August 22, 2011
Middle East News Roundup - 21 Aug 2011
Syria's Assad has thumbed his nose at critics of his slaughter of his own citizens, telling the world to butt out and mind their own business, that he'll do what he wants when he wants.
Libyan Rebels continue to tighten the noose on Qaddafi, overrunning a major base near Tripoli and taking 3 districts of the capital, while Qaddafi claims to be in full control and willing to defend his dictatorship to the death. He called on "millions" to march against the Rebels, while Tunisia officially recognized the rebels as the legitimate government of Libya. President Obama continues to re-iterate his message from 3 months ago: "Qaddafi's days are numbered."
Palestinian Terrorist Group Hamas launched another 17 rockets at Israeli civilians, bringing the total above 100, which have killed Israeli Women and Children, as well as Palestinian civilians. Egypt has rejected Israel's apology over the border incident following the initial attacks by Hamas.
YEMEN: Terrorists have detonated two suicidal islamists in order to murder tribal leaders and security personnel, killing at least 11.
ISRAEL: Palestinian terrorists fired at least 17 more rockets into Israel Sunday and the Israeli military launched an air strike in the Gaza Strip during the region's fourth straight day of violence. Overall, the violence has claimed the lives of 15 Palestinians, including those killed by Hamas rockets, nine Israelis and five Egyptians.
Palestinian police say Israeli troops arrested scores of Hamas members Sunday in the southern West Bank, just hours after the most recent rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel's south.
The Israeli military and Palestinian terrorists have carried out back-and-forth attacks since Palestinian ambushes inside Israel near the Egyptian border killed eight Israelis on Thursday.
Israel says terrorists in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip have fired more than 100 rockets into southern Israel in the past days. One rocket attack killed an Israeli man. The Israeli air strikes have killed mostly Palestinian militants. Civilians on both sides have been wounded.
EGYPT: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday apologized for the deaths of Egyptian officers in clashes between the Israeli troops and suspected Palestinian militants along the Israel-Egypt border Thursday.
Barak said Israel "regrets" the deaths of the five Egyptian officers and will conduct a joint investigation of the incident with the Egyptian military.
The Egyptian government responded, saying that although Israel's apology was welcome, it is "not enough." The French News Agency Sunday quoted a cabinet statement as saying "the Israeli regret was not in keeping with the magnitude of the incident and the state of Egyptian anger toward Israeli actions."
YEMEN: Officials in Yemen say two suicide bombers have killed at least 11 people in two separate attacks.
Authorities say the assaults took place Sunday in the southern Abyan province, where security forces have been battling al-Qaida-linked terrorists.
Officials say one of the bombers detonated his explosives at a tribal checkpoint. Authorities say the other attacker blew himself up in the middle of a tribal gathering.
Militants have taken control of several areas in southern Yemen during the 6-month uprising pressing for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation. Mr. Saleh remains in Saudi Arabia where he is recovering from injuries sustained in a June attack on his presidential compound. President Obama has called on President Saleh to abdicate in the face of the islamist threat to his nation.
Government forces have been trying to remove the Islamist terrorists, but have made only modest headway after weeks of fighting and airstrikes.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have expressed concern that the militants will take advantage of Yemen's anti-government unrest to expand their haven in the country and plot attacks against the West.
LIBYA: Libyan rebels have pushed to Tripoli after capturing a military base defending the capital, the stronghold of long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Reporters traveling with the rebels say they entered the western suburbs of Tripoli Sunday evening, just hours after overrunning the base 27 kilometers to the west. The rebel fighters hauled away truckloads of weapons and ammunition from the captured base.
The rebels say they also control three districts of the capital after fighting inside the city overnight into Sunday. Witnesses in Tripoli reported anti-Gadhafi demonstrations in those districts late Saturday.
The rebels claim they were able to land some fighters in Tripoli by sea from the port of Misrata, east of the capital.
Libyan state television on Sunday broadcast audio of Mr. Gadhafi saying he is in Tripoli and will defend it. He said he will never give up.
It was his second broadcast message in less than 24 hours. In another audio late Saturday, Mr. Gadhafi urged his supporters to "march by the millions" and squash the uprising. He dismissed the rebellion as an ill-fated attempt by "traitors" and "rats."
A government spokesman said Sunday that Tripoli is well protected by thousands of professional soldiers, and he called the rebels "armed gangs" whose success can only be attributed to NATO.
In a political victory for the rebels, the Tunisian news agency TAP announced Sunday that Tunisia's government has officially recognized the Transitional National Council as the legitimate representative of Libyans.
U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed on the Libya situation by a senior security adviser. A U.S. spokesman said the White House believes "Gadhafi's days are numbered."
SYRIA: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is defending his crackdown on political unrest and says criticism from Western countries means nothing to him.
Mr. Assad made the comments in a lengthy interview with Syria's state-run television on Sunday night. The United States, the European Union and other Western powers have said that Mr. Assad must go.
The Syrian president said his security forces are making gains against the 5-month-old uprising. He said he is "not worried" about the uprising and warned of consequences for any military action against his country.
Mr. Assad repeated plans to introduce reforms, adding that he expected new elections for Syria's national assembly in six months.
He added that laws regarding the establishment of new political parties will be ready in the next few days and that people who want to create a new party will have a 45-day period to apply through a committee.
The Syrian president also said he wanted to know neighboring Turkey's intentions concerning the situation within his country. He said Syria will not accept someone acting as "an instructor" or as if they "know better."
Turkey has urged Mr. Assad to end the crackdown but has said it believes it is too soon to call for the Syrian president to step down.
A resident in Damascus told CNN in a live interview after the speech Sunday that Mr. Assad was "rambling" and had "no credibility" with the Syrian people.
The U.N.'s human rights office said last week that Mr. Assad's forces have carried out widespread and systematic attacks on civilians that may amount to crimes against humanity.
U.N. Human Rights chief Navi Pillay told the Security Council it should refer the situation in Syria to the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
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