Excerpts: Iranian vessel points gun at US helicopter.Fatah first congress in
7 years.Jordan editorial re Iran intentions November 29, 2016
+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 29 Nov.’16:”Iranian vessel points weapon at US
helicopter in Strait of Hormuz,by Staff Writer,Reuters
SUBJECT:Iranian vessel points weapon at US helicopter
FULL TEXT:A small Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard vessel pointed its
weapon at a US military helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz in an act
described as ‘unsafe and unprofessional.’ (Reuters)
A small Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard vessel pointed its weapon at a
US military helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday[26 Nov], two US
defense officials told Reuters on Monday[28 Nov], an action they described
as “unsafe and unprofessional.”
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident took
place when a Navy MH-60 helicopter flew within half a mile (0.8 km) of two
Iranian vessels in international waters. One of the vessels pointed a weapon
at the helicopter, the US officials said.
“The behavior by our standards is provocative and could be seen as an
escalation,” the officials said. At no point did the crew of the helicopter
feel threatened, they added.
+++Ukraine Moves New Safety Dome over Chernobyl's Doomed Reactor
by Naharnet Newsdesk 29 November 2016
Ukraine on Tuesday unveiled the world's largest moveable metal structure
over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's doomed fourth reactor to ensure the
safety of Europeans for generations to come.
The giant arch's height of 108 metres (355 feet) makes it taller than New
York's Statue of Liberty while its weight of 36,000 tons is three times
heavier than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The 2.1-billion-euro ($2.2-billion) structure sponsored by the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has been edged into place over an
existing crumbling dome that the Soviets built in haste when disaster struck
three decades ago.
"We welcome this milestone in the process of the transformation of Chernobyl
as a symbol of what we can achieve jointly with strong, determined and
long-term commitment," EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti said in a statement.
"We applaud our Ukrainian partners and the contractor and we thank all
donors to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund whose contributions have made today's
success possible," the EBRD president said.
The dome still needs to be fitted with radiation control equipment as well
as air vents and fire protection systems that are due to start working by
the end of 2017.
"The spirit of cooperation gives us confidence that the project will be
completed on time and within budget a year from now," Chakrabarti said.
SourceAgence France Presse
+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon)29Nov’16:”Abbas’s Fatah Opens First Congress
Since 2009”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Fatah first congress in 7 years
FULL TEXT:Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party opened its first
congress in seven years Tuesday[29 Nov.] as the 81-year-old seeks to fend
off opponents while talk of who will eventually succeed him mounts.
The election of members of Fatah's parliament and its central committee
beginning Friday 2 will signal the direction the oldest Palestinian party
will take at a time when Abbas is weakened by his own unpopularity and
internal dissent.
Abbas, whose position as party head is not threatened at the congress, will
give an address at 6 pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday. Some 1,400 delegates are
expected.
While the ageing leader has said he has no intention of stepping aside
anytime soon, talk of who will eventually succeed him as Palestinian
president has intensified. He has not publicly designated a successor.
Some analysts see the congress as an attempt by Abbas to marginalise
political opponents, including longtime rival Mohammed Dahlan, currently in
exile in the United Arab Emirates.
Jibril Rajoub, a former intelligence chief, current head of the Palestinian
Football Association and Fatah central committee member, said it will also
provide an opportunity to update the party's structures.
"The system from the 1960s no longer works in 2016," he told AFP.
"We have to take into account the current circumstances. The current system
was created when we were in the diaspora and we are now on national soil. It
was put in place at a revolutionary stage. Now we have a state."
Saeb Erekat, Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general and Fatah
central committee member, said the congress will allow the party to "choose
leaders for the next stage."
- Stalled peace efforts -But the congress also comes at a difficult time for
the push to create a Palestinian state, with the cause having been
overshadowed by other crises in the region.
The incoming Donald Trump administration in the United States has also
signalled its policies will be far more favourable to Israel, likely vetoing
UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict it opposes.
Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since a US-led initiative
collapsed in April 2014.
Israel is concerned that US President Barack Obama may take some sort of
action related to the conflict before he leaves office in January, but his
intentions remain unclear.
In an op-ed published in the New York Times on Tuesday, former US president
Jimmy Carter called on Obama to recognise a Palestinian state before his
term is up.
The congress also comes with Fatah and its Islamist rival Hamas, in power in
the Gaza Strip, still deeply divided. Fatah dominates the Palestinian
Authority, which runs the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel has prevented dozens of Fatah members in Gaza, which is under an
Israeli blockade, from attending the conference, said party spokesman Mahmud
Abu al-Hija.
Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel controls all borders of the Palestinian territories apart from the
Gaza-Egypt frontier.
Abu al-Hija said an objective of the congress, due to run at least five
days, is to determine how to act in the face of stalled peace negotiations.
Peace initiatives being promoted by France and Arab nations will be
discussed, as will the possibility of introducing a UN Security resolution
against Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.
Fatah is the main component of the PLO, created in 1964 in Jerusalem, which
brought together the main Palestinian nationalist movements of that time.
+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 29 Nov.’16:”Editorial: Showing true colours?
Subject;Jordan editorial re Iran intentions
FULL TEXT:Confirming the fear of some of its neighbouring countries that it
seeks to become a regional power in the region, Iran’s chief of staff of the
armed forces was recently quoted by the semi-official news agency Tasnim as
saying that his country is considering setting up naval bases in Syria and
Yemen, which, the general believes, “is ten times more important” than
nuclear power “and creates deterrence”.
He also said that Iran is able to set up permanent platforms for military
purposes in the Arabian Gulf and roving ones in other places.
Tehran’s military doctrine has of course the backing of the country’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who described the sea as the scene of
“powerful confrontation with enemies” and said the future of power is based
on strong presence in the seas.
Iran has been constantly suspected of harbouring an expansionist policy in
the Middle East. It now seems bent on consolidating its gains in Syria and
Yemen — where it fights proxy wars, on the side of Syrian President Bashar
Assad, in the former, and of the Houthi militias against Saudi Arabia, in
the latter — and strengthening its hegemony.
Iran’s designs on the region only add to the concerns of the countries of
the Middle East, and farther beyond. They signal Tehran’s determination to
be the biggest regional power, a plan unfortunately made easy by the
disarray, conflict, and ethnic and sectarian machinations in the Arab
countries.
An extended Iranian presence across the region is disturbing and would
further deepen the Shiite-Sunni confrontation.
It could become the prescription for an even more turbulent Middle East,
where the rift between the two main Islamic sects would assume more ominous
proportions.
The Middle Eastern nations fought long and hard to get rid of foreign
military bases spread out across the region.
Iran seems now bent on assuming the colonial mantle, but the Arab countries,
which fought colonial powers for decades, will not allow Iran to replace
them.
This is the time for Arab countries to unite and send a clear message to
Iran that its designs on the Arab world will simply not succeed.
In a surprise rebuke of their patron, the Houthis’ political council chief,
Saleh Al Samad, said in a statement on Facebook: “Not one inch of Yemen’s
land or waters will be forfeited to any foreign party... whether a friend or
an enemy.”
That should be the tone across the Arab world
====
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
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