Archive for month: September, 2014
Pakistan raps deadly US drone strike
Pakistan has condemned a recent US assassination drone strike that killed at least four people in the country’s mountainous northwestern tribal region near its border with Afghanistan.
The attack occured in an area near South Waziristan’s Wana.
“The government of Pakistan condemns the US drone strike that took place in Wana, South Waziristan on the afternoon of Sunday,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
“Pakistan believes that such strikes constitute a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity and demands their immediate cessation.”
The ministry added that Islamabad was already taking decisive measures against terrorist elements in the country.
The drone strikes carried out on five militant hideouts in the area killed four people, including an Arab national, Abu Turab Arabi, and a local Taliban commander Abdul Hafeez.
The US drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan continue despite criticism from Islamabad.
Washington claims the targets of the drone attacks are militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of such raids over the past few years.
The drone strikes are part of the US government’s official targeted killing policy, which calls for the assassination of potentially anti-US militants in Muslim counties in Asia and North Africa.
SZH/NN
Iran N-talks at crucial stage: China
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says ongoing nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group have entered a “crucial” stage, calling for a “fair” agreement to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue.
In his address to the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the top Chinese diplomat said any final deal aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over Iran’s civilian nuclear work should be “comprehensive,” “fair” and “balanced.”
Wang also called on all parties involved in the nuclear talks to show sincerity and make all efforts to iron out their differences and reach an “early” and “win-win” agreement.
Iran and the P5+1 states – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – are currently in talks to work out a permanent agreement over Tehran’s nuclear activities as a November 24 deadline approaches.
Last November, the two sides clinched an interim nuclear accord, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. However, they agreed to extend their talks until November 24 as they remained split on a number of key issues.
Tehran and its negotiating partners wrapped up their latest round of closed-door negotiations in New York on September 26.
On Friday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Abbas Araqchi, a top nuclear negotiator, said Iran and the P5+1 states had not reached any agreement on major issues, adding, however, that there had been progress with regard to the details of technical issues.
MKA/NN
Scottish Filmfest to display Iran film
Iranian director Ali Atshani’s latest creation Negar’s Role is to be showcased at the First Aberdeen International Film Festival in Scotland.
As the only representative of Iranian cinema at the festival, the movie is programmed to be screened at the Competition section of the festival.
Atshani’s recent drama, which produced in 2013, narrates story of a young man Farzad who wants to marry Negar but the girl’s past life changes everything.
Atshani has experienced making several films in his directing career. He has made the first Iranian three-dimensional cinematic production titled Mr. A.
Banana Skin, Democracy in the Daylight and The President’s Cell Phone are his better-known works.
The First Aberdeen Film Festival is slated to take place from October 4 to 12, at the excellent venues of both Cineworld cinemas in Scotland’s city of Aberdeen.
FGP/FGP
Saudis, Bahrainis rap killing of activist
People in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have taken to the streets to condemn the killing of a young activist by Saudi security forces in the country’s restive Qatif region.
Saudi protesters on Saturday staged a rally in the town of Awamiyah in Eastern Province to protest the murder of pro-democracy activist Bassem Ali al-Qadehi.
Al-Qadehi died of the wounds sustained while police were trying to arrest him.
Carrying the photos of al-Qadehi, the Saudi protesters also chanted anti-regime slogans.
In Bahrain, people also held rallies against the killing of the young activist. Protesters in the eastern town of Sanad condemned the Saudi crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Qatif.
Elsewhere, in Bahrain’s Sitra Island, there was a demonstration in solidarity with pro-democracy protesters in Saudi Arabia. Bahraini security forces used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
The Persian Gulf monarchy has come under fire from international human rights organizations, which have criticized it for failing to address the rights situation in the kingdom. Critics say the country shows zero-tolerance toward dissent.
Human rights bodies also say Riyadh has persistently implemented repressive policies that stifle freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Riyadh has cracked down on dissidents, anti-government protesters and political activists in the past few years. A number of people have been killed as a result, and many others arrested.
DB/HJL/HRB
UK Tories ‘lose 1/3 of voter support’
A new poll shows that the Conservatives in the UK have lost a third of their support, as Britons are worried of more Tory austerity measures if they win next year’s general elections.
The poll conducted by former Conservative donor Michael Ashcroft and presented on Sunday showed that just 63 percent of the Britons who voted for the Tories in 2010 are considering supporting the party in next May’s elections.
In addition, Ashcroft said that half of those who have turned away from the Conservative say they are planning to vote for the eurosceptic UKIP party.
Ashcroft said the findings showed that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are facing a “very uphill struggle” and the opposition Labour party is on the course to win a “comfortable” majority.
Accordi ng to Ashcroft, the Conservatives must not lose more than 22 seats to Labour if they want to remain the largest party in the House of Commons.
However, the poll’s findings revealed that the Tories are already behind in 24 seats, which would put the Labour party on top if elections were held now.
Ashcroft said one of the reasons why British voters are planning not to vote for the Conservatives is that they are concerned of more austerity measures under a Tory-led government.
British voters are also worried about the future of the National Health Service (NHS), amid massive cuts by the Tory-led coalition government in recent years.
Over 7,000 NHS clinical staff members, including doctors and nurses, have been made redundant since 2010, when the government started spending cuts to contain the deepening budget shortfall.
CAH/HJL/HRB
US Exxon benefits from Russia oil filed
American columnist Dean Henderson says that Exxon Mobil, America’s largest energy company, seeks its own benefits by helping Russia finding new oil-rich areas.
Exxon Mobil has recently helped the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin discover oil in one of the world’s most remote areas.
A well drilled in the Kara Sea region of the Arctic Ocean, with the assistance from Exxon, struck oil. The region has the potential to become one of the world’s most important crude-producing areas.
Henderson said that the company “go(es) around politics” adding “they don’t even care what side you’re on as long as there is oil on the ground, they are going to make some money out of it.”
“This is real politic where you know capital always charms the interests of governments even if those interests are misguided, it does not matter you’ll find these corporations and their profiting it doesn’t matter which country,” he told Press TV on Sunday.
He also said “the United States really should nationalize the assets of Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco and turn it into a department of energy that is focused on alternative energy and domestic production.”
Henderson said this is not governments which run the world but rather multinationals and banks.
“The world isn’t really run by governments, governments can issue sanctions, they can even go to war, they can do things like that, but in the end it’s these multinational corporations and the banks that own them and the families that own these banks,” he opined.
AT/AGB
Israeli war on Gaza ‘genocide’
A senior Palestinian Authority official has described the Israeli regime’s atrocities during a recent war on the Gaza Strip as genocide.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a Sunday interview with an Israeli broadcaster that the word “genocide” used by President of the Palestinian National Unity Government Mahmoud Abbas during his recent address at the UN General Assembly was appropriate, saying Abbas was “naming things by their name.”
Erekat also rejected strong criticism of Abbas’ description of Israeli atrocities in Gaza at his UN speech by Washington and Tel Aviv, expressing surprise that the word genocide has angered the US government.
He went on to explain that “naming things by their name is not extreme,” underlining that it was unacceptable that using the term “genocide” had enraged the US and Israel.
“Ignoring facts doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” said the Palestinian official in response to the criticism.
He added, “In my opinion [the criticism] is inappropriate, not responsible and unacceptable.”
The development came after US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki claimed on Friday that Abbas’ speech “included offensive characterizations” that the US rejects.
This is while the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Abbas’ remarks as “inciting, slanders and lies.”
Over 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during the latest Israeli war on Gaza in July and August, leaving more than 11,000 injured and thousands more displaced in the besieged territory.
MFB/HJL/HRB
‘Iran N-talks to resume in two weeks’
A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator says the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group will be held in a European city in less than two weeks.
In an interview with Kyodo news agency on Sunday, Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said that the nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will resume either in the Austrian capital of Vienna or in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Iran and its negotiating partners — the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany — held their latest round of talks in New York to work out a final agreement aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s civilian nuclear energy program within a November 24 deadline.
Last November, the two sides clinched an interim nuclear accord, which took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. However, they agreed to extend their talks until November 24 as they remained divided on a number of key issues.
Araqchi said the nuclear talks in New York were “constructive”, although differences on major issues still remain to reach a deal before the deadline.
“We have been able to have a much better understanding in a constructive atmosphere, but there are differences on major issues,” he said.
Araqchi referred to the anti-Iran sanctions and the country’s uranium enrichment centrifuges as the “two main key differences between Iran and the 5+1.”
Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reaffirmed Tehran’s determination to seize the existing opportunity till the expiration of Iran’s interim nuclear deal in November and noted that the existing issues are not too complicated to be resolved.
YH/NN/HRB
Yemenis ‘should never trust’ US, Saudis
A prominent political commentator says the Yemeni people should never trust the United States and its regional ally Saudi Arabia and should not consider them honest power brokers.
Randy Short made the remark in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Sunday while commenting on a recent power-sharing deal between the Yemeni government and Ansarullah revolutionaries.
“How can the Saudis be seen as honest brokers as much as they have history of being on wrong side of or on the opposite side of anything they see as Shias. Even within Saudi Arabia, they oppress, kill and imprison and torture leadership of the Shia community, which forms one-third of the population,” Short said.
He added that the Saudis don’t want any representation of Shias in any part of the government.
On Saturday, the Ansarullah activists, also known as Houthis, signed the accord as part of a comprehensive agreement with pro-government Salafist Islah party and other parties.
The deal includes the formation a new inclusive and representative government with a non-partisan premier.
Short said the Houthi protesters shouldn’t return home unless they make sure that the deal is not hijacked by the Saudi monarchy and that their rightful demands are met.
The analyst also added that Saudis and other Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf region have been brutalizing the Shia Muslims and violating their basic rights in recent years.
Short went on to say that Washington and Riyadh have inflicted huge sufferings on the Yemeni people over the past decades.
He also concluded that Washington created militant groups such as al-Qaeda, and the ISIL “just like cookies in a factory” to advance its agenda in the Mideast region.
JR/HJL/HRB