Yemen army pushing into south al-Qaida stronghold

(AP) — Yemeni troops battling al-Qaida fighters in the country’s south have forced them to retreat but military officials said Thursday the push in a major southern city is going slowly because of concerns the militants could stage a surprise counterattack.

The military, backed by heavy artillery and warplanes, is advancing inside the city of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, the officials said. The city fell into al-Qaida’s hands during last year’s popular uprising against the now ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Zinjibar’s capture would deal a heavy blow to al-Qaida as it would leave the terror group’s fighters scattered in smaller towns and mountain areas of the south.

The push in Zinjibar is part of Yemen’s offensive along several fronts to uproot al-Qaida from its southern strongholds at a time when the U.S. has thrown its support behind the new Yemeni president and Saleh’s successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Hadi has vowed to combat al-Qaida by restructuring the military and replacing Saleh’s loyalists from key posts, though there are concerns that Saleh, who stepped down in February, is still obstructing reforms and trying to retain influence through his cronies.

The latest offensive began Tuesday, with the military using warplanes and heavy artillery to clear the way for an assault by ground troops on towns where al-Qaida fighters are either operating or in control.

Yemen’s army is receiving direct help from U.S. troops, who are operating from a desert air base near the main battle zones to help coordinate assaults and airstrikes, according to Yemeni officials.

The officials said it was the most direct American involvement yet in the country’s expanding campaign against al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, which has been blamed for directing a string of unsuccessful bomb plots on U.S. soil from its hideouts in the impoverished country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order allowing the Treasury Department to freeze the U.S.-based assets of individuals who the White House says “threaten the peace, security and stability” of Yemen. The order was meant as a deterrent against future action and does not immediately levy any penalties against specific people or organizations.

On Thursday, Yemeni officials said the military intelligence in Zinjibar was poor and that army commanders were unsure whether most of the al-Qaida fighters there have been killed, simply fled the battle or retreated for tactical reasons and were preparing a counteroffensive.

To the east of Zinjibar, Yemeni military officials said a suspected U.S. drone-fired missile struck two moving vehicles in the city of Shibam in the southern Hadramawt province. The officials said the strike destroyed one of the vehicles, killed its three occupants who were believed to be linked to al-Qaida, and wounded two in the second car.

Also in the south, bodies of 11 Yemeni army soldiers and civilian volunteers fighting alongside the military were found after al-Qaida retreated from the area near the city of Lawder, officials said. The victims were believed to have been killed execution-style, they said.

“Most of the areas surrounding Lawder are clear of al-Qaida now,” one military official said.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Shapiro says US has plans to attack Iran

 (AP) — Washington’s envoy to Israel says the U.S. has plans in place to attack Tehran if necessary to prevent it from becoming an atomic military power.

In remarks before the Israel Bar Association, Dan Shapiro said the U.S. hopes diplomacy and economic sanctions will pressure Iran to abandon its suspect nuclear program.

He says the U.S. prefers not to resort to military force “but that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it’s ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready.”

The Associated Press obtained a recording of his remarks on Thursday. Shapiro spoke Tuesday.

World powers are to meet with Iran for a new round of nuclear talks in Baghdad next week. Iran denies it is building bombs.

The once top secret scale model of Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan (AFP, Dan de Luce)

WASHINGTON — US intelligence officials have unveiled a once top secret scale model of Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan, a precise replica used to plan the raid that killed the Al-Qaeda chief a year ago.

The table-top model made its public debut Wednesday in the halls of the Pentagon, where soldiers and office workers stopped in the corridor and gazed in fascination at the elaborate miniature of Bin Laden’s compound.

With farm fields carved out of clay and the building’s walls made of styrofoam, the model was built in six weeks by a special team at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA).

The NGA, which provides satellite imagery to the country’s spy agencies, has displayed the model in the entryway of its headquarters in Virginia since October, a spokeswoman said.

“This is actually the first time the model has been out of the building. Although it’s been declassified for a while, we were just able to make it publicly releasable,” spokeswoman Erica Fouche told AFP

The NGA brought the model to the Pentagon “to show service members first hand what it is they’ve been hearing about for the past year,” she said.

“They’ve seen cartoon graphics of it, but until you lay your eyes on the actual model, you really dont get the full scope of the Abbottabad mission,” she said.

Officials had said previously that US commandos rehearsed the raid at a full-scale model of the compound, but the NGA’s miniature model had painstaking details, including concertina wire on the compound walls, a dark red minivan parked out front and a white Land Cruiser inside the compound grounds.

The team that constructed the replica is part of a permanent “model shop” at NGA that creates scale models to help bring to life sites captured in satellite imagery, officials said.

The model on display on Wednesday afternoon may be the original but officials said copies of the replica were also constructed.

The scale of the Bin Laden compound model is one inch to seven feet.

“It really puts it into perspective how large the compound actually is — or was, sorry, because it no longer exists,” Fouche said.

After US Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden in a daring nightime assault on May 2 2011 in the garrison town of Abbottabad, Pakistani authorities later razed the building that served as the Al-Qaeda mastermind’s home for five years.

Russia Opposes Adopting Statement by G8 on Syria and Iran That Could Be Used to Impose Provisions in Security Council Decisions

MOSCOW, (SANA)- The Russian President’s Representative to the Group of Eight, Arkady Dvorkovich, stressed Russia’s opposition to adopting a statement by the Group on Syria and Iran that includes conclusions about provisions that could be later imposed by the Group’s leaders when adopting decisions at the Security Council.

Dvorkovich said in a statement on Thursday that the Group of Eight summit will discuss international security and other issues like the situation in Syria and Iran.

He emphasized that the most important issue for Russia in this regard is committing to its principles and excluding any attempts at making the Group of Eight’s statement include conclusions about provisions that could be later imposed by the Group’s leaders when endorsing decisions at the Security Council.

The Russian representative said that the Group of Eight should send a signal to the parties in Syria that they should work peacefully.

He stressed that Moscow considers it necessary to give a strong signal to all the parties in Syria to work to make the situation secure for everybody inside the country as well as in the neighboring countries and the entire world, adding that the signal should includes calls on the authorities in Syria and those protesting against them to work peacefully.

He noted that agreement on shaping the Group of Eight’s stance towards Syria has not been reached yet, adding that efforts are underway to reach an agreement in this regard.

The Group of Eight summit is scheduled in Camp David on May 18-19.

Gen. Mood: Those Who Use Violence against the Syrian People and International Observers Should Reconsider Their Acts

In a press statement reported by the United Press International, Gen. Mood praised the cooperation provided by the Syrian government to the international observers in this regard.

He talked about the incident which happened to one of his teams in Khan Sheikhoun town in the province of Idleb, in which two of their vehicles broke down.

“This is definitely not the kind of violence we want,” said Gen. Mood, expressing hope that this kind of violence would not be repeated.

He noted that the observer team have just left Khan Sheikhoun and were on their way back to Damascus.

Head of the international observer mission thanked the Syrian authorities for their cooperation, applauding the Syrian government’s role in facilitating and coordinating the transport of the two hit vehicles and the team’s departure from the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

On Tuesday, a team of the observers were hit in an explosive device blast targeting one of their vehicles in Khan Sheikhoun town in the Idleb, which caused damage to two vehicles, while no one was harmed.

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal anticipated a report by the UN monitoring mission in Syria, considering that “confidence in the efforts of the UN began to decrease to a great degree.”

His remarks at a press s conference Monday came under the pretext of the continuation of violence perpetrated by the armed terrorist group, backed by his kingdom with money and weapon to foil the mission of the UN Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan.

The Syrian media which presents a real image of what is happening in Syria was also attacked by al-Faisal, considering the media comments about the gulf intervention in the Syrian affairs as “unfair accusation”, ignoring his clear call in Tunis to arm the Syrian opposition and provide it with weapons and money.

Twitter will protects its 10 M users in UK

Twitter plans to work more closely with Government officials in a bid to “protect and defend” its 10 million UK users.

The service and its users have come under scrutiny for the role Twitter played in breaking injunctions and as a communications tool during the riots last year, and Twitter says it will respond by employing advocates to push its case in Westminster.

The blogging service’s UK general manager told the BBC that the company was looking to recruit a public policy manager to represent its members in debates, such as whether users should be censured for breaking injunctions online.

Tony Wang said the new recruit would work with “the Government, various ministries, members of parliament as well as law enforcement” to make sure its users were protected from legal action where possible and had a voice in policy discussions.

“There are a number of different needs that [officials] have – and there’s a lot of very unique ways that they’re using Twitter,” he said, speaking as the site announced it had passed the 10m active user milestone in the UK.

According to Twitter, it was increasingly taking a more localised view on policy despite its global ambitions, and planned to have “more people on the ground” in countries outside the US after a widepread recruitment programme.

Zionist Entity Steals Oil from Occupied Syrian Golan

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Israel has decided to resume oil exploration operations in the occupied Syrian Golan. This act is a violation of the international law and conventions as the UN Security Council has repeatedly stressed through dozens of resolutions that all measures taken by Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan are null and void.

The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth revealed a decision taken by the Israeli Energy Minister, Uzi Landau, and secretly approved by the Zionist Cabinet to resume oil exploration in the occupied Syrian Golan after about 20 years from halting it.

The decision highlights the Zionist entity’s disregard for the international law and the international consensus that it must abide by the international legitimacy, particularly the Security Council No. 497 which considers Israel’s decision to impose its laws and jurisdiction on the Syrian Golan as null and void.

The Newspaper said that Landau’s extremist right-wing ideas have contributed to taking such decision which aims at increasing oil production, while several Arab regimes are providing Israel with large amounts of oil and gas.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinians on Tuesday marked their mass displacement that followed Israel’s creation with a blend of sadness and hope, stopping in their tracks for a mournful siren but also flashing victory signs and carrying banners proclaiming their right of return.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their villages during the war that established the Jewish state in 1948, an event they commemorate every year as their “Nakba,” or catastrophe.

Today, surviving refugees and their descendants number several million who are scattered across the globe, many still living in squalid camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and surrounding Arab countries.

Saadat Jaber, 62, said he has passed on the story of his family’s uprooting from what is now the Israeli city of Lod to his offspring.

“I still have hope,” Jaber said as he marched with thousands of others to the center of the West Bank town of Ramallah. “Now Israel is a great power, but there were empires in history that collapsed and people that were oppressed by these empires took back their rights.”

In three West Bank areas north and south of Jerusalem, dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers clashed with Israeli troops who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 30 people were hurt by the rubber bullets and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation.

The 64th anniversary of the Nakba comes after nearly two decades of failed efforts to negotiate the terms of a Palestinian state with Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been unable to find enough common ground to renew talks that broke down in 2008. Abbas says Israel must halt settlement construction on occupied land sought by the Palestinians. Netanyahu says talks should resume without preconditions.

The Nakba Day commemorations highlighted the political disagreements between Abbas and his main political rival, the Islamic militant Hamas, which seized Gaza from him in 2007.

Abbas seeks a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War — but has been vague on the fate of the refugees.

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations never got down to details on the issue, though there is broad opposition in Israel to a mass resettlement of Palestinians, which would rob Israel of its Jewish majority.

In a Nakba Day speech late Monday, the Western-backed Abbas referred to ending Israel’s occupation of the lands captured in 1967, saying that “no matter how strong and aggressive, it will be removed.”

Hamas’ founding charter calls for Israel’s destruction and return of all refugees. While some Hamas leaders now raise the possibility of a state alongside Israel, they won’t say whether they consider this to be a temporary arrangement.

In Gaza City, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said that “our message to the refugees is that we will not give up the right of return … We will not accept any project that abandons the right of return or affects our sacred rights to the homeland.”

In Ramallah, the seat of Abbas’ self-rule government, thousands marched to the city’s central Manara Square. During a one-minute siren, many stood at attention and flashed V-for-victory signs.

In the biblical town of Bethlehem, hundreds of school children wearing black T-shirts with 1948 printed on them marched through the streets, waving black flags that read “64 years of Nakba.”

Clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops erupted at Rachel’s Tomb, an Israeli enclave in Bethlehem, and at the Ofer and Qalandia checkpoints near Jerusalem.

In Hamas-run Gaza, some 3,000 Palestinians marched to the local U.N. office. They carried banners reading “We shall return” and listing the names of their original villages. Haniyeh and several Hamas security officials ran a two-kilometer (1.5 mile) race that ended at the Palestinian parliament.

On an upbeat note, Palestinians celebrated the end of a weekslong hunger strike Monday by hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel. The fate of prisoners is a deeply emotional issue; nearly everyone here has a neighbor, friend or relative of who spent time in an Israeli jail.

The prisoners obtained better conditions, including more family visits and limits to a controversial Israeli policy that can imprison people for years without charge. Israel extracted pledges by militant groups to halt violent activities, and by negotiating an end to the strike with the help of Egypt, prevented the potentially explosive scenario of prisoners dying of hunger.

Syrian Terrorists train in Kosovo

TEHRAN - A top lawmaker has said the Syrian government, enjoying the support of its nation, will never collapse by bomb explosions.