For the first time since President Obama took office Washington has publicly disclosed the names of inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp classified as “indefinite detainees” – those who pose too great a threat to release but cannot be tried in court.

The 48 inmates were first identified in 2009 when the Obama administration first announced plans to close the prison camp by executive order. Authorities examining the cases, though, determined at that time 48 inmates who would be impossible to try in court because of a lack of evidence, or because the evidence was too tainted. They are ineligible for release, though, because the government has deemed them an immediate threat to American lives.

The Department of Defense disclosed the names to the Miami Herald, which, along with a group of Yale Law School students, successfully sued for the list under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Pentagon has also provided the list to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees of Congress.

Included on the list are Khalid Abdullah Al Awda, an alleged Taliban member who worked with al-Qaeda before fleeing Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and Fayez al-Kandari, who is accused of being an advisor to slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Both detainees, and dozens of others on the list, are currently on hunger strike and being force-fed.

At least two of the men named on the list, Afghan Mohammen Rahim and Somali Hassan Guleed, are described as “high-value detainees” who are being held in separate quarters from other Guantanamo inmates.

All told, the “indefinite detainees” list is made up of 26 Yemenis, 12 Afghans, 3 Saudis, 2 Kuwaitis, 2 Libyans, a Kenyan, a Moroccan and a Somali, according to the Miami Herald. Two Afghan inmates on the list are deceased, one by suicide and the other killed by a heart attack behind bars.

The US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AFP Photo / Brennan Linsley)

Torture and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques have rendered evidence against many of the “indefinite detainees” inadmissible, US officials admitted. Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, the Pentagon’s chief war crimes prosecutor, told the Miami Herald that fewer than 34 of the detainees will be brought to trial.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who the September 11 Commission Report described as “the principal architect of the September 11 attacks,” is due to stand trial, along with four co-conspirators who allegedly plotted the 2001 terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 civilians. Also incarcerated at Guantanamo is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, accused of orchestrating the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. Both men will face execution tribunals.

Mohammed and his co-defendants are accused of training and funding the hijackers who would eventually fly two passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington DC, and a fourth that crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The five men appeared in court Monday and, Reuters reported, appeared to be well-fed, suggesting they have not joined the ongoing hunger strike. Their trial date has yet to be determined.

Source: RT

A criminal complaint just filed in Corpus Christi, Texas alleges that the guards at a local jail ran a horrific “rape camp” where they forced female inmates to participate unwillingly in graphic sex acts over the course of three years.

The complaint, filed in federal court by attorneys representing two former inmates, says guards at the Live Oak County Sheriff’s office “ran a ‘rape camp’ known as the Live Oak County Jail” starting sometime in 2007 and lasting through August 2010.

“In this facility, numerous jailers, all employed by the Live Oak County Sheriff’s Office, repeatedly raped and humiliated female inmates over an extended period of time,” reads the complaint, first obtained Monday by Courthouse News Service.

According to the document, jailers Vincent Aguilar, Israel Charles Jr. and Jaime E. Smith forced female inmates to repeatedly engage in a number of sex acts with them, even withholding “food, drink and other hygiene items” on occasion in order to coax the women to do certain things. Other times, the jailers threatened to take away basic privileges.

All three jailers have been incarcerated since an arrest in 2010, but the plaintiffs are now seeking punitive damages over alleged civil rights violations, instances of assault and emotional distress.

According to a June 2012 article in the Beeville Bee-Picayune, the three defendants originally pleaded guilty to multiple charges of improper sexual activity with a person in custody, but ultimately their counts were reduced to only two apiece. Smith and Aguilar were both sentenced last year to 18 months in prison, with Charles receiving only a one year sentence.

One of the plaintiffs, named only as J.A.S. in the complaint, told attorneys that she was forced to perform various sexual acts on the defendants, “including oral sex and manual stimulation – whatever time permitted for their amusement.”

“These incidents also included their own lewd acts on themselves, including masturbation where plaintiff was forced to conceal their ejaculate by way of ingestion,” attorney Ronald W. Armstrong wrote in the complaint.

“These and similar acts occurred so frequently that plaintiff cannot account for the number of assaults she was forced to endure,” Armstrong continued, noting that all three jailers would be present sometimes during the assaults.

That plaintiff, named only as J.A.S. in the filing, was ultimately released from Live Oak County Jail after the misdemeanor marijuana possession count she was originally charged with was dropped by the court. Not before, however, she says the jailers told her she “was their ‘sex slave or whatever they wanted her to be.”

Another woman, J.M.N., said she was also held at the facility at the same time in July 2010 and was “repeatedly sexually assaulted by defendants.”

Source: RT

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As Britain readies to host the G8 summit, the documents uncovered by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have revealed that back in 2009 US spies intercepted top-secret communications of then Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, during his visit to London.

The Guardian, which has seen the documents, also revealed that UK intelligence agency GCHQ monitored foreign politicians and intercepted their emails during the 2009 G20 summit held in the British capital, which was attended by Medvedev. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by UK intelligence agencies to read their email traffic.

This comes as the 39th G8 summit is scheduled to start on Monday in the small Northern Irish resort town of Lough Erne with all the nations who were present at the 2009 London meeting attending.

According to the leaked documents viewed by the British paper, the details of the intercept of Medvedev’s communications were set out in a briefing prepared by the US National Security Agency (NSA), and shared with high-ranking officials from Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The document entitled “Russian Leadership Communications in support of President Dmitry Medvedev at the G20 summit in London – Intercept at Menwith Hill station” was drafted in August 2009, four months after the Russian president attended the London G20 summit.

The NSA paper says: “This is an analysis of signal activity in support of President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to London. The report details a change in the way Russian leadership signals have been normally transmitted. The signal activity was found to be emanating from the Russian embassy in London and the communications are believed to be in support of the Russian president.”

The interception of Medvedev’s communications by the US intelligence service came hours after his first meeting with the US President Barack Obama where they struck a warm tone and promised a “fresh start” in US-Russia relations.

The latest revelations will be a major embarrassment for Washington, as Obama is set to meet with the incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 summit in Northern Ireland and discuss such tough issues as the Syrian conflict.

In the wake of the scandalous leak of NSA documents, US officials have been defending massive surveillance tactics stressing that they were crucial in the fight against terrorism. However, the recent revelations about the actions of the NSA and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) suggests this was simply a case of espionage.

The information obtained by the GCHQ analysts was being rapidly passed on to the British representatives in the G20 meetings, giving them a negotiating advantage. “In a live situation such as this, intelligence received may be used to influence events on the ground taking place just minutes or hours later. This means that it is not sufficient to mine call records afterwards – real-time tip-off is essential,” read one of the leaked documents.

During the London summit, GCHQ used what one document described as “ground-breaking intelligence capabilities” to intercept the communications of the foreign delegations. The spy agency set up internet cafes where they used an email interception program and key-logging software to monitor delegates’ use of computers. The security of delegates’ BlackBerrys had been penetrated to enable GCHQ see their messages and phone calls.

According to the report the surveillance operation was ordered at a senior level in the government of the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, and appears to have run for at least six months before and after the world leaders gathered in London on April 2.

One document reveals that when G20 finance ministers met in London in September 2009, British intelligence again spied on the delegates, including Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and possibly 15 other members of his team.

Referring to the NSA spying on the Russian president at that summit, RT contributor Afshin Rattansi says Britain has served as a surveillance platform for the US for decades. “For many years the British people realized that the National Security Agency was basically using the United Kingdom. And the largest spying outfit of the United States is here in Britain,” he said.

“Perhaps the British people will realize that they are living in a state where their media and all institutions surrounding them, all industrial aspects of the civic society are under a kind of surveillance state that is not being covered in the news.”

The 2009 summit came at a critical moment when the crisis in Western capitalism hit its peak, Rattansi notes. “These kind of revelations show that when governments such as Britain and the United States come close to worrying, they will use this to try and persuade different officials at different governments to sway them.”

Source: RT

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Iran will deploy 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to Syria to bolster Damascus against a mostly Sunni-led insurgency, media reported. Meanwhile, US F-16s and Patriots will stay in Jordan – speculatively, to help establish a no-fly zone to aid Syrian rebels.

The deployment of the first several-thousand strong military contingent was reported by The Independent on Sunday who quoted Iranian sources tied to the state’s security apparatus. The sources said the move signals Iran’s intention to drastically step up its efforts to preserve the government of President Bashar Assad.

The Islamic Republic’s heightened military commitment could reportedly extend to the opening up of a new “Syrian” front on the Golan Heights against Israel.

Golan Heights have recently become a source of new instability with increasing cross-border fire and Austria withdrawing its peacekeepers from the buffer area after a checking point became the spot of military dispute between and Assad’s and opposition’s forces.

This stirred concern in the UN with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warning the fragile state of no-war between Tel-Aviv and Damascus is at risk.

“The ongoing military activities in the [Golan] area of separation continue to have the potential to escalate tensions between Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic and to jeopardize the cease-fire between the two countries,” Ban Ki-moon said in a June 13 statement.

Journalists have frequently asked Assad whether he plans to open a resistance front at Golans. The option discussion was brought back to the table after every air strike on the Syrian territory pinned on Israel. Tel-Aviv always stopped short of confirming the strikes but hinted that it would do “whatever it takes” to stop arms supplies to Lebanon’s Hezbollah even if convoys are found going through Syria.

The strikes resonated across the world – and back in February Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s National Security Council, warned Israel would “regret” them.

…vs. US troops in Jordan?

Reports of Iran’s decision to get directly involved in the Syrian conflict come just days after Israel’s ally, the US, chose to reverse its policy of not providing lethal aid to rebel fighters. The argument the Obama Administration used was that Damascus had crossed a red line by deploying chemical weapons against opposition forces on four separate occasions.

Washington’s policy shift has quickly materialized on multiple fronts, some of them also in the press.

On Saturday, the Pentagon announced a detachment of F-16s and US Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems dispatched to Jordan for the ongoing joint Eager Lion military exercise will remain in the country once the training drills conclude.

A range of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles (AFP Photo / Str)

The same day, The Washington Post reported that clandestine bases in Jordan and Turkey would serve as conduits for arms being delivered to the rebel fighters.

US military support will thus far be limited to light arms and other munitions, although Washington’s shifting calculus has potentially given a green light to regional Sunni allies to provide anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to the Assad opposition.

Just one day before the Pentagon announced its intention to leave Patriot missiles and F-16s in Jordan, senior Western diplomats in Turkey announced Washington was mulling the establishment of a no-fly zone, “possibly near the Jordanian border.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any attempt to impose such a zone would be in clear violation of international law.

Syria vortex: Saudi Arabia, Al-Nusra, Hezbollah

The US, Israel and Iran are not the only actors to have “activated” recently.

On Sunday, the German daily Der Spiegel, citing the German foreign intelligence service, said Saudi Arabia is looking to provide European-made Mistral-class MANPADS – man-portable air-defense systems – to the Syrian opposition.

Notably, on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia condemned the role of another party to the conflict – Hezbollah – announcing that measures would be taken against those loyal to the group who lived in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

Hezbollah, the Shia Islamist militant group based out of Lebanon, played an integral part in the recapture of the strategic city of Qusayr last week. Damascus announced its intentions to use the Qusayr victory as a stepping stone to retaking large swaths of the northern city of Aleppo and surrounding provinces.

A Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla (Reuters / Issam Kobeisi)

Some 2,000 of Hezbollah’s 65,000 strong force has reportedly been operating in the city since early June. Shortly after these reports emerged, the New York Times rolled out an article saying Israel accelerated planning for a “shock and awe” campaign to wipe out Hezbollah forces out of Syria.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of Hezbollah’s “blatant interference” in the Syrian conflict, a report issued by Intelligence Online in January said that Saudi Arabia was directly responsible for the radical al-Nusra Front’s very existence and operational superiority within the country.

“The Saudi General Intelligence, controlled by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, exploited its broad calls with Takfiri [atoning] movements in Iraq to help establish al-Nusra Front, a low-profile Takfiri movement,” the report stated.

“Thanks to funding from the General Intelligence Department and support from the Saudi Intelligence in Lebanon, al-Nusra was able to swiftly arm its forces, and make the Syrian regime suffer painful blows through its expertise in Iraqi bombings,” it continued.

The Al-Nusra Front, with its alleged Saudi connections, is incidentally the Syrian branch of the Islamic State of Iraq, which aims to establish a caliphate in the Sunni dominated regions of Iraq. This brings a strong sectarian smell to the two-year conflict and lifts far above local “anti-government” sentiments.

The increased effectiveness of pro-Assad forces has been met with frustration by prominent Sunni clerics. Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, a prominent Egyptian theologian, called on Sunnis in the region to join the battle against Damascus, asking: “How could 100m Shia [worldwide] defeat 1.7bn [Sunni]?”

With the United States, its Sunni allies in the region and Israel all preparing to step up involvement in the Syrian conflict, Iran’s commitment to defend the Assad government is likely just as motivated by self-preservation as Shiite solidarity.

Source: RT

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Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon in Ankara’s Kizilay Square to stop a memorial demonstration for an activist fatally shot in the head during protests. As police clashed with the hundreds-strong crowd a ban on downtown protests was announced.

Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on the protests in Turkey

About a thousand demonstrators gathered at the square in the center of the Turkish capital on Sunday, blocking two busy boulevards.

A woman is attacked by water cannon during protests in Kizilay square in central Ankara, June 16, 2013. (Reuters)

The protesters were waiting for the funeral procession for Ethem Sarisuluk, a 26-year-old activist who was shot in the head during demonstrations in Ankara on June 1 in support of Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Following two weeks on life support, Sarisuluk was declared brain dead.

Ethem Sarısülük evinin onünden gecirilecek. Yuruyus… pic.twitter.com/M4aiVR3s6R

— BanuGuven (@banuguven) June 16, 2013

The demonstrators, who believe the bullet that killed Sarisuluk was fired by a policeman, were chanting anti-government slogans, when scores of the police backed by riot control vehicles entered the square.

Many demonstrators have brought flowers – red carnations – to commemorate the protester shot at Kizilay.

People run to avoid tear gas during protests at Kizilay square in central Ankara, June 16, 2013. (Reuters)

Protesters are confronted by police during a demonstration at Kizilay square in central Ankara June 16, 2013. (Reuters)

Riot police use a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters in Ankara June 16, 2013. (Reuters)

The police waited until the funeral convoy arrived to the scene, stopping it, the witnesses tweeted.

The deceased’s family and a deputy of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) tried to negotiate with the police to let the procession through, but were not allowed into the square, according to Hurriyet.

"Funeral of Ethem Sarisuluk is not allowed to be taken to Kizilay. Ways are blocked in Batikent." #OccupyGezi pic.twitter.com/3lWjuNCtBP

— Arzela Averû (@arzela_) June 16, 2013

The cortege was then told to turn back from where it started, and the procession had to leave.

After repeatedly demanding to clear the square, the police then cracked down on the demonstrators, firing tear gas and high-pressure water. Armored police vehicles were backing the raid and making “dangerous driving maneuvers” and “putting lives of people at the square in danger.”

12.45pm local time, police already began dispersing crowd in Kizilay Sq., Ankara: v @140journos: pic.twitter.com/8MQ62eLoWF

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) June 16, 2013

Following at least three separate interventions, the square was covered by clouds of tear gas.

Protesters then clashed with the police on the side streets surrounding Kizilay, with reports of dozens of injured appearing on Twitter.

#occupygezi – Kizilay Sq in Ankara is under tear gas clouds again http://t.co/hzxCt3dahe

— opeiratis (@opeiratis) June 16, 2013

The Ankara governor’s office on Sunday said it is banning any downtown demonstrations from June 16, and threatened protesters with immediate police intervention and prosecution in court.

“From June 16, any demonstrations, marches or other actions may not be held in the central streets of Ankara… Otherwise, security forces will be used to halt rallies and legislative measures will be applied against the organizers of these actions and their participants,” the statement on the governor’s office website said.

‘We will not allow any gathering in Taksim’

Meanwhile in Istanbul, riot police fired sporadic bursts of tear gas to prevent the demonstrators from regrouping. Protesters’ tents and barricades were removed in Taksim Square and Gezi Park overnight ahead of the massive pro-government rally in the city’s largest square, Kazlıcesme.

Istanbul protesters could not make it past police barricades in Taksim, empty police shuttles occupy square. @AFP pic.twitter.com/1A8gq7tDeQ

— ceren kumova (@cerengemini) June 16, 2013

Istanbul’s Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu on Sunday stressed that protesters would not be allowed to gather in Taksim Square.

“There is a call to gather in Taksim at 4pm [13:00 GMT]. Any call for Taksim will not contribute to peace and security. After the current environment becomes stable, they can continue exercising their democratic rights. Under current circumstances we will not allow any gathering,” Mutlu told reporters.

The situation in Istanbul is mostly peaceful, and there are no major clashes in the city center, the governor claimed.

bu nasıl bir şeydir ? Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey 16-06-2013 pic.twitter.com/Yuj3jYg6t6

— Sevinç Eratalay (@EratalaySevinc) June 16, 2013

However, the police continued to use tear gas against groups of protesters gathering in central districts of Istanbul to head for Taksim Square.

In the district of Shishli – some 2km from Taksim – a group of protesters built a barricade to halt police, but was dispersed by rounds of tear gas and took shelter in a nearby mall.

FOTO: [#Istanbul] The crowd of people are walking in masses from Sisli towards #Taksim #occupygezi #istanbul pic.twitter.com/eO27hoDeIc

— citizensoftheworld (@worldofcitizens) June 16, 2013

Camiden sonra mezarlığa da gaz! “@dadaist_junker: 17:33 polis Şişli Ermeni Mezarlığı'na girerek, gaz bombası attı. pic.twitter.com/IdPuJiLAuC””

— gülsin harman (@gulsinharman) June 16, 2013

Earlier reports said the police have chased another group of about 100 protesters heading for Taksim into a mall in Mecidiyekoy, also in Shishli. The people shopping at the mall reportedly chanted anti-government slogans, protesting against the police intervention.

Mecidiyeköy'deki protestolar sırasında polis göstericilerin sığındığı Cevahir AVM'ye girdi, biber gazı sıktı. pic.twitter.com/tfCqS57yr6

— CHP İstanbul (@CHP_istanbulil) June 16, 2013

‘Authorities never kept their promises’

The people cannot trust Turkish police and authorities after Taksim Square, human rights activist Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci told RT.

“They excessively use violence and tear gas against medical personnel and injured people, they target doctors who voluntarily support the health units healing the injured,” she said.

Istanbul governor has confirmed on Sunday that some doctors have been detained by police.

Police detaining Dr's, who are helping those injured around Taksim. Dr's took an oath to do this, right? pic.twitter.com/8kZ0cymU7z #occupygezi

— T.C. (@ardaic) June 16, 2013

“[The Turkish authorities] have negotiated with protesters but never kept their promises. Although they said they would keep [Gezi] park, they actually immediately abolished it. They have to keep their promises. We can never be sure that they are sincere,” the human rights activist stressed.

Source: RT

Activists returning to Taksim Square will be considered “supporters or members of a terror group,” Turkey’s EU minister told local media. This comes after police bulldozed the tent camp in Gezi Park in one of the worst nights of violence in Istanbul.

“From now on the state will unfortunately have to consider everyone who remains there a supporter or member of a terror organization,” EU Minister Egemen Gagis said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster AHaber on Saturday night. He requested that all the activists returned to their homes.

“Our prime minister has already assured [activists] about their aim with the protests. The protests from now on will play into the hands of some separatist organizations that want to break the peace and prioritize vandalism and terrorism,” stressed Gagis.

PM Tayyip Erdogan, who has been the target for many of the complaints of the protesters, appeared to take a more compromising approach to the demonstrators on Saturday. He agreed to postpone the reconstruction plans for Gezi Park (located beside Taksim Square) that initially riled activists.

However, later in the evening he announced in a speech to his supporters in the Justice and Development Party (AK) that all the protesters must be “evacuated.”

What followed was reported by many to have been one of the most violent nights since the unrest began two weeks ago. Riot police moved into the Square taking on half an hour to disperse the activists gathered there, using tear gas and carrying riot shields.

Clashes then began to erupt at different spots around the city, with activists scuffling with officers. Witnesses claimed they were chased into hotels and accused the police of pelting them with tear gas even there.

“They excessively use violence and tear gas against medical personnel and injured people, they target doctors who voluntarily support the health units healing the injured,” human rights activist Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci informed RT  from Turkey.

Some protesters ripped up paving slabs and used debris to create makeshift barricades to impede officers.

Meanwhile in Taksim Square bulldozers cleared away all traces of the past two weeks of protest and police took control of the roads leading up to the square. The governor of Istanbul confirmed that 22 people had been taken into custody in connection with the protests and stressed that anti-government gatherings are banned in Taksim Square and the surrounding area.

Protesters have targeted Erdogan with their demonstrations, alleging he has become increasingly authoritarian in his administration of Turkey. In addition, many complain that his party thrusts conservative Islamist values upon a secular state.

Separately in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday police broke up a number of protesters near the Kizilay Square with water cannons and tear gas.

Officers initially stopped a convoy of mourners as they prepared to lay Ethem Sarisuluk, allegedly shot dead by police in a protest, to rest.

Austin Mackell, a journalist specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, characterized the unrest as an urban phenomenon made up of secular Western Turks who are used to having a strong voice in political matters. He stressed that the rise of a Muslim-orientated government had curtailed their say in government affairs and warned if the protesters did not unify the movement would quickly be extinguished.

“There is a real danger that if the Gezi kids don’t get their act together that what they’re going to do will benefit the generals and the old-school secular authoritarians,” said Mackel to RT.

So far over 700 people have been injured in the upheaval in Turkey and at least five have been killed.

Source: RT

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Pyongyang has proposed high-level talks with the US, KCNA state news agency reports. This comes after the North and the South canceled talks amid high tensions on the peninsula.

On Sunday KCNA delivered a statement by the North Korea National Defence Commission which said that Washington can pick a date and place for talks and the two sides can discuss a range of issues. It however warned that no preconditions should be attached.

 ”(We) propose high-level talks between the North Korean and US governments to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and establish regional peace and security,” the statement said.

The move may help defuse tensions which have been running high as Pyongyang threatened nuclear and missile strikes against South Korea and the United States following a round of UN sanctions adopted in response to a nuclear weapons test in February.

Source: RT

The use of chemical weapons by Damascus and Hezbollah involvement in Syria risks derailing a political settlement to the conflict, John Kerry warned. His comments follow reports the CIA is preparing to funnel arms to rebel forces via Jordan and Turkey.

Editor’s note: let’s not forget that mainstream news sources reported on the CIA arming rebels quite a while ago. Those reports were by no means isolated.

The US State Department issued a statement on Saturday condemning the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad for its lack of commitment to a negotiated settlement after Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with his Iraqi counterpart the previous day.

“The secretary reaffirmed that the United States continues to work aggressively for a political solution with the goal of a second Geneva meeting, but that the use of chemical weapons and increasing involvement of Hezbollah demonstrates the regime’s lack of commitment to negotiations and threatens to put a political settlement out of reach,” the department said.

The statement further noted it’s appreciation for Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who issued a June 11 statement “discouraging Iraqis from joining the fight in Syria.”

Kerry, who expressed concern over the “increasingly sectarian nature of the Syrian conflict on both sides,” asked Zebari to take “every possible measure to help end the military resupply of the Assad regime and thereby increase the pressure that will be necessary to advance a political solution.”

On Thursday, the Obama Administration said it would reverse US policy of not providing lethal aid to rebel fighters after claiming the Syrian government had crossed a red line by allegedly deploying chemical weapons against opposition forces on four separate occasions.

Syrian rebels take position in a house during clashes with regime froces in the old city of Aleppo.(AFP Photo / Ricardo Garcia Vilanova)

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov characterized the evidence provided by the United States regarding the use of chemical weapons by Damascus as “unconvincing.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also warned the US against sending rebel factions in Syria the “wrong signals” with promises of increased military aid, a move which would shift their focus on “escalating the fight instead of starting a dialogue.”

However, the US said the arms shipments would begin within a matter of weeks, with the CIA acting as the middleman between Washington and the opposition’s Supreme Military Council.

CIA to arm rebels via Jordan, Turkey?

On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that clandestine bases in Jordan and Turkey would serve as conduits for arms being delivered to the rebel fighters amidst fears American armaments would fall into the hands of Syria’s many Islamist factions.

Despite concerns expressed by US intelligence officials last year, Benjamin Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said on Friday the US is capable of delivering arms “not only into the country,” Rhodes said, but “into the right hands.”

“The Syrian puzzle has come into sharper focus in the past year, especially the makeup of various anti-regime groups,” one US official familiar with CIA assessments of the conflict told the Post on condition of anonymity. “And while the opposition remains far from monolithic, its military structures and coordination processes have improved.”

Such reassurances have had little impact on the Obama administrations reticence towards providing antitank or antiaircraft weapons to rebel groups, as the initial deliveries will include light arms and other munitions.

Syrian rebels of the Suqur Ali bin Aba Talib brigade prepare to launch a rocket from the roof of a building during ongoing clashes with regime forces.(AFP Photo / Zac Baillie)

US military leaders have previously stated that tracking heavy weaponry delivered to rebel groups such as MANPADs — man-portable air-defense systems – remained unreliable.

Obama’s decision to approve CIA weapons shipments could also signal green light to regional allies like Qatar and Saudi Arabia to provide such heavy weaponry despite concerns such armaments could be used against civilian aviation targets by terrorist groups.

US diplomats have also intonated that Washington might impose a no-fly zone “to help Assad’s opponents.”

No-fly zone looming?

The Pentagon on Saturday confirmed suspicions that F-16 fighter jets and Patriot anti-missile systems which were deployed to Jordan as part of the joint 12-day Eager Lion exercise would remain in the country once the annual training event concluded.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “has approved a request from the Kingdom of Jordan for a detachment of F-16s and Patriot Missiles to remain in Jordan following the conclusion of the Eager Lion Exercise next week,” Reuters cites Pentagon spokesman George Little as saying in a statement.

“All other US personnel assigned to Jordan for Eager Lion will depart at the conclusion of the exercise,” the statement continued.

Two patriot missile batteries.(AFP Photo / Jack Guez)

Lavrov said that any attempt to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria using the F-16s and missile batteries would be in clear violation of international law.

“There have been leaks from Western media regarding the serious consideration to create a no-fly zone over Syria through the deployment of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles and F-16 jets in Jordan,” Lavrov said.

“You don’t have to be a great expert to understand that this will violate international law,” Russia’s top diplomat continued.

Washington’s willingness for more direct engagement in the Syrian conflict comes ahead of the
Geneva II peace conference set for July.

Source: RT

Police have fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to clear Taksim and Gezi Park of protesters and prevent them from returning. Sporadic clashes have then been taking place around the area.

Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on the protests in Turkey

The news comes hours after Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan demanded the square to be “evacuated,” with protesters subsequently reporting over a hundred injuries, while the governor of Istanbul claimed the number to be closer to thirty.

Several people have been taken away in ambulances after being loaded onto stretchers, RT’s Irina Galushko reported from Istanbul.

Scores of riot police have sealed off Taksim Square and stormed the adjoining park, pressing the protesters out of the area.

Scores of riot police have sealed off Taksim Square and stormed the adjoining park, pressing the protesters out of the area.

Police advancing towards protesters on one side, water canoning on the other- clearing #taksim http://t.co/mLh9o8P0Ez

— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) June 15, 2013

Backed by armored vehicles, the police chased the people out, while dozens of workers with bulldozers started clearing out the remnants of the protester’s camp from the square.

Municipality workers are now destroying tents in Gezi Park, all roads to the area were blocked by police.

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) June 15, 2013

AP Video Still

Protesters are attacked by police water cannon and tear gas in front of a hotel where they took shelter next to Gezi Park near Istanbul’s Taksim square June 15, 2013.(Reuters / Yannis Behrakis )

Protesters run out of Gezi Park as police fires teargas at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 15, 2013.(Reuters / Murad Sezer)

Water cannon were used to keep the people off the square in the surrounding streets. Even ambulance workers, as well as reporters, have been denied access to Gezi Park, RT’s Galushko tweets.

Media and medical personnel not allowed in #gezi park #turkey #taksim #protests #occupygezi

— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) June 15, 2013

Dozens of people have been injured amidst the police action, while clashes with sporadic tear gas broke out in the streets, Today’s Zaman reporter Mahir Zeynalov tweets.

Police vs people! Taksim, now: pic.twitter.com/8XjcEUhCFh This is huge!

— Can Evrenol (@canevrenol) June 15, 2013

Zeynalov, however, notes that only “limited” amount of tear gas has been fired, saying the police are “professional so far in Taksim.”

AP Video Still

Meanwhile, some protesters spoke of a police “massacre,” describing accounts of brutality in their Twitter posts, as several groups of protesters took shelter from tear gas in adjacent hotels.

Divan Hotel, near Taksim is filled w/people who are gassed: 2.40pm EST v @140journos: 21:40pm local time v @erggg pic.twitter.com/zPHSorEg2F

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) June 15, 2013

Meanwhile, a Turkish public sector labor union has announced plans for a general strike on Monday, after Saturday’s events that included another police raid on Gezi Park.

A spokesman for the Public Workers Unions Confederation (KESK) told Reuters: “We had already taken a decision to go on strike if there was an intervention on the park. So tomorrow we will declare a strike for Monday.” The organization lists 240,000 members in 11 unions.

Another group, called the Revolutionary Trade Unions (DISK) is also deliberating on whether to hold a strike, according to an official of theirs.

Protestors run as Turkish piloce arrive at Gezi Park in Istanbul June 15, 2013. (AFP Photo / Gurcan Ozturk)

Riot police fires tear gas bomb to disperse protesters at Harbiye near Taksim square in Istanbul, on June 16, 2013. (AFP Photo / Ozan Kose)

Istanbul’s Taksim Square must be cleared of protesters before tomorrow’s pro-government rally, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan stressed in his Ankara speech earlier on Saturday.

“We have our Istanbul rally tomorrow. I say it clearly: Taksim Square must be evacuated, otherwise this country’s security forces know how to evacuate it,” Erdogan said in Ankara, as he announced the Sunday rally in support of his party AKP.

Tens of thousands of cheering Erdogan supporters gathered in suburban Ankara for a rally titled ‘Respect for the National Will’.

Erdogan once again took a hard stance on the anti-government demonstrators, saying he has reasons to call them “marauders,” and repeating the claims of protesters drinking alcohol in mosques and attacking women in hijabs.

PM Erdogan is making one of the most angry speeches in a way describing the protestors capulcus, traitors, and playing another game etc.

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) June 15, 2013

He also contrasted the violent unrest to the “peaceful” way his supporters act, praising them and the AK party members.

Erdogan then focused on a foreign support conspiracy, claiming the Turkish government has “all the evidence needed” of the “traitor scheme” behind the protests.

“We will make public with documents that the real issue was not Gezi Park. This is a coordinated process from the outside and the inside of the country,” the Turkish Prime Minister said, adding that some “illegal organizations” were behind the various “schemes” from the very start of the protests.

He also praised police actions, saying that the Western countries and Russia had been even tougher in cracking down on protests and used “bullets,” while the Turkish police have been “patient.”

Supporters of Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan watch a rally organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara June 15, 2013. (Reuters / Stringer)

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a rally in Sincan June 15, 2013.(Reuters / Dado Ruvic)

Was in diwan at the time. Gas came thru door. Panic. Some carried away limp #taksim

— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) June 15, 2013

Gazi and Nurtepe is stronghold of revolutionaries and presently marching to re-gain Taksim Sq. #ResistTurkey pic.twitter.com/l09cF6sgPx

— RedHack_EN (@RedHack_EN) June 15, 2013

Another view at Harbiye district – just 300 metres off Taksim sq. Istanbul http://t.co/rZb09a38Ty

— Mehmet Binay (@mehmetbinay) June 15, 2013

These are the kids after police violence in Taksim Square! Speechless! pic.twitter.com/v1HqWRXOog #occupyturkey

— Ece Temelkuran (@ETemelkuran) June 15, 2013

From Istanbul People walking from Gazi who are over 50,000 towards the Taksim pic.twitter.com/I4gfZuu0f6

— ║░V☮ice ✪f Turkey░║ (@VOT99) June 15, 2013

Just now in front of Divan Hotel at Taksim square where protesters find shelter from tear gas attacks. pic.twitter.com/4jwphefRqx

— Mehmet Binay (@mehmetbinay) June 15, 2013

Source: RT

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]]> http://EndtheLie.com/2013/06/15/tear-gas-water-cannon-in-gezi-park-and-taksim-after-erdogans-ultimatum/feed/ 0 http://EndtheLie.com/2013/06/15/moderate-cleric-rouhani-elected-president-of-iran-interior-minister/ http://EndtheLie.com/2013/06/15/moderate-cleric-rouhani-elected-president-of-iran-interior-minister/#comments Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:28:17 +0000 NewsBot http://EndtheLie.com/?p=67038
Female Iranian election officials check the IDs of the women voters as they cast their ballots during the first round of the presidential election at a polling station in Shah Abdolazim mausoleum, in southern Tehran, on June 14, 2013. (AFP Photo)

Moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani has won Iran’s presidential election with just over 50 percent of votes, state TV reported. 72 percent of the 50 million Iranians turned out to vote, said Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.

The Saturday news was reported by the country’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on state television.

“Mr Hassan Rouhani … got the absolute majority of votes and was elected as president,” Najjar said.

The moderate cleric mastered a lead of 50.71 per cent (18,613,329 votes) which means Iran avoids another round of polls next week.

A few hours before the results were announced  crowds began to gather near Rouhani’s headquarters in Tehran.

The supporters  chanted slogans like “Long live reform, long live Rouhani,” according to a reporter at the scene.

Heading out to hear from supporters – horns blaring, people cheering in the streets for #rouhani #aje #iran #iranelection

— Soraya Lennie (@sorayalennie) June 15, 2013

The Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Hosseini Khamenei congratulated Rouhani on winning the presidency, state TV reported.

“Now you can think about the future of Iran’s politics and the ways of solving the problems of its people,” Khamenei addressed the newly elected president.

Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was on the list of presidential candidates this year, but did not pass the selection of the Supervisory Board, said that the country has experienced the “most democratic election in the world.”

The turnout on Friday was significant, with Iranians coming out from Tehran, to desert polling stations, to nomads’ pastures – where people would wait in line for hours in the blazing sun. In fact, voting had to be prolonged by five hours to accommodate the big numbers showing up. This is believed in Iran to be a result of boycotts planned by the liberals having been cancelled in favor of battling those on the other side of the political spectrum.

There was a total of six candidates running in the 2013 presidential election. All the other candidates trailed far behind with Tehran’s mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf coming with 16.56 per cent (6,077,292 votes) and nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in the third place with 11.36 per cent (4,168,946 votes), according to preliminary results. Qalibaf and Jallili were coming in close to each other, in the second and third positions.

Jalili was said to occupy the middle ground between conservative and reformist candidates, with his Front of Islamic Revolution Stability. Jalili has been Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator since 2007.

Ali Akbar Velayati, 67, who represents the conservative Islamic Coalition Party, was said to be Jalili’s main rival in the race. He used to be minister of foreign affairs and is currently the foreign affairs advisor to Khamenei.

The remaining two candidates were closely affiliated with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Of the six, Rouhani was considered to be the only true progressive, wanting to free political prisoners and rekindle relations with the West.

The international community acknowledged the election of Rouhani as Iran’s new president. In the wake of the result announcement France issued a statement saying it is ‘ready to work’ with him.

“The expectations of the international community with regard to Iran are significant, especially about its nuclear program and its involvement in Syria,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement, according to AFP.

While Britain urged Rouhani to ‘set Iran on a different course’  calling for a ‘constructive relationship’ with the West.

The last presidential elections of 2009 were marked by a wave of bitter protesting over a disputed outcome, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being accused of rigging the election to stay in power for a second term. He is prevented by law from seeking a third one.

Despite this, there is an atmosphere of calm on the side of the ruling clerics, as opposition groups appear to be too fragmented or intimidated to have a repeat of 2009. Therefore, Rouhani’s victory (and he is the only cleric in the race) is not predicted to cause a big stir amongst the ruling elite.

Source: RT

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