Syria Denounces AL Assad Exit Proposal

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The Arab League on Monday called on Assad to swiftly step aside in order to end the fighting that has swept across the country.
“There is agreement on the need for the rapid resignation of President Bashar Al-Assad,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani told journalists at the end of the ministerial meeting in Doha.
The Arab League also urged the so-called Free Syrian Army to form a transitional government of national unity.
“We call on the opposition and the Free Syrian Army to form a government of national unity,” Sheikh Hamad said as he delivered the results of the Arab League meeting.
He urged Assad to take the “courageous” decision in order to save his country where fierce fighting continued to rage between government troops and rebels.

Iraq Against AL’s Request
Iraq rejected Arab League calls for Bashar Al-Assad to step down, saying it was for the Syrian people alone to decide his fate, a government spokesman said.
“The Iraqi delegation put forward their reservation. It is not usual for the ministerial council to ask someone to leave. This is the sole responsibility of the Syrian people and others should not interfere,” government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said.
He was referring to a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Doha which early on Monday offered Assad a “safe exit” if he stepped down swiftly.

No Use of Chemical Weapons
Syria will not use chemical or other unconventional weapons except in the case of a foreign attack, Jihad Makdissi said.
“Syria will not use any chemical or other unconventional weapons against its civilians, and will only use them in case of external aggression,” Makdissi told a media conference in Damascus.
“Any stocks of chemical weapons that may exist, will never, ever be used against the Syrian people,” he said, adding that in the event of foreign attack, “the generals will be deciding when and how we use them.”
The statement came a day after the US said it would “hold accountable” any Syrian official involved in the release or use of the country’s chemical weapons.
Neighboring Jordan’s King Abdullah II also said that in the event of a descent into all-out war, chemical weapons could fall into the hands of extremists, including certain rebel groups.

Retaking Border Posts
Syria vowed on Monday to regain control of several border posts that rebel forces seized along the frontier with Iraq and Turkey within days.
“Two border posts are currently outside the control (of authorities), but they have been out of use since June and it is easy to send a few armed men to take them over,” Makdissi said.
The rebels “will not hold onto them and they will be gone in a few days,” he told a news conference.
Rebel forces have battled government troops for control of several border crossings, and have reportedly seized at least three posts between Syria and Turkey and one between Syria and Iraq.
They have also tried but failed to take hold of a post between Syria and Jordan.

Scores Killed In Iraq Attacks

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The last two days of bombings and shootings shattered a two-week lull in violence in the run-up to the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which started in Iraq on Saturday.
Sectarian slaughter peaked in 2006-2007 but deadly attacks have persisted while political tensions among Iraq’s main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions have mounted since US troops left the country in December.
In Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, six explosions, including a car bomb, went off near a housing complex. A seventh blast there caused carnage among police who had arrived at the scene of the earlier ones. In all 32 people were killed, including 14 police, and 48 wounded, 10 of them police.
Two car bombs struck near a government building in Sadr City, a vast, poor Shiite swathe of Baghdad, and in the mainly Shiite area of Hussainiya on the outskirts of the capital, killing a total of 11 people and wounding 73, police said.
In Kirkuk, five car bombs killed six people and wounded 17, while explosions and gun attacks on security checkpoints around the restive province of Diyala killed six people, including four soldiers and policemen, and wounded 30, police sources said.
Two car bombs parked near a military checkpoint killed five people and wounded 22 in the town of Khan Bani Saad, 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police sources said. Gunmen killed four soldiers and wounded five in an attack on a checkpoint in the town of Udhaim, 90 km north of the capital, they said.
The orchestrated spate of attacks followed car bombs on Sunday in two towns south of Baghdad and in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf that killed 20 people and wounded 80.
Last month was one of the bloodiest since the US withdrawal, with at least 237 people killed and 603 wounded.

Detainees Held by Egypt Military Released

Egypt on Monday began to release detainees held by the military following a decree last week by President Mohamed Morsi, security officials said.
“Prison authorities have begun releasing the detainees,” an official said.
Morsi, who was sworn in last month as Egypt’s first elected civilian president, on Thursday issued an order to pardon 572 people convicted by military tribunals.
Their release comes on a public holiday marking the 1952 military coup d’etat that ultimately led to the overthrow of the monarchy in Egypt.
The Egyptian president had ordered the formation of a committee to review the cases of civilians tried by the military.
A total of 11,879 Egyptians have been detained by the military since last year’s uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, according to figures issued by the committee. Of these, 9,714 have since been released.
Activists and international rights groups have repeatedly called for the end to military trials of civilians which they say do not meet the requirements of independence and impartiality.
“International law is crystal-clear on this: no civilian, regardless of the crime, should be tried by a military court,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said last week.
She urged Morsi to take a “principled human rights stance and pardon all civilians convicted by military tribunals.”
Morsi was sworn in on June 30, taking over from a military council which oversaw the transition from Mubarak’s rule.
But the president has been locked in a power struggle with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which issued a constitutional declaration--that acts as a temporary charter--giving the military sweeping powers.

Somalia’s Al-Shabab Executes CIA, MI6 ‘Spies’

Somalia’s Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab insurgents have executed three members for “spying” for Western intelligence agencies, officials said on Monday.
Two of the men were accused of having in January attached a satellite tracker device to a car used by Al-Qaeda operatives, which was later struck by a missile, killing two, AFP reported.
“The three defendants were found guilty of spying...one of them worked for the British intelligence agency MI6 and the two others were spying for the CIA,” said Sheikh Abdalla Al-Haq, the Al-Shabab’s chief judge.
The three men, aged between 25 and 30 according to witnesses, were shot by firing squad in a public execution in the port town of Merka late Sunday.
“All of them confessed to the charges against them, and the punishment is death,” Al-Haq said.
“One of them was shouting when they dropped him off and after the judge read the verdict, they were blindfolded and shot,” said Abidaziz Moalim, a witness.
“ Al-Shabab officials used loud speakers on pickup trucks to call people to gather for the execution, hundreds of people came to watch,” said Idris Nure, another witness.

Egypt Allowing Gazans Entry Without Permits

Airport officials say Egypt is allowing Palestinians free entry into the country, ending part of a five-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The decision means Palestinians can freely leave Gaza. It also applies to Palestinians in the West Bank and Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
The blockade was imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, AP reported.
The officials said the decision was applied early Monday for the first time, when seven Palestinians waiting at Cairo International Airport were allowed into Egypt without the usual security clearances and visas. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Egypt’s ambassador to the West Bank Yasser Othman said transiting Palestinians can enter Egypt for 72 hours to arrange their own travel. A Palestinian official in Cairo said more easing of restrictions are being negotiated.
The decision, however, took some Egyptian security by surprise, as a formal announcement was not yet made.

EU Tightens Arms Embargo on Syria

The European Union on Monday tightened sanctions on Syria and required member nations to board ships and airplanes carrying suspicious cargo to the country, as foreign ministers warned that the escalating violence there was sparking a refugee crisis for its neighbors.
The 27 EU ministers added 29 names to an existing list of over 170 Syrian individuals and companies believed to be associated with the repression, or benefiting from President Bashar Assad’s regime. They also endorsed a plan to enforce the bloc’s existing arms embargo, requiring inspections on the territory or in the territorial waters of EU states, AP reported.
“Our decisions will strengthen sanctions against the Assad regime and also help neighboring countries, mainly Jordan and Lebanon, who will have to take in many of the refugees. We’re doing both things,” said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
The EU banned weapons exports to Syria in May, 2011. But until now, the 28 member nations had the right to decide whether or not to inspect cargos believed to be in breach of the embargo.
Syria’s military arsenal is mainly of Soviet and Russian origin. Very little of its weaponry originates from Western nations, which makes it unlikely that the EU arms embargo will have a significant effect on the situation on the ground.
In January, a Russian ship that made an unscheduled stop in EU-member Cyprus while carrying tons of arms to Syria was allowed to continue its journey after changing its destination. And last month, another Russian-operated ship heading to Syria with a load of weapons turned back after its British insurer decided to remove the vessel’s coverage.
“Sanctions are part of this whole way of trying to put pressure on regime,” said Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief. “They will prevent any arms from reaching Syria.”
The United Nations said last week that the number of Syrian refugees who have sought help from it since April has almost tripled to 112,000. The UN refugee agency said women and children make up three-quarters of the Syrians who it has registered or assisted in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
“We’re supporting and working with them,” Ashton said, referring to the four countries.
Fabius and British Foreign Secretary William Hague both called for more assistance for refugees. The Arab League on Monday promised $100 million for Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and called on the UN to set up safe havens for them inside the country.
“The EU remains deeply concerned about the spill-over effects of the Syrian crisis in neighboring countries in terms of security and stability,” said a statement released at the meeting.

Sudan, S. Sudan Meet To Resolve Dispute

Top negotiators from Sudan and rival South Sudan have met in the latest round of African Union mediated talks to resolve bitter dispute, officials said Monday.
“Yesterday we had a meeting, and we tabled our positions,” said Atif Kiir, a spokesman for Juba’s delegation.
The latest round of talks comes a week after Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiirexchanged a symbolic handshake at an AU summit, AFP reported.
South Sudan’s top negotiator Pagan Amum was expected to address the media later on Monday.
On Saturday South Sudan said it was cancelling planned face-to-face peace talks with Sudan after accusing Khartoum of launching a new air raid on its territory.
Sudan denied bombing its southern neighbor, saying it had targeted Darfuri rebels inside its own territory.
The negotiations to settle disputes stemming from the South’s independence in July last year stalled in April, but resumed in May.

Clashes in Turkey Camps

Turkish police fired tear gas on stone-throwing Syrian refugees who were protesting Sunday at the lack of food and water at camps on the border with their conflict-ravaged homeland.