Pro- and anti-government activists in Syria are increasingly turning to the Internet, hacking and defacing websites in an attempt to win a public relations victory. Shadowy online activist groups have hacked into at least 12 Syrian government websites in recent days, replacing their content with interactive maps and statements detailing atrocities by security forces against protesters. The groups say their actions are in response to the regime’s tactics.
Egypts foreign minister says Israel treaty stands
Posted: September 27, 2011 in Egypt, IsraelTags: Egypt, Israel, Middle East
UNITED NATIONS — Egypt’s foreign minister said Monday his country will always respect its landmark peace treaty with Israel and is seeking ways to strengthen its “strategic relationship” with the United States. Mohamed Amr’s comments in an interview with The Associated Press come at a time of mounting concern about deteriorating Israeli-Egyptian relations and Washington’s diminished influence on the Cairo government following the ouster of long-time President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The Palestinians’ initiative to seek U.N. recognition as a state, which goes to the Security Council on Monday, faces an uphill struggle to secure the nine votes needed for approval. Without those votes in the 15-member body, the United States will be spared the embarrassment of having to veto the application, which would be a further blow to its floundering efforts to secure Middle East peace.
In Mideast Riddle, Turkey Offers Itself as an Answer – NYTimes.com
Posted: September 26, 2011 in TurkeyISTANBUL — Not so long ago, the foreign policy of Turkey revolved around a single issue: the divided island of Cyprus. These days, Turkey’s prime minister may be the most popular figure in the Middle East, its foreign minister envisions a new order there and its officials have managed to do what the Obama administration has so far failed to: position themselves firmly on the side of change in the Arab revolts and revolutions.
via In Mideast Riddle, Turkey Offers Itself as an Answer – NYTimes.com.
(AP) WADI DINAR, Libya – The rockets and mortars rained down on the position where the revolutionaries had retreated on the outskirts of the mountainous stronghold of Muammar Qaddafi’s loyalists. So, in a fury, the fighters charged wild and unorganized Sunday back into the city for yet another day of fighting.
Fighters for Libya’s new rulers have been throwing themselves into the battle to take Bani Walid for days with no progress against the old regime loyalists, strongly fortified and bristling with heavy weaponry. The frustration is showing among the amateur revolutionary fighters.
“We expected this kind of resistance from Qaddafi forces, but I thought we could take them on,” said Mohannad Bendalla, a doctor treating wounded fighters at a field hospital set up outside of the city.
The official, trained military of the National Transitional Council, Libya’s interim government, has pulled away from Bani Walid to regroup and reinforce for a new assault after they were heavily beaten in the city Friday. That has left ragtag, undisciplined volunteers at the front line. Most are youths from the most die-hard revolutionary neighborhoods of Tripoli, like Souq al-Jomaa or Tajoura, strong on zeal to kill some Qaddafi supporters and weak on training on how to do so.
Libyan Fighting Continues as U.S. Sets Plan to Reopen Embassy – Businessweek
Posted: September 24, 2011 in LibyaTags: Libya, Middle East, Muammar al-Gaddafi
Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) — Libyan fighters battled to oust Muammar Qaddafi’s loyalists from Bani Walid and his hometown of Sirte as the National Transitional Council prepared to form a government.
The U.S. will reopen its embassy in Tripoli this week, U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday after meeting with NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil in New York.
“Our ambassador is on his way back to Tripoli, and this week, the American flag that was lowered before our embassy was attacked will be raised again, over a reopened American embassy,” Obama said at a meeting of nations that supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-backed campaign in Libya.
NTC-allied forces have struggled to overrun the coastal city of Sirte, 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Tripoli, the capital, and the mountain town of Bani Walid, 140 kilometers (90 miles) south of Tripoli.
via Libyan Fighting Continues as U.S. Sets Plan to Reopen Embassy – Businessweek.
(Reuters) – Libya’s interim leaders failed to agree a new cabinet on Sunday in the latest setback to attempts to normalize the running of a government still bogged down by battles with pro-Muammar Gaddafi forces.
The cabinet — or executive committee — was dissolved last month after procedural errors in the handling of the unexplained shooting dead of the newly ruling National Transitional Council’s (NTC) military chief.
A new executive committee, to include officials responsible for defense and interior affairs, was supposed to be appointed by interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril on Sunday.
But the talks broke down when his proposals did not receive full backing from all current members.
“We had an advisory meeting with the NTC in order to form a new cabinet. We have agreed on a number of portfolios. We still have more portfolios to be discussed,” Jibril told reporters through a translator on at a news conference on Sunday.
Russia ‘believes US, Israel behind Iran worm attack’
MOSCOW — Russia believes Israel and the United States were responsible for unleashing the malicious Stuxnet computer worm on Iran’s nuclear programme last year, a top official said on Friday.
“We are seeing attempts of cyberspace being used by some states to act against others — of it being used for political-military purposes,” said the foreign ministry’s emerging challenges and threats department chief Ilya Rogachyov.
“The only case in which experts believe the actions of states have been proven in this area … is the Stuxnet system that was launched in 2010 against the centrifuge control system used to enrich uranium in Iran,” he said.
“Experts believe that traces of this lead back to the actions of Israel and the United States,” Rogachyov told reporters. “This is the only proven case of actual cyber-warfare.”
Most of the Stuxnet infections have been discovered in Iran, giving rise to speculation it was intended to sabotage nuclear facilities there. The worm was crafted to recognize the system it was to attack.
More deaths in Syria as sanctions tighten – Middle East – Al Jazeera English
At least 12 protesters have been killed in locations across Syria by security forces who opened fire on anti-government demonstrations, activists told Al Jazeera. As protests were staged on what activists named the “Friday of opposition unity”, eight people were killed in the central province of Homs and one in Damascus. Three others, including a seven-year-old boy, were injured when security forces shot at a protesters in the Deir Balba neighbourhood of Homs, which has been a major protest hub. An activist in the Homs town of al-Rastan, has told Al Jazeera that about 50,000 people have taken to the streets calling for the downfall of Syria’s ruling Baath party. At least one person was shot and injured as security forces, backed by armoured vehicles, opened fire on protesters leaving the Omar al-Khatab mosque in al-Rastan, a witness said. Hundreds of protesters also took to the streets of the Damascus suburb of Qabun, chanting against the Iranian government and Hezbollah, the Lebanese group which activists claim supports the Syrian government’s crackdown. “Not Iran and not Hezbollah, we want people who fear God,” chanted a group of protesters carrying banners calling for international protection.
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His flight reduces the retinue of close family members sticking by Col Gaddafi to just two sons, Saif al-Islam and Mutassim, and his closest aide and brother-in-law, Abdullah Senussi.
Marou Amadou, the Niger justice minister, confirmed he had crossed the two countries’ Saharan border in a convoy of vehicles and been intercepted by local troops.
He said the convoy was continuing to the northern town of Agadez and from there to the capital Niamey, where a number of Touareg tribal leaders formerly loyal to Col Gaddafi have also sought refuge in recent weeks.
His flight will be a further blow to the confidence of those troops remaining loyal to the old regime. Earlier in the day, rebels made advances on the two remaining loyalist hold-outs in northern Libya after a string of NATO bombing raids.
Saadi was one of the more westernised of Col Gaddafi’s family, though no less capricious that the rest. A former footballer, he played twice for Italian Serie A teams, though he was banned for failing a drugs test.
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