Muslim Brotherhood Egypt & UK say Washington will not make decision against the group, just 'media remarks'.

Muslim Brotherhood Egypt & UK say Washington will not make decision against the group, just 'media remarks'. (EI).

Ibrahim Mounir, secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood international group, said no official steps or decisions have been taken by the US administration against the group, considering the US resolution to declare the group 'terrorist' only remarks made in media.

Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Mounir said a decision such as this one would be taken by the State and Defense departments. He indicated Arab demands on the US to take such a decision.

According to Mounir, the group is committed to peaceful ways and will not resort to violence, regardlessof the decision taken against it. Also, it will not engage in reconciliation negotiations with the current regime.

In related news, Mohamed Sudan, a leader with the group based in London, revealed communication between the group and US politicians, asking to clarify the truth about the group since it was established.

In remarks published on the MB official website, Mohamed Sudan said that US officials are saying the US administration will not issue such a decision and considering this as just 'media remarks'.

He added that the disbanded Freedom and Justice Party’s foreign relations committee is considering all options in case Washington taggs the group as terrorist. However, it would declare these steps after such decision is taken. He noted that violence is not included in its options.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Gulf Officials Blast MB 'Godfather' Al-Qaradawi: He Is The 'Mufti Of Suicide Attacks,'

Gulf Officials Blast MB 'Godfather' Al-Qaradawi: He Is The 'Mufti Of Suicide Attacks,' (Memri).

In recent weeks, officials in the Gulf have lashed out at Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and a prominent spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), for fatwas he issued in the past permitting suicide operations. The accusations came on the wake of the July 4, 2016 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia.

The first to voice the accusations was UAE Foreign Minister 'Abdallah bin Zayed, who, in two tweets, blamed Al-Qaradawi for suicide attacks and called to hold him to account for his role in encouraging them. Responding to this on his own Twitter account, Al-Qaradawi called bin Zayed a "devil" but refrained from addressing the accusations themselves. It should be noted that after Twitter twice removed Al-Qaradawi's response he reposted it on his Facebook page. [1]

Bin Zayed's comments were echoed by two other Gulf officials: Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Aal Khalifa and UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed Gargash. Several articles in the Gulf press joined the attack on Al-Qaradawi, calling him "the Mufti of Suicide" and "the Sheikh of Fitna," and some Egyptian papers known from their anti-MB position also published articles against him.

The accusations against Al-Qaradawi sparked a heated debate on social media. As evidence for their validity, users pointed to a video from 2012 in which the sheikh justified suicide operations in Syria. Asked whether it was permissible to carry out a martyrdom operation against regime loyalists even if civilians may be harmed as a result, Al-Qaradawi said that this was allowed as long as the group (that carried out the attack) deemed it necessary.[2]

This is not the first time that various Arab media, especially those opposing the MB, have blamed this movement – and Al-Qaradawi as one of its prominent ideologues – for ISIS's violence in the Arab world.[3] In fact, Egypt and some other Arab countries have designated the MB a terrorist organization. 

However, this is the first time official Gulf elements have fingered Al-Qaradawi as responsible for ISIS's terrorism and for suicide operations. This may stem from their desire to rebuff Western claims that the source of Sunni extremism is the Wahhabi stream, dominant in Saudi Arabia, and shift the blame to the MB, which is regarded by many in the West as a more moderate Islamic movement.

It should be noted that even prior to 2012 Al-Qaradawi sanctioned suicide operations, especially in Palestine. In 2001 he responded to a fatwa by then-Saudi mufti 'Abd Al-'Aziz bin 'Abdallah Aal Al-Sheikh that forbade suicide operations even against an army occupying Muslim land. Al-Qaradawi stated in reply to this fatwa that operations by Muslim suicide bombers were a legitimate form of resistance, "heroic acts of martyrdom and sacrifice," and one of the noblest kinds of jihad for the sake of Allah.

He clarified: "These operations are the furthest [thing] from suicide and the ones who carry them out are not suicides by any measure. A suicide is someone who kills himself for selfish reasons, while one who sacrifices himself [a fida'i] does this for the sake of his religion and ummah. [He] fights the enemies of Allah using a new weapon that God has placed in the hands of the oppressed as a means of resisting the tyranny of the strong and the haughty."[4] 

As stated, in 2012 Al-Qaradawi permitted suicide operations in Syria provided that "the group [carrying out the attack]" deems it necessary, without explaining exactly what this means. In 2015, after he was accused of sanctioning suicide operations in Egypt following the ouster of president Muhammad Mursi, Al-Qaradawi's office issued a statement meant to clarify his stance on this issue.

It said that, in his book Fiqh Al-Jihad from 2009 the sheikh had clearly stated that he permitted suicide operations only in Palestine and nowhere else. The statement clarified further that, now that the Palestinians had obtained sophisticated weapons, suicide operations were no longer valid even in Palestine.[5] 

However, Al-Qaradawi's fatwas sanctioning suicide operations are still interpreted in some Muslim circles as a blanket permission for attacks of this kind. It should also be stressed that these fatwas still appear on his website.

This report will review the recent accusations against Al-Qaradawi.

Gulf Officials: The MB, Headed By Al-Qaradawi, Are To Blame For Suicide Attacks

On July 4, 2016, several hours after the series of attacks in Saudi Arabia, UAE Foreign Minister 'Abdallah bin Zayed tweeted: "We should hold to account those who incited and permitted to kill people and [to perpetrate] the suicide attacks." In a later tweet he explicitly pointed the finger at Al-Qaradawi: "Do you remember that [the former Saudi mufti], the honorable sheikh ['Abd Al-'Aziz] bin Bazz, forbade suicide attacks? Do you remember that the MB's mufti, [Yousuf] Al-Qaradawi, permitted them?"[6]

Other gulf officials supported bin Zayed's position. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohammed Gargash, tweeted: "Those who justified suicide attacks and issued fatwas [permitting them] are responsible for the current situation. Thousands of innocent people have died because of [their craving] for influence and power which is disguised as religion." He added: "These people must take responsibility for the chaos and violence that they helped to ignite... The MB's historical affinity for violence and bloodshed is documented and known..."[8]

Two days later, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Aal Khalifa likewise responded to Al-Qaradawi's reply and supported his UAE counterpart, tweeting: "The devils who were unchained are those who tried to destroy the heart of the [Muslim] ummah and its strongest fortress. Now they are blaming the righteous leaders for their own faults."

Articles In Gulf Press: Al-Qaradawi And His Ilk Prefer To Sacrifice Other People's Sons On The Altar Of Their Bloody Struggles; 'The Suicide Belts [Al-Qaradawi Permitted In His] Fatwas Have Come Back To Harm The Muslims Themselves' Read the full story here. 

Video - The U.S. must recognize the Muslim Brotherhood for what it is "A terrorist Organization".

SIGN THE PETITION NOW: http://counterjihad.com/designate

As More Gitmo Prisoners Are freed by Obama 'admin' Intel Report Affirms Return to Terrorism.

As More Gitmo Prisoners Are freed by Obama 'admin' Intel Report Affirms Return to Terrorism. HT :JudicialWatch.

While President Obama continues releasing terrorists from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo a new intelligence report discloses that dozens have reengaged in terrorism after leaving the compound at the Naval base in southeast Cuba. Of the 144 Gitmo prisoners freed by the Obama administration seven are confirmed to have returned to the fight, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Of the 532 captives released under the George W. Bush administration, 111 eventually reengaged in extremist causes, the ODNI reveals.

Gitmo detainees returning to terrorism is nothing new and in fact has been widely reported by Judicial Watch for years. Read the full story here.

Video - British-Palestinian Women’s Rights Activist Ahlam Akram: We Cannot Continue to Teach Jihad at Schools and Expect Society to Respect Women, Non-Muslims

Video - British-Palestinian Women’s Rights Activist Ahlam Akram: We Cannot Continue to Teach Jihad at Schools and Expect Society to Respect Women, Non-Muslims. (MEMRI).

British-Palestinian women’s rights activist Ahlam Akram said, in an interview with the Saudi channel Al-Khalijiyya TV, that the women of the East "must break out of the shell in which society has placed them." She criticized leading Muslim Brotherhood scholar Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi for divorcing his wife in her absence, saying that "Al-Qaradhawi and his ilk are a disaster to the Arab region" and adding that people cannot expect society to respect women and religious minorities when Jihad and the doctrine of "loyalty and disavowal" are taught at the schools. The interview aired on January 17, 2016.

Ahlam Akram: "Muslim jurisprudence regarding women has paralyzed half of society, making it closed up within itself, always fighting for justice. Justice and mercy are the most important attributes of Allah. Current laws (regarding women) deny justice and mercy."

Host: "Are you calling for the abolishment of jurisprudence regarding women?"

Ahlam Akram: "This kind of jurisprudence should not be taught, because it tarnishes the image of Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy. All the laws that stem from this type of jurisprudence are based on certain hadiths. Can I, as a Muslim-born human being, accept these repulsive hadiths? No way! They are not in line with the personality of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Therefore, the jurisprudence regarding women, along with the doctrine of 'loyalty and disavowal,' which has built a wall between us and the rest of the world..."

Host: "You are talking about hadiths fabricated in order to control..."

Ahlam Akram: "Of course. These hadiths are fabricated in order to gain control over society, and especially over the women. The doctrine of 'loyalty and disavowal,' the doctrine of Jihad, used by ISIS to attract the youth, the doctrine of dhimmis, which denies our fellow citizens their basic rights as citizens and human beings... We cannot continue to teach these things at schools, and then expect society to respect women or people of other religions.

[...]

"The message I would like to convey to the women of the East is that they must break out of the shell in which society has placed them – a situation that has been abused by the religious jurisprudents. I'd like to make women feel that they are human beings just like men. I would also like to send a message to Arab legislators, who, under the notion of 'honor,' justify killers or collaborate with them, by allowing mitigated sentences for killers of women."

[...]

Host: "In a recent article, you criticized Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi for divorcing his wife, Asmaa bin Qada, in her absence."

Ahlam Akram: "Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi and his ilk are a disaster for the Arab region, I'm sad to say. They reaffirm the tyrannical rule of men (over women), and paralyze the Arab mind. I don't know what else to say... The past 40 years, which have witnessed the rise of political Islam, and in which TV channels have been used in the worst possible way... These past 40 years have brought upon us a cultural change, which has rendered our society more extremist, more violent, and has intensified the denial of the other. (The fault lies with) Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi and his ilk."

Hillary’s Email Trail of Troubling Anti-Israel Conversations.

Hillary’s Email Trail of Troubling Anti-Israel Conversations. (Observer). By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach .

Clinton praised professional Israel hater Max Blumenthal as 'powerful and touching'

Sidney Blumenthal has been an intimate family friend to Hillary Clinton for two decades, and the emails between them show late night calls, social visits to one another’s home, and all the informality expected of two close and trusted friends.

We know Mr. Blumenthal was a senior adviser to Ms. Clinton during her 2008 campaign for the presidency and would have continued during her time as secretary of state had his appointment not been stopped by President Obama’s staff due to Mr. Blumenthal’s penchant for nasty campaign tactics.

Nonetheless, Ms. Clinton valued Mr. Blumenthal’s advice to such a degree that she secretly hired him as a private advisor, paying him $120,000 a year for his services.

A number of columns have been written exposing how Mr. Blumenthal sent articles to Ms. Clinton from his son Max, one of America’s most notorious Israel haters.

Ms. Clinton responded very favorably to them. Some of these writings would later be the basis for Max’s anti-Semitic Goliath, whose book launch was thrown by Sid at his own home.

The disgraceful writings compare Israel to the Nazis, call for the expulsion of the Jews from Israel and whitewash Palestinian terrorism. For good measure Max also compares the Israel Defense Forces to the SS.

The emails thus released show that Mr. Blumenthal sent 19 articles written by Max, most of which contained deep anti-Israel sentiment.

What is truly unsettling is Ms. Clinton’s glowing praise for Max’s work. On numerous occasions she forwarded the articles to her staff with the words “Pls print,” and a number of times she asked for multiple copies so that she could hand them out to her staff and discuss them. Read the full story here.

Erdogan On Morsi death sentence: 'Egypt is turning into ancient Egypt.'

Erdogan On Morsi death sentence: 'Egypt is turning into ancient Egypt.' (HD).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed the death penalty issued for former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi, likening the country to "ancient Egypt" while criticizing the Western stance over the coup, which was led by Mursi's successor Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

"Egypt is turning into ancient Egypt. Sisi cannot be confronted. The West does not display a stance against Sisi the coupmaker," Erdoğan said in his speech during an inauguration ceremony in Istanbul on May 16.

Hours before Erdoğan's speech, an Egyptian court sought the Mursi and more than 100 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood in connection with a mass jail break in 2011.

Egyptian court issues preliminary death sentence to Morsi and MB 'Godfather' Al Qaradawi in "jailbreak case".

Egyptian court issues preliminary death sentence to Morsi in "jailbreak case". (AA).

Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday issued a preliminary ruling of death to former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and 105 other defendants in the trial known as the "Natroun Jailbreak case."

The court has sent its decision in the "Natroun case" to the country's Grand Mufti for a consultative review as required by Egyptian law, setting 2 June as a date for a final verdict.

The court also issued a preliminary ruling of death to Brotherhood leaders Mohamed El-Beltagy and Khairat El-Shater and 14 others in the trial known as "Hamas Espionage case."

The court also sent its decision in the "Hamas Espionage case" to the country's Grand Mufti for a consultative review as required by Egyptian law, setting 2 June as a date for a final verdict.

In the "Natroun Jailbreak case, the prosecution had charged Morsi and co-defendants with damaging and setting fire to prison buildings, murder, attempted murder, looting prison weapons depots and releasing prisoners.

The prisoners, who broke out of jail, include members of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Lebanon's Hizbullah, jihadists, Muslim Brotherhood members and varied criminals, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors also said that over 800 fighters from Gaza had infiltrated Egypt, using RPGs and heavy armaments to storm three prisons, abducting four policemen and killing several others, along with inmates.

The ruling goes to the Mufti

Though the Grand Mufti's opinion is non-binding to the court, Egyptian judges have traditionally adjusted their final rulings in accordance with the Mufti's recommendations.

Saturday's capital punishment ruling against Morsi makes him the first president in Egypt's history to face the possibility of death by hanging if court ratifies its initial decision on 2 June or if he loses a projected appeal.

Other leading Brotherhood figures sentenced to death in the espionage case include Mahmoud Ezzat, who, at large, has been acting Brotherhood leader in August 2013 following the arrest of Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie.

Other Brotherhood leaders sentenced to death In the jailbreak case include Islamist preacher Youssef Al-Qaradawi, who resides in Qatar; Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, former speaker of the house Saad El-Katatni; and vice president of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party Essam El-Erian.

In the espionage case, Morsi and 35 others were charged with conspiring with foreign powers — including the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Lebanon's Hizbullah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard — to destabilise Egypt.

The court did not on Saturday issue a ruling against Morsi and 18 others in the case and scheduled the announcement for 2 June, suggesting that the former president, unlike those sentenced to death in the case today, will not be punished by death. Hmmm.....Making a 'martyr' out of Morsi would be a mistake in my opinion, better give him life,...in solitary.

Army denies Bergdahl 'deserter' story, No decision made.

Army denies Bergdahl 'deserter' story, No decision made.(ArmyTimes).

The Army says there is no truth to media reports claiming a decision has been made to charge Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl with desertion.

The Army continues to review the case against Bergdahl, said Paul Boyce, a spokesman for Forces Command, on Tuesday morning.

In a report Monday citing two anonymous military sources, retired Lt. Col. Tony Schaffer told Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” that the Army plans to charge Bergdahl with desertion. Schaffer also told the outlet his sources confirmed to him that Bergdahl’s lawyer has been given a charge sheet.

No charge sheets were available Tuesday, and Boyce said he is unaware of any charge sheets being issued against Bergdahl, adding that the Fox News story “seems to be speculative in nature.”

Bergdahl’s attorney Eugene Fidell declined to comment. NBC News, citing an anonymous senior defense official, is also reporting a desertion charge is coming, possibly within the week.

Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Forces Command, “is reviewing now the Army’s facts and findings to determine, impartially, any appropriate next steps and possible actions,” Boyce said.

Milley is “actively reviewing the case,” he said. “No decision’s been made.”

There is no timeline for when Milley must make a decision.

Milley received the Army’s investigation Dec. 22, Boyce said.

Bergdahl, 28, disappeared from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on June 30, 2009.

He spent five years as a captive under the Taliban before he was freed in a May 31 prisoner swap that also freed five Taliban leaders from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He is now assigned to a desk job at U.S. Army North at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, while he awaits the outcome of the Army’s review.

The Army has declined to release any details of the six-month investigation into the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

Then-Spc. Bergdahl was accused of leaving his patrol base alone and intentionally before he was captured by Taliban insurgents in 2009.

A prior investigation of Bergdahl’s disappearance – conducted in 2009 long before his return – found that some members of his unit believed Bergdahl left his patrol base alone at night at least once before and returned safely.

As the general court-martial convening authority, Milley has several courses of action, from no further action against Bergdahl to court-martial.

The case presents a challenge for the Army’s leadership, which has to decide whether to punish a soldier who spent five years as a prisoner of war or essentially overlook the allegations of misconduct that surrounded his disappearance.

Update: NBC: Bowe Bergdahl to Be Charged With Desertion, Officials Say

According to the officials, the desertion charges would be based on allegations that Bergdahl abandoned his remote outpost in June 2009 to avoid hazardous duty or important service, which are grounds for charges of desertion under the Uniform Military Code of Justice, or UCMJ.

According to one senior official, Bergdahl's actions in Afghanistan go well beyond the lesser offense of AWOL, absent without leave, because he allegedly abandoned his post "in the middle of a combat zone, potentially putting the lives of his fellows soldiers at risk." Hmmmm.....It seems the Obama 'Admin' is trying to suppress this story with a 'false flag' operation...it won't disappear.

Related:

Jan 11 -2012: Report: U.S. to Release Three Taliban Leaders from Guantanamo Bay, as in Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi plan. http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/01/report-us-to-release-three-taliban.html

March 11 -2012: "Commander in chief' Obama agrees to transfer the Taliban Guantanamo detainees to Qatar. http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/03/commander-in-chief-obama-agrees-to.html

June 30 - 2012: Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/06/obama-administration-still-considering.html


Report: Radical Sheikh a Key Mediator in U.S.-Taliban Talks http://www.investigativeproject.org/3359/report-radical-sheikh-a-key-mediator-in-us


U.S. Set to Release Key Taliban Figure in 9/11 Attacks  http://counterjihadreport.com/2012/01/15/u-s-set-to-release-key-taliban-figure-in-911-attacks/

Video - Bergdahl to be charged with desertion - "He who laughs last, laughs best.''

In White House terms, not charging Bergdahl means that he was indeed worth the trade for the Taliban Five. But charging him on any level means that releasing the five Taliban was an error of monstrous proportions, one the administration will never be able to explain away satisfactorily.

Source

Related:  Is nervous Obama White House holding Bergdahl report hostage?(Fox).

Last Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, indicated that he expected a decision “fairly soon” on whether the Army will court martial Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan, or has cleared him, paving the way for separation from the service and back pay in excess of $200,000.

Moreover, a decision to clear Bergdahl may well open the door for him to be designated a former prisoner of war, ensuring him substantial monthly pay, medical and educational benefits for the rest of his life.

To those who have followed all angles of Bergdahl’s case, it appears the Army has a true dilemma on its hands, as does the Obama administration.

The United States, let me repeat, does not negotiate with #IS. But we're more than willing to trade deserters for Taliban members. #Bergdahl
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) January 27, 2015

By now the investigating team has done an in-depth look into the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance from his post, has probably interviewed every witness with credible information, has looked at every piece of physical evidence and has reviewed hundreds of classified intelligence reports regarding his captivity. Its conclusions are long overdue. Hmmm......"I make absolutely no apologies for making sure we get a young man back to his parents," Obama told reporters.  Read the full story here.



Related:

Jan 11 -2012: Report: U.S. to Release Three Taliban Leaders from Guantanamo Bay, as in Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi plan. http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/01/report-us-to-release-three-taliban.html

March 11 -2012: "Commander in chief' Obama agrees to transfer the Taliban Guantanamo detainees to Qatar. http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/03/commander-in-chief-obama-agrees-to.html

June 30 - 2012: Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/06/obama-administration-still-considering.html


Report: Radical Sheikh a Key Mediator in U.S.-Taliban Talks http://www.investigativeproject.org/3359/report-radical-sheikh-a-key-mediator-in-us


U.S. Set to Release Key Taliban Figure in 9/11 Attacks  http://counterjihadreport.com/2012/01/15/u-s-set-to-release-key-taliban-figure-in-911-attacks/

Egyptian Pres. Sisi: The Fight Against Terror Needs New Muslim religious Discourse

Egyptian Pres. Sisi: The Fight Against Terror Needs New Muslim Discourse. (Matzav).

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday said the fight against “terrorism” needs a new Muslim religious discourse in addition to security and military measures, AFP reported.

“The rise in terrorism… requires a thoughtful response from the international community,” Sisi told the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

“The fight must not only be restricted to security and military aspects… but should include a reformed religious discourse from which false ideologies that could lure some into adopting violence to impose their ideas have been removed,” he added.

Sisi’s comments on Monday follow ones he made in a speech to Islamic clerics at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, in which he said Islam had become “a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction” for humanity.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoy a close relationship and cooperate in various fields besides military activities.

Both governments are hostile towards Islamists and have blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood, branding it a terrorist organization.

Gulf security is “a red line” for Egypt, Sisi said, affirming his country’s unwavering support for efforts by the UAE “to preserve its national security” and urged “increased” action to “confront all attempts to breach the security of Gulf countries.”

The UAE last year jailed a group of 30 Emiratis and Egyptians for terms of three months to five years for forming a Muslim Brotherhood cell. Hmmmm.....Be sure the 'Caliph' of the Muslim Brotherhood declared him a target.

Rumours that Qatar has ordered Qaradawi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders to leave the country.

Rumours that Qatar has ordered Qaradawi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders to leave the country.(Youm).[GoogleTranslate].

Informed sources revealed Brotherhood, that the Qatari authorities asked a number of the group's leaders to leave the territory amicable. sources pointed out, in a special statement for "The Seventh Day", that is expected to start a number of the group's leaders to leave Doha in the coming days, in response to the demands of Qatari authorities and in order not to strain relations with them.

sources confirmed, that the list of deportees with about 7 of the most prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and allies, who are Dr. Mahmoud Hussein, Secretary-General of the group, and Essam Talimh Director of the Office Qaradawi former, and Hamza Zawbaa spokesman for the Freedom and Justice Party, and Dr. Amr bicyclist chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Party of Freedom and Justice, who has been shuttling between Qatar and Turkey, and Ashraf Badr Eddin member of parliament former Freedom and Justice Party, calling the Muslim Brotherhood Wagdy Ghoneim, and Gamal Abdel Sattar, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and former leading the group.

Hmmm......Nice fairy tale, were it not that recently just before the Turkish presidential election, Qaradawi stated he might move to Turkey...the seat of the new Caliphate......'Al Taqiyya' in it's natural element. (See Vid  in link Below).

Listen up folks. The most prominent spiritual leader for the Muslim Brotherhood is none other than Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi and this Sunday he declared that Turkey is where the Caliphate will be established.

In an interview with TV Turkia Qaradawi declared that:

“We came to Turkey to assess the Fourth Assembly of the Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, capital of the Islamic Caliphate!”

Qaradawi added that:

“Turkey is the Caliphate State, and Istanbul is its capital … Turkey unites religion and the world, Arab (Wahhabist Sunnis) and Persian (Shiites), Asia and Africa, and it (the Caliphate) should be based upon this nation (Turkey)”. Source.


Related: Gulf rift on pause — for the time being, new Muslim Brotherhood 'Den' Khartoum.


One of the main sticking points had to do with policies towards the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar has always considered Muslim Brotherhood as an ally and a strategic asset, whereas the others view it as an enemy and strategic threat to the status quo.

Saudi Arabia has declared Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, the UAE considers it as an outfit that intends to destabilise Egypt and the region.

However, to the maverick Qatar, Muslim Brotherhood is the legitimate choice of the people of the region and deserves its sympathy and support. In the spirit of cooperation, Qatar finally conceded to the demand from other GCC members and has asked many of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders to leave Doha.

It has arranged for the Muslim Brotherhood leaders to regroup in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where they will be closer to their home base of Egypt.

Most likely, Qatar will continue to provide them with financial support. That was the most Qatar was willing to give in. The differences were sharp and it looked bad for the image of GCC as security community when it failed to agree on who was on its list of friends and enemies.


Update: Confirmed - Muslim Brotherhood Leader Says Qatar Asked Some Members to Leave.

“Some symbols of the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing — the Freedom and Justice Party — who were asked by authorities to move their residence outside the state of Qatar have now honored that request,” Amr Darrag, a senior Brotherhood leader, said in a statement posted on the group’s website.

A Qatari diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, contradicted Mr. Darrag. The diplomat said that the Brotherhood leaders had decided to depart for their own reasons without any request from Qatar, and that they were welcome to return.

“Maybe for some of them, they saw from the media that the country is being pressed and they left of their own free will because they did not want to put the country in an embarrassing situation,” the diplomat said.

In his statement, Mr. Darrag, the Brotherhood leader, indicated that only a limited number of his colleagues were leaving Doha. Qatar has been “a very welcoming and supportive host,” but the Brotherhood leaders are leaving “in order to avoid causing any embarrassment for the state of Qatar,” he wrote, adding, “We appreciate the great role of the state of Qatar in supporting the Egyptian people in their revolution against the military junta, and well understand the circumstances faced by the region.”

Though the decision has been warmly welcomed by Egypt, and is likely to have a similar reception from GCC members, analysts say there are many more issues still to be worked out.

Andrew Hammond of the European Council on Foreign Relations told AFP that he does not think Qatar's decision represents "a major policy shift."

The decision will leave dozens of Brotherhood supporters based in Qatar, and Hammond says that rather than making sweeping policy changes, the side-lined state is making "incremental concessions to placate its neighbours."

"The other issue is what happens with al-Jazeera's line. Does that shift? Nothing has changed so far," Hammond said.

al-Jazeera, a Qatar-funded news outlet, has been very supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood and opposed to the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi.

Speculation is now growing as to where the expelled Brotherhood officials could turn next – Qatar had been considered one of the last safe havens for the movement’s leadership.

The group is officially designated as a “terrorist” organisation by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria and Russia.

It was unclear how many Brotherhood leaders were leaving. Besides Doha, Istanbul and London remain hubs for Egyptian Islamists in exile where they might seek to relocate. Read the full story here.

Turkey the new Muslim brotherhood 'Den'? Qaradawi considering relocating to Istanbul, "capital of the Caliphate"

Turkey the new Muslim brotherhood 'Den'? Qaradawi considering relocating to Istanbul, "capital of the Caliphate" HT: GMBR.

Recent statements by Youssef Qaradawi suggest that the 87-year-old leader of the Global Muslim Brotherhood is under great deal of stress no doubt related to pressure he and Qatar, his host nation, are facing from a variety of quarters.In a filmed interview for the Turkish media before the recent Istanbul meeting of his International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and reviewed by the GMBDW:

Qaradawi stressed that they are having this conference in Istanbul, the capital of the [Historic] Caliphate, and that new Turkey brings together religious and non-religious issues, the Arab and non-Arab, and the nation in Asia and Africa, adding that “the nation should be based on it”.

Qaradawi blessed Erdogan for his election as the Turkish President; in order to justify Erdogan’s success, Qaradawi quotes a Quranic verse which speaks about the Prophet’s cooperation with Allah and states that “Angle Gabriel and the righteous of the believers and the angels, moreover, are [his] assistants. (Quran 66:4)

In what appears to be a battle of dueling caliphate claims, the GMBDW had reported in July that Qaradawi had ruled that a declaration of a Caliphate by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is “void under Shariah.” In addition to apparently declaring Turkey to be the capital of the Caliphate, an Egyptian news report of unknown reliability said recently: Sources close to Qaradawi have said that he is considering relocating to Turkey due to the deteriorating relations between Qatar and the Gulf countries.

An agreement has been reached to form a new Islamic alliance of Arab and Islamic countries to be headed by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. The agreement was said to have been reached during meetings of the “International Muslim Brotherhood” held on the sideline of the Istanbul conference and where Erdogan and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood figure Amr Darrag were present. Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rachid Ghannouchi will take over IUMS from Qaradawi.

The GMBDW cautions that as noted, this Egyptian report cannot be independently confirmed and appears to be contradicted in part by Qatari media reports that Qaradawi was re-elected as IUMS Chairman during an election held at the Istanbul conference.

At the end July, the Investigative Project translated other remarks by Qaradawi in which he defended the building of military tunnels by Hamas with the interesting interpretation that they were needed to protect Hamas from Israel:

Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi gives his Blessing to 'Islamist' Erdogan.

Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather' Qaradawi gives his Blessing to 'Islamist' Erdogan.

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu "If you want war, if you want our children to be killed in wars in the Middle East, go and vote for Erdoğan."

Erdogan's 'Islamist Turkey' Tightens the Noose on Freedom of Speech.

Erdogan's 'Islamist Turkey' Tightens the Noose on Freedom of Speech.(HumanrightsTurkey).

It should have surprised no one when another Turkish journalist was fired this past weekend for criticizing the government.  Yeni Safak columnist Murat Aksoy commented on CNN Turk that “the state has collapsed and the government has not been able to handle the crisis well” on January 10.  He was fired the next day.

What is potentially far more damaging to what is left of freedom of speech in Turkey than the silencing of dissident voices in the press is a draft law in the Turkish Parliament to increase surveillance and censorship of the internet.
Hurriyet Daily News, reporting on the Turkish Industry and Business Association’s concerns over the proposed legislation, notes,

• The draft law will permit officials to limit keywords more easily, meaning access to videos on video-sharing websites such as YouTube that include keywords deemed problematic by Turkish authorities will be blocked.

• All individuals’ Internet records, including details about what sites they have visited, which words they have searched for on the web and what activity they have engaged in on social networking websites, will be kept for one or two years, according to the draft law.

• Web providers will also be forced to become members of a new Internet union to be formed under the control of government

Suggestive of the government’s position, Prime Minister has called  twitter “the worst menace to society.” Yet the internet has been one of the few places where Turks have been able to find news outside the highly controlled Turkish media.

As the current political crisis continues, freedom of speech in Turkey seems destined to be one of its chief casualties.Hmmm......Erdogan: “Democracy is like a train. We shall get out when we arrive at the station we want.”

Latest: Erdoğan tells ambassadors it is not upto the EU to comment on controversial bill on judicial council HSYK. “It is not your place” he says

Turkish police now go's to work with packed suitcases, 500 cops removed from posts overnight.

Turkish police now go's to work with packed suitcases, 500 Turkish police removed from posts overnight.(TZ).

Erdogan: "Democracy is like a train. We shall get out when we arrive at the station we want."

A total of 500 police from the National Police Department, including some chiefs and deputy chiefs, were removed from their posts overnight in the latest phase of what appears to be a bureaucratic purge.

The removal and reassignment of police members from their posts is gaining pace following the appointment of new Interior Minister Efkan Ala.

The former interior minister, Muammer Güler, handed in his resignation to the prime minister days after the breaking of a major anti-corruption operation. Güler and two other ministers resigned due to their alleged involvement in corruption and bribery.Ala, who was appointed to the vacant Cabinet position in a reshuffle on Dec. 25, 2013, previously removed three deputy chiefs at the Ankara Police Department, who had only recently been reassigned to those positions.

And last night, 500 more police were removed from their posts in the National Police Department, many of them from its Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau.Furthermore, six deputy police chiefs were removed from their posts in the Ankara Police Department.The large number of police wanting to learn about their new posts caused the police intranet to freeze due to the heavy traffic. Hmmm.......Turkey now officially a banana republic?
  
Update: The Interior Ministry has sacked and reassigned over 3,000 police officers since an investigation into corruption and bribery became public on Dec. 17, 2013

Related: 

Turkey - IHH raid, former Guantanamo Bay detainee - high ranking Al Qaida operatives detained, AKP removes police chiefs of operation! 

Turkey - IHH raid, former Guantanamo Bay detainee - high ranking Al Qaida operatives detained, AKP removes police chiefs of operation!

Turkey - IHH raid,  former Guantanamo Bay detainee - high ranking Al Qaida operatives detained, AKP removes police chiefs of operation!(LongWarJournal).By LISA LUNDQUISt.

In an apparent crackdown on support for al Qaeda in Syria, Turkish authorities conducted simultaneous raids in seven provinces today against an Islamic relief organization and arrested at least 23 people, including senior al Qaeda operatives. 

The organization, Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH), reportedly the biggest Turkish provider of aid to Syria, is protesting its innocence. 

The operation has reportedly netted several senior al Qaeda operatives, including al Qaeda's Middle East deputy leader İbrahim Şen, who is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and the terror group's Turkey representative, Halis Bayancuk.

So far the antiterror operation has resulted in the arrest of 19 people in Van, three in Istanbul, and one in Kayseri, as well as the dismissal of Devlet Çıngı, the chief counterterrorism officer in the border city of Kilis, Hurriyet Daily News reported. 

An account in Today's Zaman said numerous al Qaeda operatives were arrested raids in the provinces of İstanbul, Adana, Kilis, Gaziantep, and Kayseri, and that helicopters were deployed in case clashes erupted.

Reuters cited reports by the Turkish news outlet Dogan that police were also conducting raids against al Qaeda suspects in the cities of Gazientep and Adana, near the border with Syria.

IHH General Secretary Yaşar Kutluay protested against the government crackdown, claiming that"[t]hey are trying to show the İHH as if it is related to terror organizations."

Today's raids, which took place during the runup to the Geneva II peace talks on Syria set to begin on Jan. 22, also come amid recent events raising questions about the Erdogan government's position on al Qaeda forces in Syria.

ICT report elaborated further on IHH in commentary regarding trial proceedings on al Qaeda's millenium bomb plot. Testifying in the proceedings, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the former head of the French judiciary's counterterrorism unit and the head of the US' Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, said that the IHH played important logistical roles in obtaining bogus passports and other counterfeited documents, the trafficking of weapons, the recruitment of jihadists, and their insertion into conflict zones.

The ICT report continued: "[Bruguiere] also stated that the IHH was 'basically helping Al Qaeda when (Usama) bin Laden started to want to target US soil.' 

Importantly, Bruguiere affirmed: 'It's hard to prove, but all elements of the investigation showed that part of the NGO served to hide jihad-type activities ... I'm convinced this was a clear strategy, known by IHH ... it was clearly proven that some of the NGO's work was not charity, it was to provide a facade for moving funds, weapons and mujahedeen to and from Bosnia and Afghanistan.'"

Established in Istanbul in 1992, the IHH is an affiliate of the Union of Good ('I'tilaf al-Khayr), a Saudi-based organization founded in May 2001 that serves as an umbrella group for some 50 Islamic charities. The US designated the Union of Good as a global terrorist organization
in November 2008, stating that it was formed for the purpose of transferring funds to the terrorist group Hamas. The chairman of the Union of Good is Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, an advocate of suicide attacks on Israeli citizens.

Kilis police chief reassigned after raid Amid the controversy, a senior police officer in Kilis was reassigned to another post just hours after the police operation he oversaw earlier in the day. Devlet Çıngı, head of the counterterrorism unit, was reassigned to a post in the juvenile unit.Hmmmm.....Can we now speak of 'State Sponsor of Terrorism'?Read the full story here.More here.

Taliban want US Guantanamo Bay prisoners sent to Qatar: Official.

• Taliban want US Guantanamo Bay prisoners sent to Qatar: Official.(Emirates24/7).Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents have demanded in negotiations with the US that prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay be transferred to Qatar, an Afghan government spokesman said Friday.But President Hamid Karzai's government objects strongly to the move and wants the prisoners sent directly to Afghanistan, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP.The Taliban announced this week that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar, a move seen as a precursor to peace talks with Washington.At the same time, the hardline Islamists demanded the release of prisoners from the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba -- but the statement did not specify where they should be sent.Karzai was told by the US about the demand that they should go to Qatar shortly before the Bonn conference on Afghanistan in December, Faizi said."Several meetings had taken place between the Americans and the Taliban. It was something discussed between the two sides."But that day, when the Americans talked to Karzai, it was the first time that they talked about the transfer of the prisoners to Qatar."Faizi said his government was in favour of a release of Guantanamo prisoners, "but we don't want them to go directly to Qatar -- our government is strongly against it".Karzai's government is concerned about being sidelined in the negotiations towards possible peace between the Taliban and the US, and Faizi stressed that it wanted "an Afghan-led transition"."The prisoners should be sent to the Afghan government first. We've been discussing this with the USA for the last five-six years. But so far, we have reached no agreement on that issue."Washington said Wednesday it had taken no decision to release prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in order to boost negotiations aimed at ending the 10-year war with the Taliban in Afghanistan.Hmmmm......The Qaradawi-brokered deal calls for significant American commitments, including "the release of prisoners still held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay".........Doesn't congress has anything to say in this?Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Vanuatu 5.2 ; Indonesia 5.1!More info here.

• President Obama defies lawmakers with recess appointments to NLRB.(TheHill).President Obama will recess-appoint his nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), bypassing a likely filibuster from Senate Republicans to keep the controversial agency operating in 2012.The president will use a recess appointment to install Sharon Block, Richard Griffin and Terence Flynn as members of the NLRB. Block and Griffin are Democrats, while Flynn is a Republican.The recess appointments are a huge victory for Obama’s union allies, which had urged the president to use any means necessary to keep the NLRB functioning. Without the recess appointments, the NLRB would have lacked the three-member quorum needed to issue rules and regulations.The move by the White House will further anger Republicans, who are already up in arms about Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a letter to Obama last month, all 47 GOP senators asked the president to refrain from making recess appointments to the NLRB. The labor board has come under fire from GOP lawmakers and business groups for a number of decisions, most notably a complaint against Boeing last year for allegedly retaliating against union workers. Critics of the labor board argue that complaint and other actions by the labor board, such as proposing a regulation to speed up union elections, are an abuse of the NLRB’s authority. The House has since passed legislation that would limit the labor board’s legal powers, and GOP senators have promised to block nominations to the NLRB.
  
  With the Senate likely to block new nominees, the NLRB wouldn’t be able to function without recess appointments. Needing at least three members to form a quorum, the labor board was expected to be reduced to two members with the end of NLRB member Craig Becker’s recess appointment.But with Block, Flynn and Griffin now all members of the NLRB, the labor board is up to its full roster of five members.Republicans tried to prevent recess appointments by keeping the Senate in pro forma session over the holiday break. In response to Cordray’s recess appointment, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said it was an “unprecedented move” by Obama and that he “has arrogantly circumvented the American people.” “This recess appointment represents a sharp departure from a long-standing precedent that has limited the President to recess appointments only when the Senate is in a recess of 10 days or longer,” McConnell said in a statement. The White House has argued that it has legal authority to make recess appointments during the pro forma sessions.
  “In an overt attempt to prevent the President from exercising his authority during this period, Republican Senators insisted on using a gimmick called “pro forma” sessions, which are sessions during which no Senate business is conducted and instead one or two Senators simply gavel in and out of session in a matter of seconds. But gimmicks do not override the President’s constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running,” White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a blog post Wednesday.
  Unions cheered the NLRB recess appointments. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka hailed Obama's move as a victory for workers. Hmmmm....."I stopped being President....now i'll be 'Emperor'" or consolidating power to take over the country from Congress? Read the full story here.

• MF Global sold assets to Goldman before collapse: sources.(Reuters).By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Matthew Goldstein. MF Global unloaded hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of securities to Goldman Sachs in the days leading up to its collapse, according to two former MF Global employees with direct knowledge of the transactions. But it did not immediately receive payment from its clearing firm and lender, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM - News), one of the sources said.The sale of securities to Goldman occurred on October 27, just days before MF Global Holdings Ltd (Other OTC:MFGLQ.PK - News) filed for bankruptcy on October 31, the ex-employees said. One of the employees said the transaction was cleared with JPMorgan Chase.At the same time MF Global, which was run by former Goldman Sachs head Jon Corzine, was selling securities to Goldman to raise badly needed cash, the futures firm was also drawing down a $1.2 billion revolving line of credit it had with JPMorgan, according to one of the former MF Global employees.JPMorgan spokeswoman Mary Sedarat said the bank did not withold money because of the line of credit. She declined further comment on details of the transactions.JPMorgan has fought aggressively in bankruptcy court to protect its interests, and received a lien on some of MF Global's assets in exchange for granting the firm $8 million to fund its bankruptcy costs. The lien puts JPMorgan's interests ahead of MF Global customers who have not yet received an estimated $900 million worth of money from their accounts, which remain frozen as regulators search for missing funds.The hastily crafted transactions and the seeming inability of MF Global to recoup some of the money in the sale to Goldman may start to explain why so much money remains unaccounted for at the futures firm.It is unclear what type of assets Goldman bought from MF Global, but the securities were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the former employees said. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity.Read the full story here.

• Defying Republicans, Obama to Name Cordray as Consumer Agency Chief.(NYT).President Obama will challenge Senate Republican foes of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by naming Richard Cordray as its director while Congress is out of town, according to a senior administration official.That would allow the agency to establish new regulations over financial institutions, putting into effect elements of the financial regulatory overhaul that was one of the administration’s main achievements in Congress.Mr. Obama’s exercise of constitutional powers to name top officials without Senate confirmation while Congress is in recess is a stiff challenge to Republicans, who have attempted to block the maneuver by holding “pro forma” sessions over the holidays.Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, objected strenuously, saying Mr. Obama was overstepping the bounds of his executive power and leaving the agency open to legal challenges.“Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,” he said.“The president is committed to seeing Richard Cordray as head of the consumer bureau,” a senior administration official said. “We believe this appointment is fully within his legal rights.”Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat of South Dakota who is chairman of the Banking Committee, praised the move.“Mr. Cordray is eminently qualified for the job, as even my Senate Republican colleagues have acknowledged,” he said. “It’s disappointing that Senate Republicans denied him an up-or-down vote, especially when it’s clear he had the support of a majority of the Senate.”Mr. Cordray boarded Marine One with Mr. Obama on Wednesday for the short flight to Andrews Air Force Base, where he is to accompany the president to his hometown of Cleveland for the announcement. The president is expected to deliver remarks on the economy at a high school in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights.Hmmmm......It's nice to be 'king'......Consolidating power for the takeover?Read the full story here.More here.Update: Today, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) released the following statement on the news that President Obama would appoint Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) after Cordray had been rejected by the U.S. Senate:"The President has taken an unprecedented step: he has bypassed Congress to appoint a nominee, previously rejected by the Senate, to lead an agency with significant powers and no accountability to the American people. We need fundamental structural changes in this organization to assure that it can truly protect consumers."

• Anti-Semites Scrawl Swastika on Canadian Graves.(INN).Desecration of Jewish graves has spread to the capital of British Columbia, Canada, where swastikas were scrawled on gravestones in Victoria’s historic Emanu-El Jewish Cemetery.Police said the attack is disturbing and that “It seems like it’s more of a targeted thing, where it’s placed and what’s said,” Victoria police officer Mike Russell told the city’s Time-Colonist newspaper.“We’re really appealing to the public for any information they may have” because there were no videos of the vandalism, he added. He said that the vandalism was reported Saturday night and occurred the same day because a caretaker had been there a day before.Rabbi Harry Brechner wrote an open letter calling on the vandals to confess and to “come clean the gravesites, and when you are through take a tour with me around the cemetery and meet some of the people who lived through Nazism.”Both the cemetery and the Emanu-El synagogue date back to the 1860s, and the cemetery is the oldest Jewish burial ground in western Canada. The synagogue is Canada’s oldest Jewish house of worship in continuous use, according to the Victoria newspaper.Read and see the full story here.

• In major blow, EU agrees embargo on Iranian crude.(Reuters).European governments have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian oil, EU diplomats said Wednesday, dealing a potentially heavy blow to Tehran that crowns new Western economic sanctions imposing real pain just months before an Iranian election.The prospective embargo from the European Union, along with tough U.S. financial measures signed into law by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, form a concerted Western campaign to impose sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.Iran says its nuclear program is strictly peaceful, but Western countries say a November U.N. report shows it has sought to build an atomic bomb. Talks between Tehran and major powers broke down a year ago.Diplomats said EU envoys had held talks on Iran in the last days of December, and that any objections to an oil embargo had been dropped - notably from crisis-hit Greece which gets a third of its oil from Iran, relying on Tehran's lenient financing. Spain and Italy are also big buyers."A lot of progress has been made," one EU diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The principle of an oil embargo is agreed. It is not being debated any more."The embargo will force Tehran to find other buyers for oil. EU countries buy about 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iran's 2.6 million bpd in exports, making the bloc collectively the second largest market for Iranian crude after China.The news caused a spike rise in oil prices, with Brent crude peaking at nearly $114 a barrel in intraday trading, up nearly $2 from Tuesday's close.Tehran insisted it would have no trouble: "We could very easily replace these customers," said S. M. Qamsari, International Director of the National Iranian Oil Co.Hmmmm.....Let me Guess Obama's buddy Turkey?Read the full story here.

• Senator queries Obama on Iran sanctions.(JPost).WASHINGTON - A Republican senator on Tuesday questioned President Barack Obama's commitment to new sanctions on Iran's central bank, noting the president had claimed the right to sidestep some of the requirements when he signed them into law last week.In a statement issued as he signed a defense bill into law on Saturday, Obama said several provisions including the sanctions that target Iran's central bank "would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations."The president, a Democrat, said in his statement that if any application of these provisions conflicted with his constitutional authorities, "I will treat the provisions as non-binding."Senator Mark Kirk, one of the authors of the new sanctions on Iran, said on Tuesday that Obama was challenging the entire US Senate if he did not implement the new sanctions, because senators approved them unanimously before they were appended to the defense bill."With the Senate voting 100-0 to cripple the Central Bank of Iran, the president's signing statement hinting he will ignore parts of this law risks overwhelming opposition in the Congress," Kirk, a Republican, said through a spokesman.The new sanctions would penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank, the main conduit for its oil revenues.Obama has approved a series of sanctions on Iran and warned that no option is "off the table" in stopping Tehran from its suspected quest for a nuclear weapon.But as Congress considered the sanctions on Iran's central bank, Obama aides said that threatening US allies might not be the best way to get their cooperation in action against Iran.As Obama signed the bill last week, senior US officials said Washington was consulting with its foreign partners to ensure the measures can work without harming global energy markets.Iran threatened on Tuesday to take action if the US Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran's most aggressive statement yet after weeks of sabre-rattling as new U.S. and European Union financial sanctions take a toll on its economy. In his signing statement last Saturday, Obama also expressed concern about the constitutionality of a number of other provisions in the defense bill that related to the treatment and transfer of detainees and said he would interpret them "to avoid constitutional conflict".Christopher Kelley, a Miami University of Ohio professor who has researched presidential signing statements, said he found at least 10 instances in Obama's statement on the defense bill when he challenged the bill's constitutionality, although there may be more."Saying things like 'I will treat it as non-binding' is a clear constitutional challenge," Kelley said in an email to Reuters.The legislation authorized US defense programs from war fighting to weapons building for 2012. Obama said he signed the bill because he wanted to ensure key services and defense programs get the financing they need.Hmmmm......"Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty". ~ Plato.Read the full story here.

• Tehran decries foreign troops presence in Gulf, announces new Military drill.(JPost).Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi continued Tehran's heated rhetoric against the West on Wednesday, decrying the presence of foreign military forces near the Strait of Hormuz. "The presence of extra-regional powers in the Persian Gulf is unhelpful and damaging and their presence has no result other than turbulence in the region," he told reporters following a cabinet meeting, according to a Tehran Times report.Vahidi added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is planning on holding another military exercise in the near future, according to Iran's student newspaper ISNA. Iran recently concluded a ten-day naval drill, during which it test fired two long-range missiles. Iran said that it was using the test to display its resolve in countering any attack by enemies such as Israel or the United States.The Iranian defense minister's comments followed an Iranian threat Tuesday that the country would "take action" if the US Navy were to move an aircraft carrier into the Gulf. The statement made by Iran's Army chief Ataollah Salehi was Tehran's most aggressive yet after weeks of saber-rattling following new US and EU financial sanctions took a toll on its economy.The prospect of sanctions targeting the oil sector in a serious way for the first time has hit Iran's rial currency, which fell by 40 percent against the dollar in the past month. It recovered 20% of its value Wednesday through intervention by Iran's Central Bank.Read the full story here.

• What To Do About Egypt.By ElliotAbrams.The bipartisan “Working Group on Egypt,” of which I am a member, has just made public its most recent comment on developments there. The statement is in the form of a letter to Secretary Clinton. The text is as follows:

Dear Secretary Clinton,
We write to express our grave concern about the assault last week by the Egyptian authorities on Egyptian and international civil society groups. These latest actions undermine the already unsteady progress toward democracy in Egypt and raise serious doubts about whether the current military authorities will permit a successful transition from Army rule.
Claims by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that it did not order the raids have no credibility. The raids are the culmination of more than six months of steadily increasing harassment of NGOs via the state media, Central Bank, Ministry of International Cooperation, and Ministry of Justice–all of which serve at the pleasure of the SCAF.
The SCAF’s actions go to the heart of what constitutes democracy, that is, not just the casting of ballots on Election Day but the promotion of engaged citizenship and creation of robust institutions of law, fairness, and tolerance. If the SCAF succeeds in its current effort, it will lead Egypt down a path that no American administration can support.
In order to send a clear signal, we strongly urge that provision of all U.S. military aid be suspended immediately until Egyptian military authorities reverse their recent actions and demonstrate their commitment to the democratic process and to permitting human rights groups to conduct their activities without harassment or interference. It is currently impossible for the State Department to certify that “the Government of Egypt is supporting the transition to civilian government including holding free and fair elections; implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law,” as stipulated by the Congress in its FY2012 authorization. We also urge that current aid from FY2011 be suspended.
Madam Secretary, in addition to undermining the efforts of international and Egyptian civil society organizations to monitor the democratic process in Egypt, we believe the Egyptian authorities’ actions, including and especially the targeting of three American groups, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and Freedom House, represent a deliberate test of the Obama administration’s commitment to democratic reform in Egypt. If the United States does not respond firmly, this will be read both by the Egyptian authorities, and more importantly, by the Egyptian people as acquiescence to the Egyptian authorities’ assault on civil society and the democratic process.
The United States should use every tool at its disposal to persuade the Egyptian military to stop the assault on democracy and begin a real transition to civilian rule immediately. After a year of conversations with the SCAF by U.S. officials at all levels, it is clear that the message is not getting through; in fact, the SCAF’s behavior and social and economic conditions in the country have deteriorated markedly. Withholding military assistance is the only way to get the SCAF’s attention. The United States simply should not provide assistance to an Egyptian military that treats as criminals other Egyptians who also receive U.S. aid. The United States must show that if the military insists on continuing its disastrous course, it will do so without the support of the U.S. taxpayer.The punch line comes at the end, when the group urges that aid to the Egyptian military be suspended: “Withholding military assistance is the only way to get the SCAF’s attention. The United States simply should not provide assistance to an Egyptian military that treats as criminals other Egyptians who also receive U.S. aid. The United States must show that if the military insists on continuing its disastrous course, it will do so without the support of the U.S. taxpayer.” This recommendation is not made lightly, and retaining American influence with the Egyptian army is a significant goal. But the military must understand that it is simply impossible, in our democratic system, to continue to send them funds when they punish human rights and democracy promotion groups for receiving U.S. funding. Even if the Obama administration wants to keep the money flowing, it would not be long before Congress insisted that it stop.As I suggested here, in “Mubarakism Without Mubarak,  Mubarakism was a system that perpetuated military rule and American aid by arguing that the military was the only alternative to the Brotherhood (and groups worse than the Brotherhood) while in fact it created perfect conditions for the Islamists to thrive. We now see the result of those decades of repression and we should reject the invitation to continue the Mubarak system, this time with a collective military leadership replacing the dictator. The struggle for democracy and human rights in Egypt will be long and hard and we cannot determine the outcome, but we must at the very least let all Egyptians know which side we are on. For now, we must let the army know that if it is their policy to crush democracy activists, there is a price they will pay. It’s $1.3 billion a year.Read  the full story here.

• Iran: Foreign Warships Will Need Iranian Permission to Pass through Strait of Hormoz.(IMRA).TEHRAN - All foreign warships will soon be unable to pass through the Strait of Hormoz unless they first receive a permission from the Iranian Navy ships deployed in the region, an Iranian parliamentarian said, adding that the country's lawmakers are now working on a relevant plan as the strategic waterway is part of the Iranian territories."If the military vessels and warships of any country want to pass via the Strait of Hormoz without coordination and permission of Iran's Navy forces, they should be stopped by the Iranian Armed Forces," Nader Qazipour told FNA, explaining about the contents of the plan.He underlined that the plan will be presented to the parliament's presiding board next week.In relevant remarks on Monday, another Iranian legislator stressed that Iran will use all its capabilities and possibilities to defend the country against foreign threats and the country will use the Strait of Hormoz as a defensive tool and will close the waterway if it comes under threat."Iran will definitely use the defensive potential of the Strait of Hormoz if it is faced with threats," Rapporteur of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali told FNA.Iranian lawmakers and officials have recently warned enemies that Iran is entitled to the right to close the strategic oil lifeline as a defensive option against foreign invasion."The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is not on the Islamic Republic of Iran's agenda (at present), but if threats against Iran come to trample upon the rights of our nation while others use the strait for exporting their oil, then Iran will be entitled to the right to close the Strait of Hormuz," member of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Taqi Rahbar told FNA late December."The international conventions reserve such rights for the Islamic Republic of Iran as well," Rahbar underscored.The lawmaker, however, said, "For the time being, the Islamic Republic of Iran has not decided to close the strait, but this (closing the strait) depends on the conditions of the region."Read the full story here.

• Israel Security Council: Obama Naive on Muslim Brotherhood.(INN).Israel’s National Security Council thinks that President Barack Obama is naïve in his attitude towards the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which stated Sunday it can’t fathom the idea of recognizing Israel.Dr. Rashad Bayumi, the Brotherhood’s number two leader, said on Sunday, "No Muslim Brotherhood members will engage in any contact or normalization with Israel.”President Obama has asked the Muslim Brotherhood’s leading jurist, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, to mediate secret talks between the United States and the Taliban, according to The Hindu newspaper. The jurist previously has called for killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq and has vowed that Islam “will conquer Europe [and] will conquer America,” whether by force or by the spread of radical Islam.In early 2010, when American foreign policy experts could not imagine that the radical Muslim Brotherhood would emerge as the most powerful political force in Egypt, President Obama dismissed the party as a “faction,” adding that “they don’t have majority support in Egypt. But they’re well organized. There are strains of their ideology that are anti-U.S.”Less than a year afterwards, the Brotherhood has emerged as the winner of the first three rounds of legislative elections in the post-Mubarak period. Its closest contender represents the even more radical Salafist Muslim sect.Last summer, the official Obama administration policy changed from shunning the Muslim Brotherhood to “engaging” it. Last month, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry met in Cairo with top members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.  Israel's National Security Council, headed by Maj.-Gen. Yaakov Amidror, recently discussed "The Challenge of the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Offshoots” and concluded that the US president is naïve, according to the Hebrew daily Yisrael HaYom.Read the full story here.

• "Sanctions that bite"? - Turkey's FM to visit Iran for talks on nuke, Syria.(JPost).ISTANBUL - Turkey's foreign minister will visit Tehran on Wednesday for talks with his Iranian counterpart on Iran's nuclear program and developments in neighboring Iraq and Syria, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said late on Tuesday.Ahmet Davutoglu's visit was described as being in the framework of regular talks between the two ministers, but it comes at a key time for the region and relations between the two regional powers."It is intended that they will exchange views on topical subjects such as Iran's nuclear program and developments in Syria and Iraq," the Turkish foreign ministry said.Davutoglu's visit was set to finish on Thursday.Turkey is evaluating whether to seek a waiver from the United States to exempt Turkish oil importer Tupras from new US sanctions on institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, a Turkish official said on Tuesday.US ally Turkey is among the biggest buyers of Iranian oil and gas. It gets about 30 percent of its oil from neighbor Iran, and Tupras, Turkey's biggest crude oil importer is a big buyer of Iranian crude.The United States has armed itself with tough measures targeting financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, the main clearinghouse through which OPEC's No. 2 oil exporter deals with clients around the world.The law, signed by President Barack Obama on Saturday, allows the US to exempt institutions in a country that has significantly reduced its dealings with Iran. Obama may also grant waivers deemed to be in the US national interest or otherwise necessary for energy market stability.Turkey is bound by UN sanctions against Iran, though it opposed the last round of measures in 2010, and it insists it is not obliged to follow non-UN sanctions.Iran threatened on Tuesday to take action if the US Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran's most aggressive statement yet after weeks of sabre-rattling as new US and EU financial sanctions take a toll on its economy.Obama said several provisions including the sanctions that target Iran's central bank "would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations."The president, said in his statement that if any application of these provisions conflicted with his constitutional authorities, "I will treat the provisions as non-binding." Hmmmm.....Turkey got a 'waiver' from buddy Obama to conduct business as usual?Read the full story here.

• Updated - Turkey to seek US waiver on Iran oil.(HurriyetDaily).Turkey will seek a waiver from the United States to exempt its biggest refiner TÜPRAŞ from new U.S. sanctions on institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, a Turkish energy ministry official told Reuters today.U.S. President Barack Obama signed the new sanctions into law on New Year's Eve, which if implemented fully would prevent most refineries from paying for Iranian crude, the first Western measure that could have serious impact on Iran's oil industry. The law would strip any financial institution dealing with Iran's central bank from access to the U.S. financial system. However, the law allows Obama to issue waivers to firms in countries that significantly reduce dealings with Iran, or at any time when it is either in the U.S. national interest or necessary for energy market stability. U.S. officials have said they will discuss with allies how to implement the law without causing havoc in oil markets. U.S. ally Turkey gets about 30 percent of its oil from neighbour Iran, and TÜPRAŞ - Turkey's biggest crude oil importer, owned by its largest conglomerate, Koç Holding - is a big buyer of Iranian crude. The energy ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a Turkish energy official would meet a representative of the U.S. embassy in Turkey to learn more about the content of the new U.S. law. NATO member Turkey has deepened economic and financial ties with Iran in recent years, despite Western efforts to isolate Tehran under sanctions aimed at forcing it to stop work on its nuclear activities. Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said TÜPRAŞ will continue to buy oil from Iran "until there is a new development". "Iran is one of the countries TÜPRAŞ imports oil from. We have not received information on the new sanctions. TÜPRAŞ continues to buy oil today," Yıldız told reporters. Iran said on Dec. 24 it had extended its crude export contract with Turkey for 2012. Turkey bought 217,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran in mid-2011, or 30.6 percent of its imports, according to the International Energy Agency, making it the sixth biggest buyer of Iranian crude. Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is expected to visit Tehran later today for talks on Iran's nuclear program and developments in neighbouring Iraq and Syria. The U.S. sanctions and the prospect of new sanctions this month from the European Union appear to be having an impact on Iran's ability to find buyers for its oil at global prices. China, the largest buyer by far of Iranian oil, has cut its purchases for January by more than half from 2011 levels.Hmmmmm........No sanctions for Obama's 'buddy' Erdogan....'business as usual'?Read the full story here.

• Taliban leaders held at Guantánamo Bay to be released in peace talks deal brokered by Muslim brotherhood spiritual guide Yusuf al-Qaradawi.(Guardian).The US has agreed in principle to release high-ranking Taliban officials from Guantánamo Bay in return for the Afghan insurgents' agreement to open a political office for peace negotiations in Qatar, the Guardian has learned.According to sources familiar with the talks in the US and in Afghanistan, the handful of Taliban figures will include Mullah Khair Khowa, a former interior minister, and Noorullah Noori, a former governor in northern Afghanistan.More controversially, the Taliban are demanding the release of the former army commander Mullah Fazl Akhund. Washington is reported to be considering formally handing him over to the custody of another country, possibly Qatar.The releases would be to reciprocate for Tuesday's announcement from the Taliban that they are prepared to open a political office in Qatar to conduct peace negotiations "with the international community" – the most significant political breakthrough in ten years of the Afghan conflict.The Taliban are holding just one American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, a 25-year-old sergeant captured in June 2009, but it is not clear whether he would be freed as part of the deal."To take this step, the [Obama] administration have to have sufficient confidence that the Taliban are going to reciprocate," said Vali Nasr, who was an Obama administration adviser on the Afghan peace process until last year. "It is going to be really risky. Guantánamo is a very sensitive issue politically."Nasr, now a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said the Taliban announcement on the opening of an office in Qatar was a dramatic breakthrough."If it had not happened then the idea of reconciliation would have been completely finished. The Qatar office is akin to the Taliban forming a Sinn Féin, a political wing to conduct negotiations," Nasr said, but added: "The next phase will need concessions on both sides. This doesn't mean we are now on autopilot to peace."This time, he said, it was clear that the top Taliban council – including its reclusive leader, Mullah Omar – was on board with the proposal. In return, Semple said he thought the release of a few prisoners from Guantánamo Bay was politically feasible for the Obama administration, even in an election year."The prospect of ending a costly war in Afghanistan is sufficiently attractive for the Obama administration to move forward with it," Semple said."Even if all five of these people they release went straight back to Quetta [the Taliban stronghold in Pakistan] to rejoin a fight, it wouldn't make any real difference."He said that a number of leading Taliban took part in the secret talks that led to agreement with Qatar, including the former Taliban ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Shahabuddin Dilawar, the former deputy foreign minister Sher Mohammad Stanekzai and Tayeb Agha, a top aide to Mullah Omar, the mysterious Taliban leader who, even in power, only ever met with a handful of western diplomats."The important thing is that all these men are operating with the approval of Mullah Omar," he said. It is not clear when the office will open, and there is also likely to be disagreement on the role of the Kabul government. A senior Afghan government official said the Karzai administration had accepted the creation of a Taliban office in Qatar only after demanding assurances from foreign powers that any peace process must be kept under the firm control of the Afghan government."If it is not led and owned by the Afghan government, it will fail," the official said.Hmmmm.....Now 'this' shines a whole different light on what Obama ment by:"He's Not Bound by Guantanamo"The signing statement says that on the issue of accused terrorist detainees, Obama will interpret and apply provisions that bar the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "in a manner that avoids constitutional conflicts."Read the full story here.

• Iran again warns US navy not to enter the Gulf.(Emirates24/7).Iran on Wednesday reinforced its warning to America against keeping a US navy presence in the oil-rich Gulf, adding steel to a threat that Washington had dismissed as a sign of "weakness" from Tehran."Iran will do anything to preserve the security of the Strait of Hormuz" at the entrance to the Gulf, Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, according to the website of Iran's state television."The presence of forces from beyond the (Gulf) region has no result but turbulence. We have said the presence of forces from beyond the region in the Gulf is not needed and is harmful," he was quoted as saying.The comments echoed a warning issued Tuesday by Iran's military that it would unleash its "full force" if a US aircraft carrier is redeployed to the Gulf."We don't have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once," Brigadier General Ataollah Salehi, Iran's armed forces chief, said as he told Washington to keep its aircraft carrier out of the Gulf.The White House on Tuesday had brushed off the warning, saying it "reflects the fact that Iran is in a position of weakness" as it struggles under international sanctions.The US Defence Department said it would not alter its deployment of warships to the Gulf.But on Wednesday, Salehi again stressed his warning, and called 10 days of Iranian navy war games just held near the Strait of Hormuz as a "message" to the United States."The forces from beyond the region have received the appropriate message from these manoeuvres," he said, according to the official IRNA news agency."Those who have come as enemies should be afraid of our manoeuvres," he said.The exercises climaxed Monday with the Iranian navy test-firing three types of missiles designed to sink warships.The head of Iran's parliamentary national security and foreign policy commission, Aladdin Brujerdi, was also quoted by the Fars news agency as saying the US description of Iran being weak "is a completely illogical stance".He added: "The US talks about sanctioning our oil but they should know that if Iran's oil exports from the Gulf are sanctioned, then no-one will have the right to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz."The developments have sent the price of oil soaring. New York trading of West Texas Intermediate crude was at ê102.60 per barrel, while Brent North Sea crude contracts in London were selling for ê111.81."The situation with Iran remains worrisome," said Nick Trevethan, a senior commodities strategist at ANZ Research in Asia."The consequences of any military action in the Middle East will be enormous. A spike in crude prices will kill off any recovery in the US," he added.Iran's war games were meant to show the Islamic republic could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows, if it is attacked or its oil exports are curbed by sanctions.Last week, a US aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, passed through the strait and eastward, through the Gulf of Oman and a zone being used by the Iranian navy for its drill.Iranian military officials said that, if it tried to return through the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf, it would be attacked.The US carrier would face the "full force" of Iran's navy, a navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, told Iran's Arabic television service Al-Alam on Tuesday.The US Defence Department said in a statement it would continue the rotation of its 11 aircraft carriers to the Gulf to support military operations in the region."Our transits of the Strait of Hormuz continue to be in compliance with international law, which guarantees our vessels the right of transit passage," it said.The Pentagon also underlined its pledge to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, saying "we are committed to protecting maritime freedoms that are the basis for global prosperity; this is one of the main reasons our military forces operate in the region."The increasingly tense situation in the Gulf was taking place as Iran struggled with turmoil on its domestic currency market.Foreign exchange shops on Wednesday were shuttered as traders refused to comply with a central bank order putting a new, low cap on the value of the dollar against the Iranian rial, which has come under intense pressure in recent days.Iranian authorities were trying to shore up their currency after it slid 12 percent on Monday to a record low against the dollar the day after the United States enacted new sanctions hitting Iran's central bank.Iran, however, insisted the volatility of the rial is not the result of sanctions.It "definitely has nothing to with sanctions," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.Read the full story here.

• Hamas calls Israeli-Palestinian meeting a “farce”.(BikyaMasr).Gaza (dpa) – The Palestinian group Hamas said on Wednesday that the first face-to-face meeting in 16 months between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to try to restart stalled peace talks was a “farce” and a “waste of time.”The talks in Jordan on Tuesday “contradict the hopes and aspirations of our people,” said Fawzi Barhoom, a spokesman for the Islamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip.The meeting, which was attended by Jordanian officials and representatives of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators – the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations – ended without a major breakthrough.Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, opposes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s peace moves with the Jewish state.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the Islamist movement was “astonished” that, during the meeting, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat handed the Israelis Palestinian proposals on borders and security, two major sticking points.Prior to the talks, Hamas called on the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority to shun peace talks with Israel, saying that past negotiations had failed.Hamas, which won a parliamentary election in 2006, has rejected international demands that it recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence and honour past Israeli-Palestinian agreements.Read the full story here.

• Over 130 Doctors Without Borders staff go missing in South Sudan.(BikyaMasr). At least 130 staff from a clinic in South Sudan are missing, the international medical organization said in a statement.The staff had been running a facility in Pibor, but as ethnic violence in the area has left scores dead and thousands fleeing the area, MSF has been unable to contact their staff.Renewed ethnic violence in Jonglei State, South Sudan, has forced thousands of families to flee into the bush. Two Doctors Without Borders medical facilities have been targeted and the independent medical humanitarian organization has been forced to temporarily suspend its much needed medical activities in Pibor County.Late last month, two doctors with MSF were shot and killed in Somalia, highlighting the dangers of working in conflict zones.According to the statement from the group, the staff had evacuated the hospital in Pibor and two outreach clinics as fighters from the Lou Nuer tribe inched closer to the area.Reports from the area say the facilities had been set ablaze by the fighters.The Lou Nuer and Murle are in conflict, with each accusing the other of stealing cattle and killing tribal members. Neither UN peacekeepers nor the South Sudan army were able to stop the attack on Pibor.“Thousands of people have fled for their lives in Lekongole and Pibor in the last week and are now hiding in the bush, frightened for their lives,” said Parthesarathy Rajendran, MSF head of mission in South Sudan.“They fled in haste and have no food or water, some of them doubtless carrying wounds or injuries, and now they are on their own, hiding, beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance.”Hmmmm......Read the full story here.

• Resorts in Maldives fight Islamic spa ban.(Telegraph).The archipelago’s tourism ministry ordered the closure of all spas, massage parlours and health centres, with immediate effect, after an Islamist opposition party claimed they were being used as a front for prostitution.However, the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), which represents the islands’ hotels, said it would fight for the ban to be overturned.The association says it has filed two civil court cases in an effort to revoke the ban, and has applied for a temporary injunction.Sim Ibrahim, head of MATI, said that tourism was crucial to the country’s economy, and warned that the move could put off overseas visitors.The Maldives are a popular destination for affluent holidaymakers, and many of the island’s resorts feature modern spas. Around 850,000 tourists visited the islands last year.Despite the ban, the majority of hotel spas remain open for business. The luxury Huvafen Fushi resort, where rooms cost up to £6,500 a night, said its spa is open and is continuing to take bookings. The Banyan Tree, Four Seasons, Six Senses and Shangri-La resorts have also confirmed that their spas are operating as normal.The decision has also raised fears that hotels could soon be prevented from selling alcohol to guests. It is currently illegal for tourists to bring alcohol into the country, but some opposition groups would like to see the ban extended to prohibit the sale of alcohol across the islands.Islamic fundamentalism has gained support in the Maldives during recent years, with anti-semitic protests taking place over the government’s decision to allow direct flights to the country from Israel.Last year a Swiss couple, who chose to renew their wedding vows while on holiday in the Maldives, were described as “infidel swine” by the hotel employee who conducted the ceremony. Read the full story here.