Saudi Arabia sentences secular activist to 600 lashes, seven years prison

Source : Al Akhbar English

A Saudi court sentenced on Monday a rights activist to seven years in jail and 600 lashes for setting up a "liberal" network and alleged insults to Islam, activists said.

"Raef Badawi has been sentenced to seven years in jail and 600 lashes," lawyer Waleed Abualkhair wrote on his Twitter account, adding that the judge ordered the closure of the website of the Saudi Liberal Network.

He said Badawi, a co-founder of the Saudi Liberal Network, was charged with criticizing the religious police, as well as calling for "religious liberalization."

A judge had referred Badawi in December to a higher court for alleged apostasy, a charge that could lead to the death penalty in the medieval, US-backed kingdom.

The judge said at the time that his lower court was not qualified to deal with the case.

But the charge of apostasy was dropped on Monday, activists said.

Badawi, 35, was arrested in June last year in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for unknown reasons.

The network that he co-founded with female rights activist Suad al- Shammari, had announced May 7, 2012 a "day of liberalism" in the Muslim kingdom, calling for an end to the influence of religion on public life in Saudi Arabia.

Islamic law strictly applied in Saudi Arabia stipulates death as a punishment for apostasy, but defendants are usually given the chance to repent and escape being beheaded.

Saudi blogger Hamza Kashgari was deported in February last year from Malaysia to the kingdom and is being held in jail to face blasphemy charges over Twitter comments deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammad.

(AFP)

Egyptian soldier killed in Rafah attack

Source : Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Egyptian soldier was killed on Monday during a militant attack on an army camp in Sinai.

Gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at Egyptian forces near Rafah, killing a soldier, Ma'an's correspondent said.

Militants attacked eight other army checkpoints in the el-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, injuring eight soldiers.

On Sunday, gunmen fired US-made ballistic shells at a security building in north Sinai, Egypt's Ministry of Interior said.

"Terrorists targeted the security directorate of north of Sinai from a lon distance," the ministry said. Security sources detained three suspects i Sinai, after clashing with two of them.

A police station in el-Arish was also targeted late Sunday by a bomb, with n injuries reported.

On Wednesday, militants shot dead an Egyptian soldier and wounde another south of el-Arish in Egypt's Sinai. Militants have conducted dai attacks on security forces in Sinai since the military overthrew Islamis President Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

Turkey to take legal action against British daily The Times

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

ISTANBUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said here on Friday that legal action would be taken against British daily The Times and those who wrote an open letter ad criticizing him for Turkish police violence during the Gezi park unrest in Turkey.

Erdogan said in Istanbul: "These are people who have rented out their minds. If they were sincere about democracy they would not act so immorally as to call a prime minister who was elected by receiving 50 percent of the vote a dictator."

"There are such media groups in Turkey that do every kind of defamation. How can they defame us when they are jailed? They are doing it because they do not know Turkey. The Times rents its page, this is their lack of morality," he added.

A group of internationally renowned artists and scholars condemned the Turkish authorities' heavy-handed crackdown on the Gezi park protests in the full-page letter published on July 24 in British broadsheet The Times, addressed to Erdogan.

The signatories, including figures known for their activism such as Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Ben Kingsley and movie director David Lynch, described the Turkish government as "a dictatorial rule" and slammed Erdogan's uncompromising stance regarding the protesters' demands.

The prime minister's orders "led to the deaths of five innocent youths," the letter said, adding that he might be called to render account to the European Court of Human Rights for the police's violence.

They also compared the counter-rallies organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the annual Nuremberg rallies organized by the Nazis.

New European Union directive prohibits involvement in illegal Israeli settlements

Source : IMEC

On June 30, 2013, the European Union issued a directive forbidding its 28 member countries from funding or participating in projects that are located within the territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. The new directive, however, does not apply to trade between the EU and Israel, so businesses operating in the illegal settlements would not be affected.

The EU recognizes that Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are illegal. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

The legally binding directive will come into effect in 2014, and it forbids EU member states from issuing grants, scholarships, funding, and prizes to Israeli non-governmental and governmental organizations operating beyond Israel’s 1967 borders. The directive requires that any agreements or contracts between an EU country and an Israeli organization include a clause stating that the project or institution is not located on occupied land in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Golan. The European Union recognizes that Israeli settlements on occupied land are illegal according to international law.

A statement issued by the EU explained that, “the purpose of these guidelines is to make a distinction between the state of Israel and the occupied territories when it comes to EU support." The Israeli government will have to stipulate in future agreements with the EU that the settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan are not a part of the State of Israel. Haaretz quoted an Israeli official as saying that the new EU guidelines are an “earthquake”, and Ze’ev Elkin, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, described the EU directive as a "big mistake.” Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi embraced the EU’s decision, saying that “[this] is the beginning of new era. Israel should listen carefully and should understand that this occupation cannot continue without any kind of accountability."

Israel demolishes Bedouin village for 53rd time

Source : Maan News Agency

BEERSHEBA, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished a Bedouin village in southern Israel for the 53rd time on Tuesday, as thousands protested a day earlier over plans to forcibly displace Bedouins in the Negev.

"It is the 53rd demolition since July 2010," Araqib chieftain Sheikh Sayyah Abu Mdeighim told Ma'an.

"They have brought down all the sheds we built for the summer so we can protect our land and defend ourselves against the oppressive policy of this tyrannical government."

Large numbers of Israeli police officers and officials from Israel's Land Authority accompanied the bulldozers.

Families in Araqib managed to re-build five of the sheds after the bulldozers left, Abu Mdeighim said, with Palestinian and Israeli activists due to visit to the village to help rebuild the rest of the structures.

On Monday, thousands of people demonstrated across Israel and Palestine to protest a controversial plan which would see the forced displacement of nearly 40,000 Bedouins in the Negev.

The Israeli government approved the Prawer-Begin plan in 2011, in what it says was an attempt to address the problem of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert of southern Israel.

The 2011 proposal was formulated without any consultation with the Bedouin community and rights groups slammed it as a major blow to Bedouin rights.

According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the plan will forcibly evict nearly 40,000 Bedouins and destroy their communal and social fabric, condemning them to a future of poverty and unemployment.

Israel refuses to recognize 35 Bedouin villages in the Negev, which collectively house nearly 90,000 people.

The Israeli state denies them access to basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water, and refuses to place them under municipal jurisdiction.

Israel army unveils new cyber defense unit

Source : Xinhua

JERUSALEM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military offered Monday a peek into one of its most secretive bases, which houses a newly established unit tasked with defending its own networks against mounting attacks launched in cyberspace.

Teams of programmers and computer experts, aged 18 to 22, man the "Cyber War Room," situated at an undisclosed site in central Israel, where malicious cybernetic activities occurring worldwide are monitored around the clock.

Long gone are the days when cyber was the exclusive domain of computer "geeks" spending their nights and days hacking into data bases in the privacy of dimly-lit bedrooms. In the Israeli military, it has already received recognition as another dimension of warfare, alongside the bombers, ships and tank battalions.

"Cyber isn't just another means, but a dimension that exists all the time between and during wars," Brig. Gen. Ayala Hakim, commander of the Israeli Defense Forces's (IDF) Lotam Unit, which oversees cyberdefense operations, told Israel's Channel 10 during an interview Monday.

Israel is investing vast human and financial resources in defending against the immediate threat posed by computer network attacks launched daily on its strategic infrastructure, government ministries, military and intelligence community. The fear is that a major cyberattack could cripple the country's critical infrastructure, including utilities, banking and cellphone networks, among others.

To illustrate the scope of the phenomena, the government revealed it deflected a staggering 44 million attacks on its main online sites during a nine-day war with Islamist group Hamas in Gaza last November.

Last year, the IDF publicly acknowledged for the first time, in a post on its official blog, that it was engaged in both defensive and offensive cyberwarfare. On the defensive end, efforts are mainly focused on repelling attempts by enemy states, global militant networks and lone hackers from overseas to penetrate the military's computers, either for espionage or sabotage.

"The operations room enables us to monitor the great breadth of the Internet at a single focal point," explained the Israeli military official. "We look at what is happening to us via a proactive approach and by gathering open intelligence. We assess our situation."

Like other cyber units operating in Israel's defense institution, including in the intelligence community, the soldiers of the new Cyber War Room constantly seek to increase the nimbleness of their response to identify and prevent an attack, and exploit it to launch a counterattack.

E

New Egyptian war: Americans lose, again

Source : islmaicinvitationturkey.con

Looking at the banners in the massive Egyptian protests last week, we saw many anti-American slogans. Likewise, the Muslim Brotherhood-led government that was deposed by the military last week was very critical of what it saw as U.S. support for the coup. Why is it that all sides in this Egyptian civil war seem so angry with the United States? Because the United States has at one point or another supported each side, which means also that at some point the U.S. has also opposed each side. It is the constant meddling in Egyptian affairs that has turned Egyptians against us, as we would resent foreign intervention in our own affairs.

For more than 30 years, since the U.S.-brokered Camp David Accord between Israel and Egypt, the U.S. supported Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. Over that period the U.S. sent more than $60 billion to prop up Mubarak and, importantly, to train and seek control over the Egyptian military. Those who opposed Mubarak’s unelected reign became more and more resentful of the U.S., which they rightly saw as aiding and abetting a dictator and denying them their political aspirations.

Then the U.S. began providing assistance to groups seeking to overthrow Mubarak, which they did in 2011. The U.S. continued funding the Egyptian military at that time, arguing that U.S. aid was more critical than ever if we are to maintain influence. The U.S. Administration demanded an election in Egypt after Mubarak’s overthrow and an election was held. Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won a narrow victory. The U.S. supported Morsi but kept funding the Egyptian military.

After a year of Morsi’s rule, Egyptians who did not approve of his government took to the streets to demand his removal from power. The U.S. signaled to the Egyptian military that it would not oppose the removal of Morsi from power, and he was removed on July 3rd. With the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood-led government came the arrest of many politicians and the closure of many media outlets sympathetic to them. Then the U.S. government warned the same Egyptian military that undermined democracy that it needed to restore democracy! Is it any wonder why Egyptians from all walks of life are united in their irritation with the United States?

Despite the Egyptian government being overthrown by a military coup, the Obama Administration will not utter the word “coup” because acknowledging reality would mean an end to U.S. assistance to the Egyptian government and military. That cannot be allowed.

Instead, we see the same Obama administration that is on a worldwide manhunt for pro-transparency whistle-blower Edward Snowden demand that the Egyptian military exercise “political transparency” in its dealings with the ousted Muslim Brotherhood-led government.

So, successive U.S. administrations over the decades have supported all sides in Egypt, from dictator to demonstrator to military. There is only one side that the U.S. government has never supported: our side. The American side. It has never supported the side of the U.S. taxpayers who resent being forced to fund a foreign dictatorship, a foreign military, and foreign protestors. It has never supported the side of the majority of Americans who do not wish to get involved in the confusing internal affairs of countries thousands of miles away. It has never supported the side of those of us concerned about blowback, which is the real threat to our national security. Unfortunately, U.S. administrations continue to follow the same old failed policies and Obama is no different. More intervention, more foreign aid, more bullying, more empire

Egypt militants bomb gas pipeline to Jordan

Source : Al Akhbar English

Attackers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula bombed a gas pipeline to Jordan on Sunday, witnesses said, amid a surge in attacks on police and soldiers since Islamist president Mohammed Mursi's ouster.

Witnesses told AFP the blast took place near the North Sinai provincial capital of El-Arish, scene of major disturbances since Mursi's overthrow by the military on Wednesday.

On Friday, armed Mursi supporters stormed the provincial headquarters, raising the black banner used by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants, an AFP correspondent reported.

A Jordanian government official confirmed that gas supplies to the energy-poor kingdom were cut.

"The gas supplies to Jordan stopped due to the attack," the official told state-run Petra news agency.

"The Egyptian authorities have informed us that they are currently evaluating the situation and the damage," he added without elaborating. Egyptian gas covers 80 percent of electricity generation in Jordan, which imports 95 percent of its energy needs.

But Sunday's bombing was the first reported in almost a year.

Five security officers were killed at their checkpoints in Sinai on Friday and four other checkpoints were attacked on Saturday.

A priest was killed at one checkpoint by a group of militants, according to security sources.

(AFP, Reuters)

Israeli fighter jet crashed off the Gaza Strip coast

شبكة عاجل الإخبارية

A military F-16 aircraft belongs to the Israeli occupation army crashed off the coast of the Gaza Strip in the Mediterranean Sea.

The agency of France Press (AFP) quoted the spokesman for the Israeli army as saying that an "F-16 fighter jet crashed into the sea after its engine broke down," pointing out that the crew was rescued.

The Israeli reports said that the plane crashed off the coast of the Gaza Strip

Reports: Kerry to return to Mideast this week

Source : Maan News Agency

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry is to return to the Middle East later this week to resume efforts to draw Israel and the PLO back into direct negotiations, reports said on Sunday.

According to the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily and the left-leaning Haaretz, Kerry was to arrive in Israel towards the end of the week on what would be his sixth visit to the region in as many months.

On his previous visit, a four-day trip which ended on June 30, Kerry held hours and hours of intensive talks with both sides in a mission which he said had achieved "real progress."

But PLO officials said there had been "no breakthrough" that could lead to a resumption of direct negotiations following a hiatus of nearly three years.

"John Kerry is on his way back: the US secretary of state is expected to arrive in Israel for the sixth time towards the end of the week, in order to try and get the negotiations with the Palestinians to move forward," said Yediot.

In his absence, Kerry left behind two aides to continue his work. Frank Lowenstein, his senior adviser on the peace process, has been meeting "almost daily" with Israeli negotiators Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molho as well as with chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erakat, Haaretz said.

"Lowenstein is trying to get the parties to agree to a document that would contain the principles for the renewal of talks but no agreement has emerged," the paper said.

Several days after Kerry's departure, a Palestinian official told AFP that the US top diplomat had presented the two sides with "an initiative to resume direct and intensive negotiations for a duration of six to nine months in order to reach a peace agreement."

Under the proposal, the talks would be based on a 2011 speech by US President Barack Obama in which he called for a Palestinian state on the basis of the lines which existed before the 1967 Six Day War, but there would be no specific reference to a settlement freeze, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Similar details emerged on Saturday in a report by the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper which quoted Western diplomatic sources as saying the talks would take place within a framework of six to nine months, during which there would be a building freeze outside the major settlement blocs.

It also said Israel would agree to the staggered release of 103 Palestinian prisoners who have been held since before the 1993 Oslo Accords, and would allow the Palestinians to develop projects in Area C of the West Bank, around 60 percent of the territory which is currently under full Israeli control.

Israeli officials were not immediately available to comment on either report.

US-brokered direct talks broke down in September 2010 just weeks after they were launched with the two sides locked in a dispute over settlement building. Multiple diplomatic efforts to bring about a renewal of negotiations have so far failed.

New Arab-Israeli Battalion to Fight Hezbollah

Source : Almanar.lb

The Zionist entity has recently formed an Arab battalion within its military ranks called 'Arabs of the Israeli army' dubbed as "Horv", particularly designed to fight Hezbollah in a future confrontation.

According to Syria Truth website, the Zionist army command revealed that officers of the new military unit are "Druze supporters of Walid Jumblatt and Wahhabi Bedouins known for their dogmatic hostility to the Shiites."

In this regard, the website recalls the statements of Muslim Brotherhood or Salafist leaders of the insurgence in Syria who showed affinities with the Zionist entity.

"Israel and the Sunni Muslims in Syria are in the same front against the Shiites, the Nasserists and the Majous who all have a joint project to eliminate the Jews," said a member of the so-called Syrian National Council (SNC) Khaled Khoja for the Zionist Channel 2, asking what he dubbed "Israel" to bomb Syria.

Regarding the battalion, the Zionist entity has sought to make a large propaganda and shed light on its recent maneuvers. This would reassure the Israeli public, which has not yet forgotten the heinous defeat its army suffered in the July 2006 war on Lebanon.

The unit commander, Shadi Abu Fares, told the Zionist army radio that the battalion has completed intensive training in the Syrian Golan Heights, revealing that the unit has developed new methods and tactics to fight the enemy in Lebanon as efficiently as possible."

"Fighting in Lebanon requires a severe camouflage style, given the need to slow the advance of the troops on the ground", he stressed, adding that "new battle techniques and tactics adopted by the battalion operated recently are perfectly adapted to the fight against the systems supported by Hezbollah, including the use of long-rage heavy fire."

"We worked on tactics and techniques of the battlefield adopted by the Israeli army, including open and associated combat zones. We have applied them with suitable modifications to the real ground against Hezbollah, as the battalion has rich experience, and we have a prior knowledge of what awaits us in the next war in Lebanon," he went on to say.

The Zionist radio has focused on what it considers the success of Horv while exercising its functions, noting that its troops have acquired operational experience, particularly during their task in Lebanon for many years.

"During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, it (Horv) was the first combat unit to cross the border into Lebanon, and the last to return. This is the reason behind the many medals of appreciation it gained," said the radio, knowing that the 2006 war on Lebanon was a major blow for the Zionist entity.

The radio correspondent quoted the commander of the northern front, Colonel Sion Ertson, as saying that "Horv should teach all the Israeli army how to effectively fight against Hezbollah."

"The maneuvers were held in the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, lasting for three consecutive days, where tanks and armored vehicles participated," the reported said, focusing on the role of special engineering forces in opening roads to facilitate the infantry movement.

As for the fighting methods, the Zionist journalist pointed out that the exercises were based on intensive fire shooting and the use of artillery "to prevent the enemy to raise his head."

For his part, Abu Fares voiced that the military cannot note that Horv battalion is ready for all situations.

"After completing training missions, Horv should be deployed on the border with Lebanon. We will work to prevent the infiltration of any incursion from Lebanon. We will also maintain its defensive position and activate it. At the same time, we will conduct additional activities which we can not reveal their details," he said.

Meanwhile, Ertson said "the changes in the region require us to be ready for war, but with the battalion Horv I'm much more confident than any other battalion in the IDF."

Maneuvers of Arabs in the Zionist army battalion attended by the commander of the northern region in the Zionist military General Yair Golan, and the brigade commander of the Galilee, Brigadier Hertsey Halevy.

Worthy to mention that the Zionist army has recently paved a new way at the northern border with Lebanon in an attempt to terrorize citizens and spread panic among them.

Since the 2006 July war on Lebanon, the Zionist entity has spared no chance to violate the Lebanese sovereignty in flagrant breaching of the UN resolution 1701.

Israel still tightens the Gazans' access to their land and sea waters: OCHA

Source : Ahlul Bayt News Agency

The escalating restrictions imposed by Israel on access to land along Gaza’s perimeter fence and to fishing areas along Gaza’s coast undermine the security and livelihoods of Palestinians, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories stated in a recent report.

According to the report, Israel has tightened its restrictions on the Gazans' access to the sea and to land located near the fence since September 2000 at the pretext of security concerns.

Up to 35 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land and as much as 85 percent of its fishing waters have been affected at various points, the report said.

The Palestinian access to farming land within 300 meters of the perimeter fence separating Gaza from the 1948 occupied lands is largely prohibited and risky.

Fishermen are currently allowed to access less than one third of the fishing areas allocated under the Oslo accords, about six out of the specified 20 nautical miles from the coast.

There are currently 3,500 registered fishermen in Gaza and 2,000 people work in fishing-related industries, the report noted.

The fish catch lost as a result of access restrictions between 2000 and 2012 is estimated at approximately 1,300 metric tonnes per year.

The report pointed out that these Israeli restrictions caused 95 percent of Gaza fishermen to receive regular international aid.

Prior to November 2012, access restrictions resulted in a loss of approximately 75,000 metric tonnes of agricultural produce, valued at 50.2 million dollars per year.

12 percent of the homes destroyed during operation Cast Lead in 2008/2009 was located in access restricted areas.

13 schools with 4,800 students and staff are located within 1,500 meters from the fence and have had class sessions disrupted due to Israel's enforcement of access restrictions.

Since June 2007, 214 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 127 civilians, and 825 injured, including at least 761 civilians, in the access restricted areas.

During the same period, five Palestinian fishermen were killed and 25 others were injured when the Israeli naval forces opened fire at them to enforce access restrictions.

French consul in Libya's Benghazi survives gun attack

Source : Your Middle East

France's honorary consul in Benghazi, Jean Dufriche, has escaped unharmed after gunmen fired on his car in the eastern Libyan city, a source close to him and a security official said on Friday.

The unidentified attackers shot at Dufriche's car from another vehicle as he was returning home late Thursday with his wife, said Mohammed Hijazi, security services spokesman in Benghazi.

The couple were leaving a hospital at around 11:00 PM (2300 GMT), when the gunmen opened up.

"At least ten bullets hit the vehicle, but no one was wounded," Hijazi said.

"Dr Dufriche and his wife returned to the hospital where security forces took charge of them."

A source close to the honorary consul said Dufriche was at the wheel when gunmen pulled alongside and fired at him several times with a "handgun".

The source said there were at least seven bullet holes in Dufriche's car.

"Dufriche and his wife were not wounded and were able to leave Benghazi for Tunis on Friday," the same source added.

Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled former dictator Moamer Kadhafi, has seen several attacks targeting the security forces and Western interests in recent months.

On September 11 last year, Islamist militants attacked the US consulate in the city, killing ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

A car bomb targeted France's embassy in the capital Tripoli on April 23 this year, devastating the building and wounding two French security personnel.

© AFP 2013

Israel Claims Palestinian Group Responsible For Attack On Navy Ship

Source : IMEC

Israel TV, Channel 2, has reported that Palestinian fighters were behind the attack against an Israeli Navy ship, paroling the Gaza shore on Wednesday at night.

The TV said that the shells detonated near the ship, without any direct impact, leading to no injuries on damage.

The fighters also apparently fired several rounds of live ammunition.

It added that the soldiers noticed six shells fired at their ship, and responded by firing dozens of rounds of live ammunition at the source of fire; no clashes have been reported.

The Israeli fire also failed to hit any of the fighters who managed to escape unharmed.

Egypt's army announces state of emergency in South Sinai, Suez

Source : Xinhua

CAIRO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's military announced Friday state of emergency in South Sinai and Suez provinces after an earlier attack on Arish airport, state-run al-Ahram online reported.

Ahram quoted the commander of the third field army Osama Askar as saying that the "state of readiness" has been raised in highest level in both provinces.

"The Navy forces and the Air Forces have coordinated to secure the entrances and exits of the city, and checkpoints have been deployed on the international and local border axes, specially in South Sinai," added Askar.

Early Friday, hundreds of gunmen of Islamist extremist groups attacked Arish Airport, a security camp in Rafah, a police station and two security checkpoints in Sheikh Zewaid in North Sinai with heavy artillery and rocket-propelled grenades, which killed a soldier and injured three others.

The attack came after the Egyptian army ousted Islamist- oriented President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday in response to millions of protesters across the country demanding his removal.

Islamist supporters described it as a "military coup" and vowed to struggle for Morsi's legitimacy.

Armed attacks on police and military premises and checkpoints prevailed in Sinai Peninsula due to lack of security following the mass protests that ousted ex-president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt army closes Gaza border

Source : Maan News Agency

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Egyptian army on Friday closed the Rafah crossing on the Gaza border until further notice due to unrest in Sinai.

Egyptian military officials informed the Palestinian side of the closure, said Maher Abu Sabha, Palestinian director of crossings and borders.

Due to Israel's blockade, the Rafah crossing is the only exit for most Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian director of the Rafah terminal, Sami al-Mitwali, said the crossing was closed due to security unrest.

An Egyptian soldier was killed early Friday in coordinated rocket and machinegun attacks by Islamist militants on army checkpoints and a police base in Sinai.

Militants also attacked a military intelligence building in Rafah, witnesses said.

Two other soldiers were wounded when Islamist militants fired on an army checkpoint near the north Sinai village of al-Gura. Elsewhere, militants attacked a police base with rockets, security sources said.

Some militants in Sinai had threatened a violent response after Egypt's army toppled Islamist President Mohammad Mursi on Wednesday.

Chief justice Adly Mansour, 67, was sworn in as interim president on Thursday until new elections, at a ceremony broadcast live from the Supreme Constitutional Court.

The Islamists accuse the military of conducting a brazen coup against Mursi, Egypt's first democratically elected but controversial president, following massive protests calling for the Islamist's ouster.

Mursi's Musim Brotherhood movement has called for peaceful protests on Friday against the "coup," as police continue to hunt its leaders.

Egypt's military appealed for conciliation and warned against revenge attacks, as police rounded up senior Islamists.

The military said "exceptional and autocratic measures against any political group" should be avoided in a statement on its spokesman's Facebook page.

"The armed forces believe that the forgiving nature and manners of the Egyptian people, and the eternal values of Islam, do not allow us to turn to revenge and gloating," the army statement added.

Police arrested the Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohammed Badie "for inciting the killing of protesters", a security official told AFP.

Former supreme guide Mahdi Akef was also arrested, state television reported.

Mursi himself was "preventively detained" by the military, a senior officer had told AFP early Thursday, hours after his overthrow the night before, suggesting the ousted president might face trial.

1 soldier killed, 3 injured in armed attacks in Egypt's Sinai

Source : Xinhua

NORTH SINAI, Egypt, July 5 (Xinhua) -- At least one soldier was killed and three others injured in an armed attack by Islamist extremist groups in North Sinai, a security source in Sinai told Xinhua.

An exchange of fire between the extremists and the security forces is still going on, said the source.

The source added that hundreds of gunmen attacked Arish Airport, a security camp in Rafah, a police station and two security checkpoints in Sheikh Zewaid by heavy artillery and rocket-propelled grenades in North Sinai that led to the killing of a soldier and injured three others.

The attacks came after the Egyptian army ousted Islamist-oriented president Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday in response to millions of protesters who took to the streets and public squares across the country demanding his removal.

Islamist supporters of the ousted president rejected his ouster as "a military coup" and vowed to struggle for Morsi's legitimacy.

Armed attacks on police and military premises and checkpoints prevailed in Sinai Peninsula due to lack of security following the 2011 mass protests that ousted ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

World Calls for Swift Move in Egypt, Obama Orders Review of Financial Aid

Source : islamicinvitationturkey.com

UN leader Ban Ki-moon believed Egyptians have “legitimate concerns,” but is worried about the military’s ousting of Mursi, a spokesman said Wednesday.

“Egyptians in their protests have voiced deep frustrations and legitimate concerns. At the same time, military interference in the affairs of any state is of concern,” said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

The UN secretary general “is following closely and with continuing concern the fast-moving developments in Egypt. He continues to stand with the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” said del Buey.

“An inclusive approach is essential to addressing the needs and concerns of all Egyptians. Preservation of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech and assembly, remain of vital importance,” said del Buey. He further stated that “it will be crucial to quickly reinforce civilian rule in accordance with principles of democracy.”

“The world is watching closely the next steps with the hope that Egyptians will remain on a peaceful course, overcome the deep difficulties they are facing today, and find the needed common ground to move forward in a transition for which so many fought so courageously,” said the spokesman. For his part, US President Barack Obama called for a swift return to elected civilian rule in Egypt, saying the United States was “deeply concerned” by the toppling of Mursi.

Obama also sent a signal to military leaders, ordering a review of the hundreds of millions of dollars in annual US aid to Egypt in light of the army’s move against Mursi. “I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible,” Obama said, just hours after Mursi’s ouster.

In Obama’s strongest statement to date on the mounting crisis in Egypt, he also urged the powerful army to refrain from any arbitrary arrests and to protect the rights of all Egyptians. Moving to the United Kingdom, British Foreign Secretary William Hague viewed that “the situation is clearly dangerous and we call on all sides to show restraint and avoid violence.” “The United Kingdom does not support military intervention as a way to resolve disputes in a democratic system,” Hague said in the statement. Despite its concerns about Wednesday’s dramatic events, Britain called on all parties to move forward and “show the leadership and vision needed to restore and renew Egypt’s democratic transition.”

“It is vital for them to respond to the strong desire of the Egyptian people for faster economic and political progress for their country,” stressed Hague. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris took note that elections had been announced in Egypt after the army ousted Mursi. “In a situation that has worsened seriously and with extreme tension in Egypt, new elections have finally been announced, after a transition period,” Fabius said in a statement. “France takes note of it.”

France hoped a timetable would be drawn up respecting “civil peace, pluralism, individual liberties and the achievements of the democratic transition, so that the Egyptian people can freely choose their leaders and their future,” he added. Similarly, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, condemned the bloodshed, and called for a swift return to democracy. “I urge all sides to rapidly return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections and the approval of a constitution,” she said.

She hoped the transitional administration announced by the new regime would be fully inclusive and that human rights and the rule of law would be respected, she added. “I strongly condemn all violent acts… and urge the security forces to do everything in their power to protect the lives and well-being of Egyptian citizens,” said Ashton. But Saudi King Abdullah on Wednesday praised the army’s intervention and congratulated the new caretaker president Mansour.

“We call on God to help you bear the responsibility to achieve the hopes of our brotherly people in Egypt,” the head of the Sunni-ruled oil powerhouse said in his message.

Fall of Egypt’s Mohammad Mursi Blow to Qatar

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

The British Financial Times posted an article Thursday explaining the effect of President Mohammad Mursi's ouster on the country's foreign policy, considering that Mursi's offset of Egypt's presidency a blow to Qatar, which bet on the Muslim Brotherhood all over the last year.

"Few predicted that challenge would come within a week as Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government fell, and the credibility of Qatar’s activist foreign policy took a major blow," it said.

The daily also revealed that Qatar has poured $8bn of financial support into Egypt in post-Mubarak era, and has been the main Gulf backer of Mursi’s government.

"Qatar's support for post-Mubarak Egypt has run to the heart of Doha’s backing of Islamist groups since the revolutions of the Arab uprising swept across north Africa," the FT article read.

"Its legacy will be associated with that of the leader whose presidency was doomed on Wednesday," it added.

The author stated in his article that the new emir of Qatar hinted at his tendency toward moderation in foreign policy, but analysts believe that any change in Qatar's foreign policy must be gradual.

"While Sheikh Tamim, the new emir, is hinting at a moderation of Qatar’s adventurist foreign policy, analysts say any change will be gradual as Doha’s position is so deeply set."

Unlike Qatar, the article said, the other Arab states in the Gulf such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are uncomfortable with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and are now ready to pump funds to help any interim administration keep the Egyptian economy afloat.

Citing an economist, the auther noted that Qatar got it wrong in Libya, then in Syria, and now billions of dollars could go down the pan in Egypt.

“That money was meant to buy political advantage, but they backed the wrong horse,” the expert said,

Israel, PA conduct joint operation in West Bank village of Battir

Source :

Security forces from Israel and the Palestinian Authority conducted a joint operation against unregistered vehicles in the West Bank village of Battir on Sunday. Israeli helicopters circled overhead as Palestinian forces raided this Bethlehem-area village and destroyed 50 cars which were ostensibly not registered in either Israel or the West Bank Palestinian Authority.

Battir made headlines last month when the Palestinian Authority abruptly decided to drop its bid to register Battir lands as a UNESCO heritage site. Battir's ancient agricultural terraces are considered to be of extraordinary cultural value. The landscape is threatened to be destroyed by Israel's Separation Wall that is planned to cut right through the delicate terraces.

Residents and environmentalists have filed a suit against the planned route of the Separation Wall through Battir, which is still pending in court.

UK grants judicial immunity to Israel army chief suspected of war crimes

Source : Al Akhbar English

Israel’s army chief arrived in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, after the European nation decided to grant him judicial immunity during his official visit, Ma’an news agency reported.

Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, the chief of staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces, is the first Israeli army chief to visit the UK since 1998. According to The Times of Israel, Gantz is to meet with UK Chief of the Defense Staff General David Julian Richards and othersecurity chiefs to discuss military cooperation.

The British government granted Gantz's trip the status of “special mission,” thus giving him immunity from prosecution by the UK's criminal justice system, according to a statement by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

Gantz is suspected of involvement in the commission of war crimes, particularly in the November 2012 assault on the Gaza Strip, codenamed Operation Pillar of Defense, PCHR said.

The eight-day attack on Gaza led to the death of 162 Palestinians and 5 Israelis.

“The Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Hickman & Rose Solicitors, who represent the victims of Lieutenant General Gantz’s actions, condemn the decision to grant immunity to a suspected war criminal. This decision sends the dangerous message that political considerations will be placed ahead of the rule of law,” PCHR’s statement read.

According to the center, “the UK is under a binding legal obligation to search for and prosecute those suspected of committing war crimes, including before their own national courts.”

"Credible evidence exists indicating Mr. Gantz's involvement in the commission of war crimes: these allegations should be investigated and, if appropriate, Mr. Gantz should be prosecuted," PCHR added.

"He should not be pre-emptively granted immunity by the UK Government, circumventing normal criminal justice procedures."

A week earlier, the UK government also extended special mission status to the visit of Israeli Major General Doron Almog, a retired army official suspected of war crimes, similarly shielding him from British judicial enquiries.

Almog canceled his scheduled UK visit at the last minute for unknown reasons.

In 2005, a British court issued an arrest warrant for Almog in relation to the 2002 destruction of 59 Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp as part of a sustained policy of house demolitions in Gaza, PCHR said.

British police were preparing to arrest Almog on suspicion of war crimes after he and his wife flew to the United Kingdom in 2005, but he refused to leave his plane at Heathrow airport following a tip-off about the arrest warrant and was allowed to return to Israel.

The decision to grant immunity to both Israeli officials "sends the clear message that Israel can commit war crimes in the Gaza Strip with impunity," PCHR said.

There is a risk, the group said, that special missions will be used to protect allies of the government and undermine the "basic principle of equal application of the law and the UK’s international legal obligation to seek out and prosecute suspected war criminals."

(Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)

Turkish hacker group takes over Religious Affairs website

Source : http://www hurriyetdailynews.com

Hacker group RedHack hacked the website of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, on the 20th anniversary of the Sivas massacre. The group announced the hack on its Twitter account.

“This is an answer to those who dine for Ramadan at five-star hotels but burn people at three- star ones,” the group tweeted at midnight last night, in reference to the arson attack in which 33 mostly Alevi intellectuals and two hotel workers were killed on July 2, 1993.

“The Justice and Development Party [AKP] triggerman the Religious Affairs Directorate cannot represent Muslims,” the tweet added.

The group also released a database, including usernames and passwords, to enter the website. This allowed users to add new headlines to the website. One of the added sections read, “Forgive me, Religious Affairs, I entered wearing shoes,” in reference to the Dolmabahçe Mosque incident, in which Gezi Park protesters took shelter in a historical mosque to avoid tear gas and police interventions. Since the incident, the sheltering protesters were targeted by the prime minister for wearing shoes in the mosque, as well as for consuming alcohol - a claim that has been repeatedly denied by the mosque’s muezzin.

RedHack is known for its anti-government stance, and has hacked into multiple government websites in the past, including the Ankara Police Directorate and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Israel Agrees To More Egyptian Troops In Sinai

Source : International Middle East Media Center

Israeli daily, Yedioth Aharonoth have reported Tuesday [July 2 2013] that, despite the current massive protests in Egypt, and what it described as “chaos”, security coordination between the Israeli army and the Egyptian army is ongoing, and that Tel Aviv approved an Egyptian request for more Egyptian troops in Sinai.

Egyptian Protests - Arabs48

Israel Army said that the Egyptian operations against armed groups in Sinai are carried out in direct coordination with Tel Aviv, and added that the Israeli political leadership approved the Egyptian request due to what was described as “security threats to both Cairo and Tel Aviv”.

Yedioth Aharonoth said tha more Egyptian soldiers will be deployed along the border with Gaza, to prevent arms smuggling.

The Associated Press have reported that Egypt deployed dozens of armored vehicles in Sinai and border areas, and added that the operations carried out by the Egyptian army target what was described as “terrorist Islamists operating in the triangular border area (Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip).”

It also said that these operations are carried out in direct cooperation between senior Israeli and Egyptian military leaders.

Israeli Troops Kidnap Two Lebanese in Shebaa

Source : Ahlul Bayt News Agency

The Zionist enemy troops kidnapped on Tuesday two Lebanese farmers, Yusuf Rahil and Yusuf Zahra in Shaba Heights southern Lebanon, Al- Manar Website correspondent reported.

Later on, the enemy military unit took the detained citizens to the Radar checkpoint in Upper Mount Hermon.

Moreover, more than 50 Zionist soldiers deployed in front of Wazzani Fort park following improvement works in the park near the Wazzani River.

The correspondent also reported that a Merkava tank and two Hummer military vehicles crossed the technical fence adjacent to Wazzani Fort and deployed on a hill overlooking the park.

In the meantime, Zionist drones carried out false raids over Lebanon hovering over the southern towns of the country at low altitude.

The Zionist army has recently paved a new way at the border with Lebanon in an attempt to terrorize citizens and spread panic among them.

Since the 2006 July war on Lebanon, the Zionist entity has spared no chance to violate the Lebanese sovereignty in flagrant breaching of the UN resolution 1701.

Ex-candidate for president: Morsi’s regime will fall within week in Egypt

Source : Trend.Az

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's regime will fall within a week, ex-candidate for president Ahmed Shafiq said today, Almasrawy newspaper reported.

Shafiq, who was also Egyptian Prime Minister during President Hosni Mubarak's period, President Morsi made many fatal mistakes that brought the country to the economic and political crisis.

The command of the Egyptian armed forces has recently made a statement. It provided all political forces with 48 hours to meet the people's requirements. According to the statement, otherwise the country's armed forces intend to announce about an ''action map'' to overcome the crisis, which will be carried out under their supervision.

The Islamists in Egypt called "supporters of the law" to the street actions. Morsi's office said that Egypt is a civil country and the authorities will not allow plunging the country in the past.

The situation on the Egyptian domestic political scene escalated on June 30 after mass protests under the "TAMARROD" motto ("Mutiny") against the regime of President Morsi throughout the country.