Sudan accuses Israel of bombing weapons factory threatens to retaliate

Fire engulf the Yarmouk ammunition factory in Khartoum October 24, 2012 (Reuters / Stringer)

Source: Russia Today

Israel was behind the bombing of a military factory that killed two people, claims Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman. Now, the Arab North African state is threatening to respond in kind.

"We think Israel did the bombing," Osman told a news conference, adding that Sudan reserves “the right to react at a place and time we choose." He also told reporters that his government may take the issue up with the United Nations Security Council.

The minister said four planes were involved in the attack at the Yarmouk military manufacturing facility in south Khartoum, and claimed evidence recovered at the scene points to Israel’s involvement.

The Yarmouk complex was built in 1996, and is one of two known state-owned weapons manufacturing facilities in the Sudanese capital.

Residents from the area told local newspapers that they saw planes flying overhead just before the explosion. The blast blew roofs off houses, shattered windows and set nearby trees ablaze. Several people suffered from smoke exposure.

Thick smoke blackened the sky over the complex, and firefighters fought the blaze for hours.

It's not the first time Sudanese officials have blamed such an incident on Israel.

One person was killed when a car blew up on the country's Red Sea coast in May, about a year after Sudan blamed Israel for an air strike on a vehicle in the same area. Witnesses to the May incident said they heard a big blast that set the car ablaze and left two holes in the ground.

In January 2009, foreign aircraft struck a truck convoy reportedly laden with weapons in the country’s east, killing dozens. The shipment was rumored to be headed for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, though Sudanese parliamentarians denied the claims.

Osman told the news conference that his country was certain the previous attacks were ordered by the Israeli government. “The main purpose is to frustrate our military capabilities and stop any development there and ultimately weaken our national sovereignty,” he said.

Israel, as is its policy, has neither admitted nor denied carrying out the attack.

Khartoum is seeking the removal of United States sanctions imposed in 1997 over support for international terrorism, its human rights record and other concerns.

In 1998, US cruise missiles bombed a Khartoum pharmaceutical factory suspected of links to al-Qaeda in the wake of the terrorist group's bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.

Onlookers gather to looks at a huge fire that engulf the Yarmouk ammunition factory in Khartoum October 24, 2012 (Reuters / Stringer)

Fire engulf the Yarmouk ammunition factory in Khartoum October 24, 2012 (Reuters / Stringer)

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Sudanese stage demonstration against Israel, US

Hundreds of Sudanese hold a demonstration in the capital Khartoum on October 24, 2012, to protest against an airstrike on a weapons factory in the city blamed on Israel

Source: Press TV

Hundreds of Sudanese have staged a demonstration in the capital Khartoum to protest against an airstrike on a weapons factory blamed on Israel.

On Wednesday night, the protesters chanted slogans against the Israeli regime and the United States, such as "Death to Israel" and "Remove Israel from the map."

The demonstration was staged after Sudanese Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said that four Israeli warplanes had attacked a weapons factory in Khartoum earlier in the day, killing at least two people.

In response to a question about the attack, Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak said, "There is nothing I can say about this subject."

Sudan also called on the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel for violating the country’s sovereignty.

Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman referred to the attack as a "blatant violation" of the UN charter and demanded condemnation from the global body.

In May, Khartoum blamed Israel for a deadly attack that destroyed a car and killed a businessman in Port Sudan.

Sudan also blamed Israel for another deadly missile attack on a car near Port Sudan in April 2011.

The Tel Aviv regime, however, has neither denied nor confirmed its involvement in these incidents.

Castro announces political term limits

Cuban President Raul Castro addresses the Sixth Communist Party Congress in Cuba, April 16, 2011. Reuters Pictures

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175336.html

Cuban President Raul Castro has proposed a series of reforms including term limits for politicians and economic changes during a Communist Party summit.

Castro told 1,000 delegates that public office terms should be limited to two 5 years in an opening speech at the Sixth Party Congress in Cuba on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.

"We have arrived at the conclusion that it is advisable to limit the fundamental political and state offices to a maximum period of two consecutive periods of five years," Castro said.

Promising to launch a “systematic rejuvenation” of the government, Castro also proposed the elimination of food ration coupons and other subsidies, saying they represented an "unbearable burden ... and a disincentive for work."

He also suggested changes to the country's socialist economy, such as decentralization and a new reliance on supply and demand in some sectors.

At the same time, Castro dismissed changes that would allow the privatization of property, and affirmed his commitment to free healthcare and education.

The term limits will not likely effect Castro's position, who was appointed as president by his older brother, former President Fidel Castro, who fell ill in 2006. Formally taking over in 2008, the younger Castro would most likely be termed out in 2018 when he is 86 years old.

The senior Castro was not able to attend the congress, but later wrote that he fully supports his brother's proposals.

Last year, Castro announced layoffs of 500,000 government workers making up 80 percent of the country's entire labor force. Earlier this month, however, he announced that the cuts would be delayed indefinitely.

Israel to boost security on Egypt border

The Israeli military is set to deploy its forces to the border in case of a revolution in Egypt

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162673.html

A senior Israeli commander says the military will have to boost security along the Egyptian border should the uprising lead to a regime change in the North African country.

“If a hostile regime takes over in Egypt, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will need to restructure itself and would be pushed to the limit in its ability to deploy adequate resources on the various fronts, The Jerusalem Post quoted the official as speaking on condition of anonymity.

“A change in power could change what happens on the border as well,” the Israeli official went on to say.

Israeli military commanders gathered to discuss possible scenarios that could happen in Egypt in the wake of an uprising against the three-decade rule of President Hosni Mubarak, the report said on Saturday.

The Israeli commanders met at Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba, as well as at the Kirya military headquarters, and the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

According to the report, the military is set to restructure its divisions and the air force “to effectively meet the challenge” that it might face in case of a regime change in Egypt.

Mass protests against Mubarak's 30-year rule which started on Tuesday and continued across the country -- despite a government ban on further protests -- have raised speculations of a regime change.

An Israeli minister, however, undermined the uprising on Saturday, saying that Mubarak will “overcome the current wave of demonstrations.”

He argued that the “Arab region” is not currently ready “to go through the democratic process.”

Meanwhile, Arabic newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Israel's diplomats and their families left Egypt on Friday. Helicopters evacuated the embassy staff to an Egyptian airbase, where they were flown back to Tel Aviv.

Israel is extremely concerned about a possible regime change in Egypt which could endanger a peace treaty that was signed between the two sides in 1979.

Cuba's Castro addresses parliament

Castro spoke on the threat of nuclear war and a
subsequent change in the world order [EPA]


Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/20108715838881948.html


Fidel Castro, the former president of Cuba, has addressed the national assembly for the first time since stepping down as leader.

The ailing Castro, who remains head of the Communist Party, last made an official government appearance four years ago, before falling seriously ill and having to hand over the presidency to his brother Raul Castro.

In his address on Saturday, Fidel Castro, 83, talked of the threat of a nuclear holocaust and an end to the current world social order.

Castro has been warning that the world is on the brink of nuclear war for some time, stating the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, is planning to attack rivals Iran and North Korea.

World order

"When the president [Barack Obama] would give the order ... it would be tantamount to ordering the instant death not only of hundreds of millions of people including an inestimable number of residents of the United States as well, but also the crew member of all of the United States navel craft in the seas heading towards Iran," Castro said.

"Simultaneously with this, the conflagration would break out in the Middle East and Eurasia."

Castro said that the current world order "cannot last and will inevitably collapse".

He asserted that foreign exchange reserves, which have created wealth by taxing hard working publics, would also fall apart.

But he warned that were nuclear war to break out that change would be hastened.

"If war were to break out, the current world order would disappear abruptly and the price would be much greater," he said.

Al Jazeera's Latin America editor Lucia Newman said: "He looked certainly a lot better than he has in a long time and that was one of the points that he was trying to make - that although he has been out of the public eye he is still in the picture.

"It was a message to the Cuban people and the world that he should be listened to. And he was talking directly to the president of the United States."

'Long live Fidel!'

Wearing his trademark olive green military uniform, Castro had entered the chamber to cheers of "Fidel, Fidel, Fidel", and "Long live Fidel! Long live Raul!".

Castro had an assistant with him when entering the assembly, but stood independently at the podium.

He spoke for 11 minutes - a relatively short time considering his typical lengthy speeches - and Raul Castro was also present in parliament.


It is the first time the pair have been seen together in the same room since the change of power.

Castro emerged from private seclusion earlier this week, meeting with a Communist youth group among other public appearances.

He has not been able to appear publically since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006. He renounced the presidency in 2008.

Cuba has been a one-party Communist state since 1959 when Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista, a dictator supported by the US.

Iran artilleries get anti-aircraft systems

Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137877§ionid=351020101


A senior Iranian commander says the country's armed forces are boosting their surface-to-air firepower with the introduction of new anti-aircraft missile systems.

Iran's “artillery units will soon receive new anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems” to enhance the country's defense capabilities, Fars news agency reported the commander of the anti-aircraft post of the Khatamolanbia Headquarters, Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani, as saying on Sunday.

The military chief said that the Khatamolanbia anti-aircraft post is “rapidly upgrading its defense systems in every way.”

He also noted that the country's artilleries have already deployed another anti-aircraft missile, named Mersad (Ambush), as operational.

Mersad medium-range missile system is the first domestically-built air defense system, which is said to be more powerful than the US-made Hawk missile.

It features cutting-edge technology that makes it able to destroy modern aircrafts at low and medium altitudes, Iran military officials say.

Mersad is also equipped with sophisticated radar signal processing technology, an advanced launcher, and contains exclusive electronic equipment for guidance and target acquisition.

It could be linked to other anti-aircraft batteries, providing the ability to combat electronic warfare.

Iran began mass-production of the missile earlier this year in order to deliver a sizeable number to the country's armed forces by year's end.