On the same day the UAV was brought down, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned that the Islamic Republic would give a crushing response to any enemy aggression against Iran.

This is not the first time that Iran’s airspace has been the target of espionage activities.

In December 2011, a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was downed with minimal damage by the Iranian Army’s electronic warfare unit. The drone was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225 km) from the Afghan border when it was brought down.

The IRGC also captured a US ScanEagle drone over the Persian Gulf waters upon its intrusion into the Iranian airspace in December 2012.

AR/KA/SS

Anonymous UK protests against GCHQ

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A four-day protest organized by the UK-based hacktivist collective Anonymous has begun outside Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), backing a legal challenge against the mass surveillance agency.

Anonymous has dubbed the protest effort ‘Operation GCHQ’ and is appealing to British and international activists to take part in the event, media outlets reported Friday.

A spokesperson for the Anonymous said on Friday that the insistence of UK authorities on spying against their own people with no legal justification was a primary motivation for holding the protest.

“Innocent activists who have never broken any laws and act within the law are still targets of GCHQ and other spying agencies”, he said.

While a modest group of nearly 60 campaigners had gathered outside the UK government’s listening post early Friday evening, up to 9,000 protesters are expected to participate in the demonstration over the weekend.

According to Anonymous UK, Saturday is set to be the main day of the protest event.

The organization is targeting the Cheltenham-based spying center to highlight grave concerns over a persisting assault on privacy rights of British citizens in an escalating climate of mass surveillance.

Privacy rights activists from surrounding European nations are also due to attend the protest to demand a surveillance policy shift.

The legal proceedings which inspired the protest were launched by several civil liberty and human rights groups that question the legitimacy of UK intelligence agencies’ invasive practices.

The case, brought by Liberty, Privacy International, Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other prominent international groups, focuses on grave concerns regarding a mass surveillance program called Tempora.

Documents leaked to the press by American whistleblower Edward Snowden allege the program facilitates access by British intelligence operatives to private email messages, information entered on social networking sites such as Facebook.

MFB/AB

EU decides on further Russia sanctions

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European Union Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton says a decision on further sanctions against Russia over Ukraine will be made by EU leaders in Brussels on Saturday evening.

Ukraine’s crisis dominated a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Milan, which wrapped up on Saturday.

“All ministers expressed deep concern about the recent aggression by regular Russian forces,” said Ashton at the end of the informal talks, adding, “They (ministers) were very clear that there is no military solution. We need a sustainable political solution that respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “

The foreign ministers did not make any decision on the scope of any further sanctions;  however, EU officials said there was near unanimous acknowledgement of the need to send a strong message to Russia over Ukraine’s crisis.

This comes after NATO claimed more than 1,000 Russian troops are inside southeastern Ukraine, helping pro-Moscow forces.

The West and Russia have been at loggerheads over the political situation in Ukraine since pro-Western forces toppled Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Russians in mid-April.

The political unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, according to figures released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

RSR/AB

‘US sanctions harm confidence-building’

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has described the new round of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic as illegal, saying they run counter to the spirit of the Geneva deal between Iran and six world powers over Tehran’s nuclear work.

“This measure by the US runs counter to the spirit of the agreements [reached between Iran and world powers] as well as the confidence-building process,” Rouhani told a press conference on Saturday.

He described the sanctions as “illegal and non-constructive,” adding that the embargoes will not harm negotiations in principle, but will cast doubt on the sense of “sincerity and trust” in the course of talks.

The president stressed that the Iranian nation will not remain silent in the face of the sanctions and will find a way to resist them.

“These sanctions are illegal and infringe upon the Iranian nation’s rights and we should forcefully resist this infringement [on our rights],” he said, adding that restrictions on medical supply to Iran amount to “crimes against humanity.”

Rouhani also said Iran will continue talks on its nuclear program with the six world powers, stressing that a final deal over Iran’s nuclear program can be reached if the opposite side is “sincere” and does not have “excessive demands.”

On Friday, the US imposed sanctions on over 25 Iranian individuals and companies, including shipping firms, oil companies, airlines and six banks.

The sanctions come as Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany are in talks to reach a final agreement aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehran’s civilian nuclear work.

The two sides signed a historic interim deal in the Swiss city of Geneva last November. The agreement entered into force on January 20 and expired six months later. In July, Tehran and the six countries agreed to extend their negotiations until November 24 in a bid to work out a final accord.

The next round of talks between Iran and the six countries will be held in New York in September.

AR/KA/SS

UK urged to contain pro-ISIL moves

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UK’s Labor Party leader has called for tougher government measures to prevent British extremists from travelling to Iraq and Syria to join Takfiri terrorists as well as a “de-radicalization” process in the case of the returning terrorists.

Writing in the  UK-based daily Independent, Edward Miliband underscored the need for a “multilateral alliance” combining political, diplomatic and humanitarian action to counter the “perverted mission” of the Takfiri ISIL terrorism in the Middle East.

In the UK, he said, “We should act with clarity and determination” to tackle the threat from extremists.

Miliband also said, “Such action must include an overhaul of the Home Office Prevent programme to equip communities with the tools to stop young people being sucked into extremist ideology,” adding, “We should also do more to prevent potential fighters from travelling to the region, and promote an effective, mandatory program of de-radicalization for anyone who is drawn into the fringes of extremism in Syria and Iraq.”

He highlighted concerns raised by David Anderson, the independent reviewer of counter-terrorism legislation, about terrorism prevention and investigation measures (Tpims).

Anderson has recommended stronger measures to restrict the movements of people subject to Tpims, including powers similar to those under the scrapped control order regime allowing the authorities to relocate a terror suspect to another area.

Miliband’s remarks came ahead of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement of new counter-terrorism measures in parliament on Monday.

Cameron said on Friday that there were “gaps in our armoury” which needed to be filled after counter-terrorism experts warned that an attack on the UK was “highly likely.”

MFB/AB

ISIL supported by shadow governments

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The ISIL terrorist organization is “one of a network of groups,” who are supported by “shadow governments” and numerous regimes around the world, including Israel and the United States, an American journalist says.

ISIL, also known as ISIS, “is one of a network of groups” that includes the juntas in Ukraine, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Nusra Front in Syria, said Gordon Duff, a Senior Editor at Veterans Today and a disabled veteran of the Vietnam War.

“They’re exactly the same people and they work for a world coalition that some call the secret shadow government or the Bilderbergers,” Duff told Press TV on Saturday.

ISIL has taken control of large parts of Syria’s northern territory. The savage group sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq in June, quickly seizing large swaths of territory straddling the border between the two countries.

“ISIS is being managed and run not out of northern Syria, but being supplied entirely through Turkey,” he said. “They receive intelligence support from drones that operate out of Azerbaijan run by the Israeli government.”

“They are supported by Saudi Arabia financially. They are also broadly supported by groups on the political right within the United States as well.”

Senior American officials say the ISIL terror network has been successful in attracting more American and European fighters to Syria in recent months, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called for a global coalition to combat “the cancer of ISIS” and its “genocidal agenda.”

The group “presents a unifying threat to a broad array of countries, including the United States,” Kerry wrote in an article published in The New York Times.

AHT/AGB

‘Iran to shoot down intruding aircraft’

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The Iranian military’s top brass has warned of action against any violation of the country’s airspace following a recent provocative incursion by an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) into Iran’s territory.

“Any flying [object] entering Iran’s airspace will be targeted,” Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said on Saturday.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on August 24 that its forces had intercepted and shot down an Israeli spy drone with a surface-to-air missile. The Israeli-made Hermes drone was heading to Natanz nuclear facility in the central Iranian province of Isfahan.

“The Israelis’ policy is to spy [on Iran] and they have showed many times that they are seeking to spy on our country because, due to its nature, [Israel] does not believe Iran’s commitment to not developing atomic bomb,” Firouzabadi said, adding that the Israeli regime seeks to prove its “false” idea of military diversion in Iran’s nuclear program.

On August 24, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan also warned that the Islamic Republic would give a crushing response to any enemy aggression against Iranian soil.

This is not the first time that Iran’s airspace has been the target of espionage activities.

In December 2011, a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was downed with minimal damage by the Iranian Army’s electronic warfare unit. The drone was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225 km) from the Afghan border when it was brought down.

The IRGC also captured a US ScanEagle drone over the Persian Gulf waters upon its intrusion into the Iranian airspace in December 2012.

SAB/KA/SS

ISIL ‘plans’ biological attacks in Syria

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Syrian opposition sources say a laptop seized from ISIL Takfiri terrorists contains a series of secret plans including hints at biological attacks.

The laptop was recovered during a raid on an ISIL hideout in Idlib Province close to Turkey’s border.

A commander in a rival anti-government group in Syria has told American magazine, Foreign Policy, that the computer belonging to a Tunisian militant, contained thousands of secret files in French, English, and Arabic.

It also contained lessons on disguise, bomb-making, stealing cars as well as ideological justifications for militancy, the commander added.

Western media reports say one of the documents included instructions on how to develop biological weapons and how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals.

“The advantage of biological weapons is that they do not cost a lot of money, while the human casualties can be huge,” the 19-page document in Arabic stated.

The laptop also includes a 26-page fatwa (decree) by ISIL terrorist leaders on the use of weapons of mass destruction.

The Syrian government has accused foreign-sponsored militants of using chemical weapons three times — once near Aleppo, a second time near Damascus, and another time in Homs in recent years.

UN investigators said in May 2013 that they had found testimonies from victims and medical staff that show militants had used the nerve agent sarin in Syria.

Senior Syrian officials say Damascus is “genuinely worried” that Syria’s enemies could provide chemical weapons to armed groups “and then claim they had been used by the Syrian government.”

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

ISIL terrorists have been behind many of the deadly bomb attacks targeting both civilians and government institutions across Syria over the past three years.

JR/AB/SS