ISIS 'religious ruling' sanctioned organ harvesting from 'infidels'.

ISIS 'religious ruling' sanctioned organ harvesting from 'infidels'. (Jpost).

Islamic State has sanctioned the harvesting of human organs in a previously undisclosed ruling by the group's Islamic scholars, raising concerns that the violent extremist group may be trafficking in body parts.

The ruling, contained in a January 31, 2015 document reviewed by Reuters, says taking organs from a living captive to save a Muslim's life, even if it is fatal for the captive, is permissible.

Reuters couldn't independently confirm the authenticity of the document. US officials say it was among a trove of data and other information obtained by US special forces in a raid in eastern Syria in May.

"The apostate's life and organs don't have to be respected and may be taken with impunity," says the document, which is in the form of a fatwa, or religious ruling, from the Islamic State's Research and Fatwa Committee.

"Organs that end the captive's life if removed: The removal of that type is also not prohibited," Fatwa Number 68 says, according to a US government translation.

The fatwa sanctioning organ harvesting justifies the practice in part by drawing an analogy to cannibalism in extreme circumstances, a practice it says earlier Islamic scholars had allowed. "A group of Islamic scholars have permitted, if necessary, one to kill the apostate in order to eat his flesh, which is part of benefiting from his body," it says.

McGurk said Islamic State's Research and Fatwa Committee reports directly to the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, told Reuters the documents should be examined by the UN Security Council as evidence that Islamic State could be trafficking in organs to raise cash. Read the full story here.

Related: Iran: 'Syrian Terrorists Involved in Illegal Human Organ Trade.'

Al-Nusra Front offers to free Lebanon troops for an ex-wife of Al Baghdadi and four other female prisoners.

Al-Nusra Front offers to free Lebanon troops for an ex-wife of Al - Baghdadi and four other female prisoners. (DunYaNews).

Al Qaeda s Syrian affiliate has offered to release three Lebanese soldiers in exchange for an ex-wife of the leader of the militant Islamic State group and four other female prisoners.

Al-Nusra Front, which along with IS has held 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage for almost a year, issued the offer in a statement aired on Lebanon s MTV television on Saturday night.

“If five of our sisters leave prison... we will hand over three soldiers in exchange,” said Abu Malek al-Shami, Al-Nusra s “emir” in the Syrian region of Qalamun bordering Lebanon.

Among the five hostages he named was Saja al-Dulaimi, who was arrested in Lebanon in December and is a former wife of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as well as a wife of an Al-Nusra leader.

Dulaimi s background is complicated as she reportedly belongs to a tribe that straddles Syria and Iraq and she was said to have been closer to Al-Nusra than her ex-husband s rival militants at the time of her arrest.

Shami s face was not shown in the interview, which MTV conducted as part of an arranged visit by family members to loved ones held by Al-Nusra in what it called “a cave in the Qalamun mountains”.

The channel showed footage of the three-hour reunion between parents, spouses and even children of the hostages, many of them unable to hold back their tears.

The hostages, all with long beards, appeared in healthy condition inside a tent.

Sixteen of the 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen who were taken hostage near the border with Syria in August 2014 are in the hands of Al Nusra.

The rest are held by Baghdadi s Islamic State group.

Since their capture, Al-Nusra and IS have repeatedly made demands for the soldiers release, seeking the release of Islamist prisoners or the withdrawal of Lebanon s Hezbollah movement from the Syrian conflict.

The powerful Shia militia, which is backed by Iran, is fighting alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that has claimed more than 230,000 lives since it erupted in 2011.

Exclusive #nusra headquarters with kidnapped #Lebanese soldiers and their families pic.twitter.com/MK01GDCVhF

— Carol Malouf (@carolmalouf) July 18, 2015

When .@carolmalouf is under ''rebel'' or Al-Nusra liberated territory vs everywhere else. pic.twitter.com/iFgs9coPt2

— IraqiSuryani (@IraqiSuryani) July 19, 2015

Video - Children Eating from the Streets of Hajr al Aswad in Damascus

The video shows children being interviewed whilst they eat from scraps on the ground due to shortage of food in the Hajr al Aswad area of Damascus.

This video is hereby translated under full responsibility of ANA PRESS

For more information please feel free to send your inquiries to: info@ana-press.com

Russia says Syria agrees to aid access from Iraq, Turkey, Jordan.

Russia says Syria agrees to aid access from Iraq, Turkey, Jordan. (Taz).

Russia said on Tuesday it has gained Syrian approval to open four border crossings from Iraq, Jordan and Turkey to deliver aid to millions of people under a "far-reaching formula" proposed to U.N. Security Council members, Reuters reported.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin declined to elaborate on the formula, but diplomats familiar with the plan said it involved using international monitors to inspect humanitarian aid convoys entering Syria.

Veto-wielding council members - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - have been negotiating a humanitarian resolution drafted by Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan to boost aid deliveries in Syria, including across rebel-held borders. Russia presented its formula to those seven states on Tuesday.

Churkin said Syria had accepted Moscow's plan to open the four border crossings named in the draft text."It's a pretty innovative approach to doing things. So we hope it's going to work and we hope it's going to help the humanitarian agencies to work on the ground in Syria, including in areas which are not controlled by the government," he said.

"It is a far reaching formula which will allow to open those four crossing points in which the humanitarian agencies were interested," Churkin told reporters, adding he hoped the draft resolution could be adopted within days.

But Western diplomats said they need time to study Russia's proposal and consult with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on whether it could work on the ground. A draft resolution would also still need to be circulated to the remaining seven council members before a vote.

The Security Council achieved rare unity in unanimously approving a resolution in February that demanded rapid, safe and unhindered aid access in Syria, where a three-year civil war has killed more than 150,000 people.

But that resolution has failed to make a difference, U.N. officials said. The United Nations says some 9.3 million people in Syria - half the country's population - need help, while another 2.5 million people have fled the conflict.

Western council members decided to pursue a stronger resolution under Chapter 7, which would be legally binding and enforceable with military action or sanctions, diplomats said. The February resolution was binding but not enforceable.

Russia has said it is opposed to the delivery of aid in Syria without the consent of Damascus and is against a Chapter 7 resolution. Russia, supported by China, previously vetoed four resolutions threatening any action against its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Churkin described Russia's cross-border aid proposal as an "elegant solution."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Geneva earlier on Tuesday that he had been urging the Security Council to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to some 3.5 million hard-to-reach people in Syria.

"I sincerely hope the United Nations Security Council will take as soon as possible early action on the proposed resolution on this matter," Ban said.

Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria held captive by ISIL since April 2013, in 'good health'.

Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria held captive by ISIL since April 2013, in 'good health'.(SBN).

The Two Orthodox bishopsYuhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazici kidnapped in Syria in April 2013 are currently in the northern city of Raqqa and held captive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

According to a report published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday, the two bishops are “in good health” and are currently detained in the region of Tal Abyad, which is located in north of Raqqa governorate, near the Turkish border.

The two bishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, were kidnapped at the end of April, reportedly near the rebel-held town of Kafr Dael, near Aleppo in northern Syria.

The al-Qaida-affiliated Asbat al-Ansar is allegedly the group behind the abduction of the two bishops. The newspaper said that Asbat al-Ansar, which was loyal to al-Nusra Front, became discreetly loyal to ISIL.

The kidnappers reportedly didn't realize the fuss that the abduction operation would create, prompting them to ask ISIL leadership for assistance.

The ISIL group then was handed over the two bishops and moved them to al-Raqqa. No group has officially claimed responsibility for their kidnap, but sources close to the Greek Orthodox Church and the Syrian authorities have claimed the kidnappers were "Chechen jihadists".

Christians constitute some five percent of Syria's population, a patchwork of religious and ethnic groups. Rights groups say Christians are especially vulnerable in the chaos that has engulfed Syria ever since the outbreak of a conflict in March 2011, which has so far killed some 90,000 people.


Related:  

Turkey's Role in the Kidnapping of the Syrian Bishops

Lebanese newspaper reports: Saudi Spy master Bandar Bin Sultan injected with poison.

Lebanese newspaper reports: Saudi Spy master Bandar Bin Sultan injected with poison.(pressTV).

Saudi Arabia's spymaster Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz has been injected with an incurable poison, a Lebanese media report says.

Some Lebanese media outlets quoted Saudi sources as saying that the prince was injected with an unknown kind of poison.

Bandar slipped into a coma and was rushed to Morocco and the United States for treatment, the report added.

Medical doctors say various methods of treatment have failed to restore him to health over the past few months, it noted. 

The Saudi prince is known to have had close ties with former US President George W. Bush, and was an advocate of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Bandar is also widely believed to be the key figure trying to increase Saudi weapons flow to the foreign-backed militants in Syria.

However, Washington had demanded the removal of Prince Bandar from the Syrian file owing to his mismanagement of the situation in the country, which has been grappling with a foreign-backed crisis since March 2011.

Several media reports confirmed that Bandar had been sacked.

Some unnamed Saudi security officials have recently said the prince would retake his position as intelligence chief and be in charge of dealing with Syria.

According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

Over 160,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the Syria violence fueled by the foreign-backed militants.

Brussels Jewish Museum Shooting Suspect Arrested in France.

Brussels Jewish Museum Shooting Suspect Arrested in France.(Forward).

French police have arrested a man suspected of involvement in the shooting deaths last weekend of three people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum, officials said on Sunday.

The 29-year-old was arrested in the southern French city of Marseille on Friday and had a Kalashnikov and another gun with him, a French police source said.

The man, named by the source as Mehdi Nemmouche, was from the northern French city of Roubaix. French media reported that he was suspected of having stayed in Syria with jihadist groups in 2013.

An Israeli couple and a French woman were killed on May 24 when a man entered the Jewish Museum in busy central Brussels and opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle. A Belgian man remains in critical condition in hospital. French President Francois Hollande confirmed a suspect had been arrested and said France was determined to do all it could to stop radicalized youths from carrying out attacks.

“We will monitor those jihadists and make sure that when they come back from a fight that is not theirs, and that is definitely not ours … to make sure that when they come back they cannot do any harm,” Hollande told reporters.

The message “to these jihadists is that we will fight them, we will fight them and we will fight them”, he said. Hollande has said previously the attack was motivated by anti-Semitism.

A spokeswoman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office confirmed a suspect had been arrested in Marseille but declined to give further details. Prosecutors scheduled a news conference in Brussels for 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).

“This is a relief,” Joel Rubinfeld, head of the Belgian League against Anti-semitism, told BFM TV. “But this is also worrying us … it is is crucial that countries who have citizens who have gone to Syria take all necessary measures to make sure this does not happen again.”

Police released a 30-second video clip from the museum’s security cameras showing a man wearing a dark cap, sunglasses and a blue jacket enter the building, take a rifle out of a bag and shoot into a room before calmly walking out. Belgian officials have said the shooting was probably a terrorist attack. Some security experts suggested it may have been the work of a hitman rather than an anti-Semitic “lone wolf”.
Mehdi Nemmouche was convicted of a robbery in 2009 in Tourcoing.More here French newspaper [GoogleTranslate.

Canadian Muslim terrorist, who was a senior Hezbollah member, killed by Syrian rebels.

Canadian Muslim terrorist, who was a senior Hezbollah member, killed by Syrian rebels.(NAPO).

TORONTO — Fawzi Ayoub was a hijacker, international terrorist operative and senior member of Hezbollah. He was also a naturalized Canadian citizen, but on Monday Lebanese media reported he was dead, killed in an ambush by Syrian rebels.

The 48-year-old former Toronto supermarket employee, who rose through the ranks of Hezbollah despite his tendency for getting arrested before completing his missions, was declared a “martyr” on a Facebook page filled with photos of him in battle fatigues.

The Lebanese-Canadian had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list since 2009, when he was indicted for using a false American passport to enter Israel “for the purpose of conducting a bombing” for Hezbollah, according to his wanted notice.

His death, which Lebanese news outlets said had been announced by Hezbollah, is further proof the radical Shiite group is suffering mounting losses in Syria, where it has deployed hundreds of fighters to prop up a neighboor and key ally.

Described by his family in Toronto as religious and devout, Ayoub was a longtime Hezbollah operative and former member of an elite unit headed by the late terrorist Imad Mugniyah. “I came here by God’s order,” he testified after he was captured in Israel more than a decade ago.

“My point of view on the world is that I protect the oppressed,” he continued in his testimony. “I want to save the people from oppression.” Asked by an Israeli judge which oppressed people he wanted to save, he replied, “The Muslims are oppressed.”Hmmmm.........Your 'neighborhood devout Muslim'.Read the full story here.

Video - Egyptian TV: Simpsons Episode Proves Syria War Is U.S. Conspiracy.

Senior Turkish MP: Ankara Supervising Flow of Heavy Arms to Militants in Syria.

Senior Turkish MP: Ankara Supervising Flow of Heavy Arms to Militants in Syria. (Fars).

The foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government in Syria are receiving heavy arms via Turkey under the supervision of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), a senior Turkish lawmaker disclosed on Saturday.

"The terrorists who attacked the city of Kassab (near the Turkish border) in Lattakia  (in Northern Syria) have used Turkish soil to smuggle heavy weapons to Syria and this measure has taken place under the supervision of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT)," Turkish opposition MP Refiq Eryilmaz told the Syrian state news agency.

He underlined that supporters of terrorism in Syria should claim responsibility for their crimes in Syria.

Ankara has on several occasions sent arms to Syrian militants to help them fight against the Damascus government.

In one of such cases in June 2013, Ankara sent 400 tons of arms supplied by some Persian Gulf states to the militants in Syria.

"Twenty trailers crossed from Turkey and are being distributed to arms depots for several brigades across the North," said Mohammad Salam, a rebel operative who witnessed the crossing from an undisclosed location in Hatay at the time.

The delivery was being called the single biggest weapons cache to reach the rebels since the unrest began more than two years ago.

The consignment - mostly ammunition for shoulder-fired weapons and anti-aircraft machine guns - came into Northern Syria via the Turkish province of Hatay and was already being handed out, the sources added.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and several other Arab Persian Gulf states have backed the insurgents.

Video - Syria: Militants now Equipped with US-Made TOW Missiles.

Video - Syria: Militants now Equipped with US-Made TOW Missiles.(Fars).


Sources in Syria revealed that the US has supplied its state-of-the-art anti-tank missiles to the militants fighting against the Damascus government.

Different Internet websites, including AlHadathnews, have released photos and videos of the US supplied BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missiles now being used by the militants.

The missiles have been seen at the hands of Hazem militants, who are loyal to former head of the military council of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Salim Idris, in Idlib countryside in Northwestern Syria.

The web site "Liveleak" video showed a new kind of weapons arsenal exists within the armed opposition in Syria, the missiles "BGM-71 TOW" anti-tank. 

According to the site, has used these missiles near Alheih in Idlib province. In the information, interpretations and one about the source of the rockets, as stated the site it could be Saudi Arabia provided to the Syrian fighters after taking permission from the United States, or the oldest foreign source to support the fighters these missiles, U.S. sources confirmed that if he tipped the second possibility , it must be this process has been after or authorized by the U.S. administration

Lebanese PM demands Hezbollah to leave Syria.

Lebanese PM demands Hezbollah to leave Syria.(Taz).

Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam has urged Hezbollah militants to leave Syria.

He said in an interview with Arabic Al Arabiya TV channel that Hezbollah's involvement in military operations against the Syrian opposition is not correct and that they understand it.

Earlier it was reported that Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah declared the organization's intention to continue supporting the Syrian authorities in the fight against the rebels.

Immediately after this, the Syrian opposition shelled Shiite neighbourhoods of Beirut, and promised to strike other targets in Lebanon. Syrian rebels demanded the Lebanese government to put an end to Hezbollah's activity against the opposition.

The organization's head also said the members of Hezbollah will not leave Syria.

Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman said in turn that Hezbollah is a Lebanese resistance group and has nothing to do with the fighting in Syria.

Syrian conflict, which broke out in March 2011, has killed over 150,000 people, while over 4.2 million people became refugees within Syrian territory and 2.3 million people fled to neighbouring countries.

The main burden in receiving the refugees fell on Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Syria's total population before the conflict was 20 million people.Hmmmm....it isn't April fools day today?

Video - Belgian Jihadist Fighting with ISIS in Syria: 'It's Nice to See Infidel Blood from Time to Time.'

Turkish justice Minister: "Gulen can be sought internationally"

Turkish justice Minister: "Gulen can be sought internationally"(Taz).

Fatullah Gulen [Islamic public figure who currently resides in the U.S.] can be sought internationally, the Turkish Justice Minister, Bekir Bozdag said, Haber7 TV channel reported on March 6.

The court decision is needed for Gulen to be sought internationally, according to the minister.

Turkish media reported on Feb. 25 that in 2011 telephone conversations of about 7,000 people associated with the representatives of both the ruling and opposition parties, including family members of the PM were wiretapped, as part of the anti-terrorist operation carried out by the Istanbul prosecutor's office against Salam terrorist organization.

During the anti-terrorist operations, telephone conversations of the head Turkish intelligence, Hakan Fidan were wiretapped as well.

After this, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Gulen of that, namely representatives of his movement stand behind the wiretapping of the phone conversations.

Earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Gulen movement has close ties to the Republican People's Party, and their joint activities are aimed at weakening the government.

Erdogan also stressed that Gulen's movement (which he earlier called as a 'parallel structure') with its anti-state activities proved that it is not a religious movement, but a politicized and illegal structure.

Earlier, the prime minister called on Fethullah Gulen not to intervene in Turkey's internal affairs and accused the U.S. of supporting him.

The member of the Council of the ruling Justice and Development Pariah of the country, Mazhar Bagli said that all the actions of Gulen and his supporters are aimed at undermining the country's national interests.

Video - Syrian Army Kills Scores of Militants in Ambush - Viewer Discretion Advised.

US Treasury Dep “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” representative Allegedly call's PM Erdogan after road accident in Turkey.

US Treasury Department's “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” representative Allegedly call's PM Erdogan after road accident in Turkey.HT : TodaysZaman.

In a voice recording leaked on the Internet on Sunday, Usame Kutub, who is the representative of Yasin al-Qadi -- a Saudi Arabian businessman who is on the US Treasury Department's “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” list -- is allegedly heard calling Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after they were involved in a road accident on Feb. 15, 2013.

In the voice recording, Kutub reportedly calls Erdoğan and tells him that he and al-Qadi had an accident and that al-Qadi was slightly injured. Kutub also allegedly adds that İbrahim Yılmaz, who is Erdoğan's security officer, was also unconscious.

Erdoğan apparently tells them to go to a hospital he recommends and also lets them know that his son Bilal Erdoğan will be on his way to the hospital as well.

In a Dec. 28, 2013 interview with the Hürriyet daily, Kutub talked about the accident and rejected allegations that Kutub called the prime minister after the accident and that Erdoğan personally helped him. 

“After the accident, I didn't call Erdoğan or anyone from his close circle; but I heard that Erdoğan was informed about the accident and he was worried that the accident could have been an assassination attempt on the lives of al-Qadi and I.Read the full story here.

Is the US Seeking a Regional Replacement for Turkey?

Is the US Seeking a Regional Replacement for Turkey?(AINA). By Serdar Turgut

AL Monitor

As political and social turmoil in Turkey persists, the US administration has begun taking steps to downgrade Turkey's influence and role in the region. Although there are no major visible changes in American policy at this time, the changes are becoming apparent in some issues that don't seem to be interrelated.


The United States is working on arrangements that could be alternatives to Turkey. Because of global climate change, water resources -- especially in our region -- have become of paramount importance. Israel leads the world in desalination technology. 

But despite all American efforts and interventions, Turkey did not follow the proposed course and did not take steps to normalize relations with that country.

The United States and Israel took this as an opportunity to play the Iranian card. Messages from Iran indicate that it may be willing to be a model of moderate Islam, now that hopes on Turkey and Egypt have dwindled.

Whether this will work or not is still unknown, but it is certain that the United States has such a design. For Turkey, it is crucial to find out if there is actually such an American scheme.

In this context, Israel is preparing to launch a joint project with Iran to desalinate sea water to provide Iran with fresh water. While everyone admits that water resources in the region will be more valuable in years to come, a step by the United States and Israel to provide Iran with such an asset could be seen as a forerunner of political changes in the region.

While Iran is entering into joint projects with Israel, improving its ties with the United States and sending moderate messages to the world, Turkey persists on following an increasingly radical and hard-line position.

The United States has been expanding for some time the operations of its embassy in Yerevan. The size of an embassy is seen an indicator of the importance paid to the host country and the diversity of functions that embassy will assume. A source who knows about such issues told me that the United States is thinking of using Yerevan as its intelligence hub for the region.

This makes me think that they don't have much hope in Turkey, which in the past had cooperated fully in intelligence work with the United States and Israel, and that there is a search for alternatives.

What is not hard to understand is that the US administration has begun taking some parallel steps against Turkey as relations become tense, especially after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Washington visit.

The United States never works with a single plan in such issues. They always have a plan B and C. That is, although there may be a plan to erase Turkey from its book, relations may still improve and a rational process may still develop.

The best and, for me, the most important, sign of that came from South Cyprus, but for some reason was ignored by Turkish media.

Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, said that an accord that would end the 40 years of division of Cyprus may contribute to improvement of relations between Turkey and Israel. Anastasiades said an agreement in Cyprus may allow Turkey to transport the natural gas found in the region to other countries and noted that constructing a pipeline to Turkey was the cheapest option.

I wrote about this many times in this column. One of the biggest reserves of natural gas in the world was discovered in the eastern Mediterranean. Led by Israel, all major powers have their eyes on this basin called Leviathan. The United States and Israel are already taking measures to control that resource. Greek Cypriots were brought in after the deterioration of relations between Israel and Turkey.

Now we have a message from that bloc that could signify a desire to bring Turkey back into the fold. No doubt this was a message approved by the United States. In other words, the United States is still maintaining its hope that Turkey will get rid of its ideological obsessions and begin thinking of its economic and political interests, and is trying to promote Turkey-Israel cooperation to control natural gas reserves.

Actually we needed this kind of cooperation on water, but Iran stepped in to fill the void we left behind. If we also cause a void in the natural gas issue, surely somebody else will fill it.
I believe Turkey should shake the hand extended and normalize its relations with Israel quickly, without imposing stiff conditions. This is what Turkey's interests require.Hmmm....This sound so far fetched and crazy that the Obama admin might just be willing to do this.

Related:   Why Turkey is gone for good

Source: Rouhani Not Planning to Visit Turkey.

Source: Rouhani Not Planning to Visit Turkey.(Fars).

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has no plan to visit Turkey in the near future, informed sources stressed on Sunday, rejecting some Turkish media reports saying that the Iranian president has the trip on his agenda.

Some Turkish media outlets, including Hurriyet newspaper, had reported in December that President Rouhani would visit Turkey in the near future. Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi had also announced during a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late January that President Rouhani might visit Turkey in the next two years.

“No plan has been prepared for President Rouhani’s visit to Turkey,” an informed source told FNA on Sunday.

Erdogan was in Tehran late January to discuss key bilateral and regional issues with senior Iranian officials.
Erdogan held talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, President Rouhani and other Iranian officials during the two-day visit.

The Turkish premier was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci.

During the visit, Iran and Turkey signed several cooperation agreements.

In a statement before leaving Turkey, Erdogan hoped his visit would create a suitable atmosphere for increasing the trade exchange to $30 billion by 2015, from $13 billion last year.

Earlier in January, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Turkey and met with Erdogan and Davutoglu.

During the meeting between the Iranian foreign minister and Turkish premier, Tehran and Ankara underlined their determination to boost the value of bilateral trade volume to $30 billion by 2015.

Iran is Turkey’s second biggest gas supplier after Russia.

Turkey uses a significant portion of its imported Iranian natural gas to generate electricity.

Belgian Syria 'fighters' again seemingly involved in civilian massacre in Syria.

Belgian Syria 'fighters' again seemingly involved in civilian massacre in Syria.

Some young Belgians who fight on the front lines in Syria are again involved in gruesome murders. The Belgian newspaper 'The Latest News' writes today.

This weekend images emerged of a mass grave. from images and messages on Facebook it seems that the Belgians, who were staying in a villa north of Aleppo, as partly responsible for this.

"We certainly made ​​90 dead", declared a Frenchman who reported spending time with the Belgians. YouTube videos show victims in civilian attire. Certainly one of them was tortured while his hands are tied together. It is therefore not rebels, but executed prisoners.

Related:

Was There A “Massacre” By Insurgents in Maan in Hama Province?

Syria army allegedly Arrests Hoard of Arab, Turkish Spies

Syria army allegedly Arrests Hoard of Arab, Turkish Spies. (Fars).

The Syrian army apprehended the intelligence forces of several Persian Gulf Arab littoral states and Turkey in a series of operations against terrorists.

“85 Saudi military personnel, most of them intelligence officers, are in Syrian jails,” sources told the Palestinian al-Manar weekly on Sunday.

Noting that 7 of these intelligence forces are high-ranking officers, they said that Riyadh has made strenuous efforts to free its officers through third-party mediation but couldn’t lure the Syrian government to do so.

The sources said that 14 Qatari and 7 Turkish officers are also among those arrested by the Syrian forces.

The Syrian government is likely to release the names and crimes committed by the Saudi, Turkish and Qatari officers in the near future, they added.

In December 2013, the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) released a report which indicated that between 3,300 and 11,000 militants from over 70 countries have been fighting against the Syrian government from late 2011 to December 10, 2013.

“These figures include those who are currently present (in Syria) as well as those who have since returned home, been arrested or killed,” said ICSR, which is a partnership of five universities based at King’s College London.


Eighty percent of the foreign militants are Arabs and Europeans, mostly from France and Britain, ICSR added.