Dr.Hans Blix discusses Iran's nuclear programme and how to stop

Few men have spent more time at the intersection of nuclear
weapons and international politics than Swedish diplomat Hans
Blix.

As the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and then chief United Nations weapons inspector, Blix
was at the centre of events when he publicly contradicted
claims from the administration of former US president George W
Bush that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It was an
assessment the US pushed aside.

Blix also accused the British government of dramatising the
threat of weapons in Iraq in order to strengthen its case for
joining the 2003 war against Saddam Hussein. No stockpiles of
weapons of mass destruction were ever found.

In his 2004 book Disarming Iraq, Blix gives an account of the
events and inspections before the coalition began its invasion.

"I am sorry for the way it went because we failed, and if we had persuaded the UN Security Council and persuaded the world, then there might not have been a war," he said.

Recent talk about a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear installations has made Blix concerned about a repeat of the events that led to the Iraq war.

"When I hear [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu saying it’s not a question of days or weeks, but also not years, I think that sounds like a terrible threat," he says.

In this interview with Al Jazeera, Blix discusses Iran's nuclear programme and how to stop what he calls a "legally unjustified" attack against Tehran. Is Iran trying to develop a nuclear weapon? Is an Israeli attack on Iran coming?

PFLP offers condolences on the death of Sudanese Communist Leader Mohammed Ibrahim Nagud

Tens of thousands of members and  supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine gathered on December 11, 2010, in Gaza City’s Palestine Stadium, marking the forty-third anniversary of the PFLP’s founding in a mass rally.

PFLP offers condolences on the death of Sudanese Communist
leader Mohammed Ibrahim Nugud
Mar 24 2012

Comrade Ghazi Sourani, director of the Cultural Department of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, delivered condolences to the Sudanese Communist Party on behalf of the PFLP upon the death of its General Secretary, Mohammed Ibrahim Nugud, on March 22, 2012.

Nugud passed after a life of struggle and great sacrifice for progress in the Sudan and the development of democracy. He was part of the resistance to colonialism, and continued that
resistance against successive dictatorships, having been arrested and tortured several times, always remaining a voice of party unity and struggle. He was elected several times to the Sudanese parliament and was a member of the multi-party parliament overthrown in a coup in 1989.

The Front said that he remained loyal throughout his life to the principles of his party, was a solid fighter and a modest man who struggled all his life for democracy, liberation, revolution and socialism.

பாலஸ்தீனர்களின் `தாய் மண் ` தினத்தில் இஸ்ரேல் படை காடைத்தனம்

Clashes as Palestinians mark 'Land Day'

Israeli security forces use water cannon and tear gas in clashes with protesters at flashpoint Qalandiya checkpoint.

Last Modified: 30 Mar 2012 14:35 Al Jazzera

Israeli security forces have fired rubber coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian demonstrators in the occupied West Bank as annual Land Day rallies turned violent.

At least 121 people have been injured in clashes at the Qalandiya checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday, mostly from tear gas inhalation, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Palestinian activists have called for a "Global March to Jerusalem" to mark the day when Israeli Arabs protest against government policies that they say has stripped them of land.

Five medical workers were also reported to have been shot with rubber coated bullets and one car was set ablaze.

Al Jazeera's Cal Perry reported that Israeli security forces tried to push hundreds of protesters back toward the nearby West Bank town of Ramallah, using water cannon and tear gas.

Rocks were thrown, tyres set alight and Red Crescent ambulances could be seen at the scene.

"This is a place where we frequently see clashes, and what we're seeing here is the Israeli army needing to put a barrier up and not let people through," our correspondent said.

"These clashes seem to be a bit more fierce today, and have started earlier in the day than usual."

Access limited
Medics in the Gaza Strip said the Israelis also used live fire to prevent protesters from nearing the frontier wall, seriously wounding one man.

Israeli forces were put on high alert at frontier crossings with Lebanon and Syria, but there were no reports of anyone nearing the border fences, unlike last year when several demonstrators were killed in separate protests.

Israeli mounted policemen dispersed Palestinian protesters during clashes in East Jerusalem [AFP]
 

However, violence flared at checkpoints in the West Bank to the north and south of Jerusalem.

Witnesses also reported disturbances at gates leading into the Old City, with police limiting access to the Muslims' revered al-Aqsa Mosque.

A Reuters news agency reporter saw two men being carried away injured after scuffles at Jerusalem's Lions' Gate, while police said they had made five arrests at the Damascus Gate.

Jerusalem is a focal point of conflict, as Palestinians want the city's eastern sector, captured by Israel in a 1967 war, as capital of a future state.

Israel has annexed East Jerusalem as part of its capital and insists the city remain united.

Six UN Security Council resolutions have denounced or declared invalid Israel's control of the city.

"We are determined to march together toward Jerusalem, and hopefully we will break through and reach it," said a masked youth, calling himself Rimawi, as he faced off against soldiers
in Ramallah.

Flag-waving crowds neared the Qalandiya crossing out of  Ramallah, some of them hurling stones at the security forces, but were forced back when border police sprayed them with foul smelling liquid from a water cannon.

There were also confrontations in Bethlehem, where Palestinians hurled petrol bombs at an Israeli watchtower.

Other events were held in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, were at least three people were wounded in clashes with the Israeli border police, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Border fears
Land Day commemorates the killing by security forces of six Arabs in 1976 during protests against government plans to confiscate land in northern Israel's Galilee region.

Previous remembrances have mostly passed quietly, but Israel decided to reinforce its defences following deadly clashes along the Lebanese and Syrian borders in May that appeared to
catch the military off guard.

Palestinian organisers called for peaceful rallies against "the policies and practices of the racist Zionist state" and said solidarity protests were planned in some 80 nations.

"When crowds from 80 countries move towards Jerusalem, they send a strong message to the Israeli occupation that no one can accept what they are doing in Jerusalem," Ismail Haniyeh, the
Gaza leader of the Islamic group Hamas, said.

Israel is wary of growing unrest in the occupied Palestinian Territories, with peace talks stalled for months and Palestinian leaders refusing to return to the negotiating table until Israel halts all Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.

Leading Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti, serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli jail for orchestrating suicide attacks, called on Monday for a new wave of civil resistance in
the decades-long quest for statehood.

On high alert along its borders, police were also wary of possible friction within the boundaries of Israel, where the Arab minority was planning protests.

Arabs make up about a fifth of Israel's total population. Many complain of discrimination.
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சிங்களத்தின்,`இராணுவக்குடியிருப்பு, பெளத்த மடாலய அமைப்பு, மாவட்ட எல்லை மாற்றம், தேர்தல் தொகுதி எல்லை மாற்றம், மும்மொழித்திட்டம், சிங்களக் குடியேற்றம்` அனைத்தும் இஸ்ரேல் பாணி நிலப்பறிப்பும், தேசிய நிலத் தொடர்ச்சி அறுப்புமேயாகும்.

இஸ்ரேலுக்கு பாலஸ்தீனத்தை தீனிபோடும் ஒபாமா , ஈழத்தை  சிங்களத்திடமிருந்து  காக்க உதவமாட்டான்!
==============

இராணுவமயமாகும் சிங்களத்துக்கு ஆயுதம் விற்கும் `அமைதியை விரும்பும்` ஒபாமா!

US Eases Restrictions on Sri Lanka Defense Sales
WASHINGTON March 23, 2012 (AP)

The U.S. has eased restrictions on defense sales to Sri Lanka to allow exports of equipment for aerial and maritime surveillance.

The State Department enacted the changes Thursday, just as the U.N. Human Rights Council urged Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of war crimes during its civil conflict that ended
in 2009.

The department said the two developments were unrelated.
It may, however, help ease strains in the bilateral relationship. The U.S. proposed the resolution approved by the U.N. human rights body.

The export restrictions date back to the start of the civil conflict in the 1980s. The new exceptions allow exports, on a case-by-case basis, of equipment such as unarmed patrol boats, light aircraft, cameras, and related components.

Euro Zone Raises Crisis Firewall Ceiling to €700 Billion

Euro Zone Raises Crisis Firewall Ceiling to €700 Billion .By MATTHEW DALTON WSJ

COPENHAGEN—Euro-zone finance ministers on Friday agreed to boost the bloc's bailout lending limit to €700 billion ($930 billion), choosing the least ambitious option on the table for reinforcing its anticrisis "firewall," one some in Europe fear won't be enough to prevent a reawakening of the region's financial turmoil.

After several months of relative calm, tensions are returning to the European government bond markets. Yields on Italian and Spanish debt are rising, as the effects of the European Central Bank's huge infusions of cheap bank funding, which started in December, appear to be waning. Financial markets, governments in the Group of 20 and the International Monetary Fund have been pressing for a convincing increase of the bailout capacity to prevent the crisis from returning in full force.
But Germany, the euro zone's paymaster, beat back lobbying for a more ambitious increase of the bloc's two bailout funds, which have been capped at €500 billion. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, backed by the euro zone's weaker economies, had argued that raising the lending cap to €940 billion would offer a convincing response to the crisis.

The expansion option chosen by finance ministers at their meeting here Friday will have to be ratified by the 17 euro-zone member parliaments.

In a paper circulated to euro-zone officials last week, the commission wrote that the lower funding level "could be viewed as maintaining the status quo, which both G-20 partners and the markets consider as inadequate. In that context, this option is likely to fall short of providing the necessary credibility to unlock an increase in IMF resources."

Euro-zone governments hope the move will be enough to encourage governments from the Group of 20 nations to contribute more resources to the IMF for anticrisis lending. The G-20 nations have been holding back their contributions pending a bigger commitment from the euro zone itself. Euro-zone governments have already pledged an additional €150 billion for the IMF's global crisis-fighting resources, hoping that other governments will follow suit.

"I welcome the decision of euro-area ministers to strengthen the European firewall," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. But the final decision about giving more resources to the fund will rest with its member governments.

Friday's decision appears unlikely to end financial-market skepticism about the euro zone's commitment to finance its weaker governments, particularly if the region's economic health continues to deteriorate, said Credit Suisse interest-rate strategist Helen Haworth.

"If the data is bad on the economic side, then you've got an environment where are people are saying, 'We've got this firewall. Is it big enough?' Maybe, maybe not," Ms. Haworth said.

The euro zone's bailout capacity is determined by the interplay between the European Financial Stability Facility, the bloc's €440 billion temporary bailout fund, and its permanent successor, the €500 billion European Stability Mechanism, due to come into operation in July.

The EFSF has already pledged to lend about €200 billion to Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Until Friday's decision is ratified, those loans would be subtracted from the ESM's €500 billion loan capacity, giving the bloc just over €300 billion for future bailouts, far short of what would be required to finance Italy and Spain, should they need it.

The ministers' decision will raise the cap of the two funds to €700 billion beginning in July 2012, the launch date of the ESM, ensuring that €500 billion is available for future bailouts.

They also decided to accelerate capital payments into the ESM—€32 billion will be paid this year, the same amount next year and a final €16 billion in 2014—to ensure the fund has enough capacity to start lending significant amounts soon after it launches. Because all the ESM capital won't be paid in upfront, an EU official said the governments could further accelerate the capital payments if needed to make more loans.

Until July 2013, when the EFSF will cease new lending, the EFSF and the ESM could in theory be making loans side-by-side, but ministers said the preferred option would be to make loans from the ESM.

The EFSF will thus for a year serve as an emergency backstop. That is because the ESM's status as an international financial institution, with its own capital, means the loans it makes lead to relatively small increases in the debt levels of euro-zone nations backing the fund. Each euro lent by the EFSF, by contrast, leads to a euro increase in the collective debt of the euro-zone governments guaranteeing the fund.

The commission had pushed an option that would have folded the EFSF's unused lending guarantees into the ESM, raising the bailout capacity to €940 billion and increasing the amount of lending available for future bailouts to €740 billion. German officials publicly opposed that option.

Source: WSJ Cartoons added by ET