| Special Report: 'Great Satan' meets 'Axis of Evil' and strikes a deal Posted: 24 Nov 2013 04:29 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau, Parisa Hafezi and Arshad Mohammed GENEVA (Reuters) - Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning and four days of talks over Iran's nuclear program had already gone so far over schedule that the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel had been given over to another event. At around 2:00 a.m., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were brought to a conference room to approve a final text of the agreement which would provide limited relief of sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. At the last minute, with the ministers already gathered in the room, an Iranian official called seeking changes. Now that the interim deal is signed, talks are far from over as the parties work towards a final accord that would lay to rest all doubts about Iran's nuclear program.
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| Bad Iran nuke deal better than no deal: British press Posted: 24 Nov 2013 04:22 PM PST  The historic deal to curb Iran's nuclear programme should be given time to work, but Tehran's intentions must be viewed with deep scepticism, Britain's newspapers said Monday. "Given that Iran's nuclear ambitions have had no rational purpose except to give its ruthless leaders the option of building the ultimate weapon, we are entitled to approach this deal with deep scepticism and caution," said its editorial. "But rejecting the deal would have meant that Iran's nuclear programme expanded month by month, until the terrible moment arrived when America would have had little choice but to go to war," it added. Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme for the next six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief, in a preliminary accord meant to lay the foundations for a comprehensive agreement later this year.
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| Turkey mending ties with Shiite powers as regional clout wanes Posted: 24 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST  Turkey's ambitions to become a regional leader with a "zero problems" foreign policy have been left in tatters by the Syrian civil war, rising sectarian tensions and a fresh diplomatic fallout with Egypt. The predominantly Sunni Muslim NATO member state is now seeking to mend fences with Shiite powers Iraq and Iran to restore its waning clout in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab spring uprisings. The Syrian conflict has upset the balance of power in Turkey's backyard and dealt a blow to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's lofty regional goals, his stature on the international stage also tarnished by the wave of anti-government protests that gripped the country in June. Disputes with Israel, Cyprus and Armenia also linger on, while the spat with Cairo came to a head Saturday when Egypt's military rulers expelled Turkey's ambassador over Erdogan's support for ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
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| Secret US-Iran talks set stage for nuke deal Posted: 24 Nov 2013 12:58 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — With their destination and mission among America's closest guarded secrets, the small group of officials hand-picked by President Barack Obama boarded a military plane in March.
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| Afghan president delays signing US deal Posted: 24 Nov 2013 10:20 AM PST  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Hamid Karzai cast fresh doubt on the future presence of thousands of American and allied forces on Sunday by rejecting a recommendation by an Afghan assembly of dignitaries to quickly sign a long-delayed security pact with the United States.
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| The man behind secret US-Iran talks: Sultan Qaboos Posted: 24 Nov 2013 10:06 AM PST Sultan Qaboos was educated first in India and then at Britian's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst – that venerable institution that claims among its diverse alumni Winston Churchill, King George Tupou V of Tonga, and Maj. Allan Cameron, a Scot who helped establish the International Curling Federation. Sultan Qaboos wasn't in front of the cameras in Geneva, nor were there any missives from Oman today trumpeting his success. |
| A timeline of key events in US-Iran negotiations Posted: 24 Nov 2013 09:51 AM PST  Key dates in the Obama administration's contacts with Iran:
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| More than 160 killed as Syrian rebels try to siege Posted: 24 Nov 2013 09:05 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Heavy clashes between Syrian troops and rebels trying to break a government siege in the suburbs of Damascus have killed at least 160 fighters over two days, activists said Sunday.
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| Journalist among six people killed in Iraq Posted: 24 Nov 2013 08:54 AM PST  A television journalist shot dead in north Iraq was among six people killed nationwide on Sunday, amid a surge in unrest the authorities have failed to quell. The bloodshed, which has left around 200 people dead in the past week alone, has forced Baghdad to appeal for international help to combat militancy just months ahead of its first general election in four years. Officials have also voiced concern over a resurgent Al-Qaeda emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria which has provided the jihadist network's front groups in Iraq with increased room to plan operations. In the restive northern city of Mosul, gunmen shot dead Alaa Edwar, a Christian journalist working for Nineveh al-Ghad, a local television network backed by provincial Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi.
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| 'Spoiler' role over, France joins the party celebrating an Iran nuclear deal Posted: 24 Nov 2013 07:55 AM PST But now that they have struck a historic agreement with Iran in Geneva, the French foreign minister has placed himself squarely in the collective, as part of the "P5+1" group of France, Russia, China, the US, Britain, and Germany that negotiated the deal being hailed as a victory for peace and security. Officially, France can say its hawkish posture, the harshest among the P5+1, allowed the forging of a tougher deal today, one that more confidently guarantees that Iran seeks only peaceful nuclear prowess. And while that may be true, France also likely joined the P5+1 position, after pushing back against the accord earlier this month, because the US and Iran clearly wanted to see a deal inked. "France's position was not sustainable," says Thierry Coville, an Iran expert at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris. |
| Africa to world's top court: Stop picking on our leaders Posted: 24 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST These are three of the eight cases currently before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world's only permanent tribunal specifically set up to prosecute individuals for genocide and crimes against humanity – and whose legacy dates to the Nuremberg trials after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Yet now the ICC, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, faces its sternest test yet, a worst-case scenario in which the court's credibility has been seriously damaged amid accusations of colonialism, bias, and incompetence. Those claims spring from the fact that all eight cases so far on the ICC's books emanate from Africa, and every one of its 32 indictees is African. That's the view of the angry African Union, which calls the ICC a "race hunting" tool of a "declining" West. |
| Analysis: U.S.-Iran thaw starts to reshape Mideast power balance Posted: 24 Nov 2013 06:51 AM PST  By William Maclean DUBAI (Reuters) - An interim international deal on Iran's nuclear program could tilt the balance of power in the Middle East towards Tehran after two years of popular revolts that have weakened leading Arab nations. Sunday's agreement opens the way for a thaw in U.S.-Iranian confrontation that has lasted almost as long as the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, alarming Israel and Gulf Arab rulers who fear a new regional hegemony deeply hostile to their interests. For some Gulf Arab states, which see Tehran as a regional troublemaker, and for Israel, which regards Iran as a mortal threat, the Geneva agreement means they have failed to dissuade Washington from a course they suspect will end in tears, such is their distrust of the Islamic Republic. Iran will grow richer and stronger through the easing and eventual lifting of sanctions that have shackled its economy, emboldening its Islamist rulers to step up support to Shi'ite Muslim allies in Arab countries, critics of the deal say.
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| Iran's Arab neighbours keep reservations quiet over nuclear deal Posted: 24 Nov 2013 06:10 AM PST  Iran's Arab neighbors, deeply uneasy about Tehran's diplomatic rehabilitation, kept their reservations quiet on Sunday after Iran reached a nuclear deal with global powers. Iran's only two Arab friends - Iraq and Syria - were quick to praise the deal, as was the Palestinian Authority which welcomed it for putting pressure on Israel. Other Arab states have done little to hide their deep skepticism in recent weeks, but mostly managed to keep their wariness to themselves on Sunday, and some eventually spoke out in support. The king of Iran's main regional rival, Saudi Arabia, and the rulers of Kuwait and Qatar, who warily view Tehran, held talks overnight but none had issued an official response by midday.
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| Afghan president again delays signing US deal Posted: 24 Nov 2013 05:20 AM PST  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president said on Sunday he will not sign a security deal with the United States until next April's elections, ignoring a recommendation by an assembly of Afghan elders and leaders that he do so by the end of 2013.
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| Region will lose sleep over Iran deal: Saudi adviser Posted: 24 Nov 2013 04:15 AM PST  By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - People in the Middle East will lose sleep over a nuclear deal between global powers and Iran, a Saudi foreign policy adviser said on Sunday, signaling the deep unease Sunni Muslim Gulf states have over Western rapprochement with their Shi'ite foe. At the time the adviser spoke, Saudi Arabia had not officially responded to news of the deal under which Western countries will ease sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. Riyadh has frequently called for Washington to maintain a tough line with Tehran. Abdullah al-Askar, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in Saudi Arabia's appointed Shoura Council, a quasi-parliament that advises the government on policy, stressed that he had no knowledge of his government's official response but was personally worried.
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| Clashes to break Syrian siege kill over 75 Posted: 24 Nov 2013 03:19 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels fighting to break a Syrian government siege of the opposition-held suburbs of Damascus have clashed with soldiers in battles that left over 75 dead on both sides, activists said Sunday. |
| Bombs kill nine and wound 54 in northern Iraq Posted: 24 Nov 2013 01:49 AM PST  A car bomb and a suicide bomber killed at least nine people and wounded 54 in northern Iraq on Saturday, police and medical sources said, in the latest of a wave of attacks in crowded public places. The bombings took place in the town of Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (100 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, in a region which both the central government and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan claim as theirs. The first bomb detonated in a car in a busy market near a Shi'ite mosque after prayers and was quickly followed by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest, the sources said. Iraqi authorities are struggling with the worst violence in at least five years and say Sunni Muslim insurgents linked to al Qaeda are to blame for most of the attacks, which have killed hundreds each month since the beginning of 2013.
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| Syrians fleeing war face hardship in Balkans Posted: 24 Nov 2013 01:39 AM PST  HARMANLI, Bulgaria (AP) — Idris Hassan, his wife and their three children fled the carnage of the Syrian war, hoping to find peace and safety in western Europe. Instead, they are stuck in an overcrowded Bulgarian refugee camp — living in a freezing tent without enough food or running water.
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| Afghan assembly begins giving US pact verdict Posted: 23 Nov 2013 11:32 PM PST  An Afghan grand assembly began delivering its verdict on a crucial security pact with the United States Sunday, following concern over conditions attached by President Hamid Karzai and warnings from Washington. Almost all of the first 20 committees to declare endorsed the painstakingly negotiated Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) governing the presence of US troops in Afghanistan after 2014. Some even suggested adding an extra US base in the province of Bamiyan, while more than half of them urged Karzai to get the BSA signed into effect before the presidential election next year. In his opening statement on Thursday, Karzai told the meeting that the deal would not be signed until after April's poll -- sparking a strong response from Washington, which wants it sealed by the end of this year.
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| Afghan council set to approve US deal Posted: 23 Nov 2013 11:28 PM PST  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A meeting of Afghan tribal elders and other leaders looked set on Sunday to recommend that the country's president sign a security deal with the United States as quickly as possible, ignoring his demand for a delay until after next April's elections.
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| Today in History Posted: 23 Nov 2013 09:01 PM PST Today is Sunday, Nov. 24, the 328th day of 2013. There are 37 days left in the year. |
| A look at US-Iran ties leading up to nuclear pact Posted: 23 Nov 2013 07:52 PM PST GENEVA (AP) — Iran's agreement with six world powers over its nuclear program comes after decades of difficult ties between Washington and Tehran. Relations have been up, but mostly down since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and subsequent hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in the Iranian capital. The nuclear agreement, designed as a first step in preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for the easing of some punishing economic sanctions, signals a thaw in the U.S.-Iranian relationship. |
| FIFA calls for new Iraq football vote Posted: 23 Nov 2013 04:58 PM PST  World football's governing body has told Iraq's embattled football association to hold leadership elections next year after a court ruled the last vote involved multiple problems, an Iraqi football official said. "On Friday, we received an official notice from FIFA recommending the new elections be held on January 20," Iraqi Football Association (IFA) Vice President Abdulkhaliq Massud told AFP. "We are waiting for additional recommendations from both FIFA and the Asian association regarding the supervision of these elections," he added, referring to the Asian Football Confederation.
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| Fierce fighting near Damascus 'kills 160 in two days' Posted: 23 Nov 2013 04:05 PM PST  At least 160 rebel fighters and Syrian troops have been killed in two days of clashes in the Eastern Ghouta region just outside Damascus, a monitoring group said on Sunday. The latest fighting comes against the backdrop of regime advances in Damascus province that have cut rebel supply lines to the capital and its southern districts. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting began Friday when rebel forces, including jihadist fighters, launched attacks against checkpoints and military stations in five areas in the Ghouta region. "They are trying to break the siege imposed by the army on the region," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
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