Libya warplane attacked trawler carrying gasoline to Benghazi

(ATimes) - A Libyan warplane attacked a fishing trawler carrying gasoline to the port of Benghazi this week after the internationally recognized government suspected it of supplying Islamist militants, a military official said on Thursday.

Libya's recognized government, which has been driven out of the capital, is locked in escalating conflict with a self-declared government of a faction known as Libya Dawn that seized Tripoli last summer.

There were no details about the ownership or origin of the vessel which military official Mohamed Hejazi said was attacked on Tuesday off the coast of the eastern city of Benghazi, which has seen heavy fighting for months between pro-government forces and Islamist militants.

Forces from the recognized government carried out an air strike on a Greek-operated oil tanker on Jan. 4, killing two crewmen. after claiming it was acting suspiciously.

The United Nations on Thursday held a second day of talks aimed at ending Libya's crisis, forming a unity government and halting hostilities. But representatives of the Tripoli government have postponed a decision to join talks.

"Discussions during the first session on Wednesday were constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere. There was a clear sense of determination among the participants to ensure that this dialogue succeeds," the U.N. said in a statement.

Each rival government is backed by heavily armed factions of former rebels who once battled side by side to oust Gaddafi, but have since turned against each other in a scramble for power and control over Libya's oil wealth.

Fighting over oil assets has closed two major oil ports in the east and slashed Libya's oil output to around 300,000 barrels per day from the 1.6 million bpd produced before the NATO-backed civil war toppled Gaddafi in 2011.

(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; writing by Patrick Markey; editing by Jason Neely and William Hardy)(GA, Reuters, Asia Times)

Five Yemenis transferred from U.S. custody at Guantanamo: Pentagon

(ATimes) - The Pentagon transferred five Yemenis held at Guantanamo prison to foreign custody on Wednesday in the first handover of detainees in 2015, sending four to Oman and one to Estonia despite Republican calls for a moratorium on the resettlements.

U.S. officials said all five Yemenis, held for a dozen or more years at the military prison at a U.S. Navy base in Cuba, had been cleared for release nearly five years ago by a multi-agency task force that included intelligence, diplomatic and military officials.

The transfer took place just a day after several Republican U.S. senators, including Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, proposed legislation to place a moratorium on the release of most of the Guantanamo prisoners, saying they posed too much danger to the United States and its allies.

President Barack Obama has promised to close the internationally condemned detention center, which was opened in 2002 to house detainees in the U.S. campaign against al Qaeda.

His efforts have been blocked by lawmakers who reject the plan, including Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential election, who said this week 30 percent of the released detainees have re-entered the fight against the United States.

Obama recently pledged to step up the closure effort, and the administration moved 28 prisoners from Guantanamo in 2014, the most since 2009.

The transfer on Wednesday leaves 122 detainees still at the facility. Fifty-four of those, including 47 Yemenis, have been approved for resettlement, while the rest are considered too dangerous to release.

The Pentagon identified the detainee sent to Estonia as Ahmed Abdul Qader, about 31, who had been held 12 years at Guantanamo.

Those sent to Oman were Al-Khadr Abdallah Muhammad al-Yafi, about 44, who had been held 13 years; Abdul Rahaman Atah Mahmood Shubatti, about 32 and imprisoned 12 years; Fadil Husayn Salih Hintif, about 33 and imprisoned 12 years; and Mohammed Ahmed Salam, 34, who was detained 12 years.

U.S. officials insisted security had been a top concern in considering the releases.

"We take our obligation to assess the security risk of detainees seriously prior to transfers. As a result, more than 90 percent of detainees transferred during the Obama administration live quietly around the world," said Paul Lewis, the Defense Department's special envoy for closing Guantanamo.

"Each of these five individuals was unanimously approved for transfer more nearly five years ago by six departments and agencies through the 2009 executive order task force," said Ian Moss, a spokesman for Guantanamo issues at the State Department.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Paul Tait and Robert Birsel)(GA, Reuters, Asia Times)

Israeli aircraft attack 10 targets in Gaza: military

(GNN) - Israeli aircraft attacked 10 sites used by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to persistent rocket strikes from the enclave, the Israeli military said.

Rocket launchers and a weapons manufacturing facility were among the targets of the air strikes, which followed the firing of a rocket, intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system late on Saturday, at the major southern city of Beersheba.

"Following constant rocket fire at Israeli communities in the south, Israeli aircraft targeted 10 terror sites in the central and southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air strikes.

Israel beefed up ground forces along the Gaza frontier on Thursday, signalling that an invasion was an option if rocket fire did not stop. Egypt, a bordering country, has been trying to mediate a truce.

The current flareup began in mid-June after Israel began a crackdown in the occupied West Bank on Hamas, whose power base is in the Gaza Strip, after blaming the Islamist group for the abduction of three Israeli teenagers. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the Israeli allegations.

The Israeli youngsters' bodies were found in the West Bank last week. A day after their burial on Tuesday, a Palestinian teen was snatched off the street in East Jerusalem and his charred body was found in a forest on the edge of the city.

Palestinians believe he was the victim of a revenge attack by far-right Jews. Israel has said the motive for Mohammed Abu Khudair's killing is still under investigation. No arrests have been announced in the case.

The teen's death set off violent Palestinian protests in Jerusalem, which continued on Saturday and spread to several Arab villages and towns in northern Israel. Israeli police said those areas were quiet early on Sunday.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller, editing by William Hardy)

Special Court rejects Musharraf plea, seeking documents on 2007 emergency

ISLAMABAD: The special court conducting the treason trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf dismissed his plea seeking documents pertaining to the November 2007 emergency.

Special court registrar Abdul Ghani Soomro read out the detailed verdict which was earlier been reserved.

Rejecting the plea, the court ruled that though it was right of the accused to seek evidence, Musharraf’s plea was premature.

The court said that the accused himself could get the verified copies of the documents from the departments concerned. The court will consider the accused application during the course of hearing if he needed evidence.

The special court said the documents were public property.

Internal, external challenges: Civil-military huddle reviews security situation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended its full support to Afghan authorities for the second phase of presidential polls but urged them to take urgent steps against repeated cross-border firing incidents by their security forces.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chairing a high level meeting to review the national and regional security situation at Prime Minister House on May 20, 2014. PHOTO: PID

The issue was one of the key agenda items during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by top civil and military leadership, including Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

According to an official statement issued by the Prime Minister House, the army chief briefed the PM on his recent visit to Kabul and his discussions on border coordination and security for the second phase of the Afghan presidential elections.

An official, privy to the development, said the meeting discussed Afghanistan in the post-election and post-US drawdown scenario. The army chief briefed the meeting about his visit wherein he had asked the Afghan authorities to take steps against cross-border firing incidents, he added.

He said Gen Raheel took up the issue during his talks with his Afghan counterpart Sher Muhammad Karimi and International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) Commander General Joseph Dunford in Kabul on Monday.

Officials said the army chief told the meeting that he shared his concerns with Afghan authorities regarding the alleged sanctuaries of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan and said that Islamabad suspected that the TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah was being given refuge by Afghan security agencies.

The issue was discussed in the backdrop of ongoing peace talks with the TTP which had entered the second phase when the infighting within the Taliban ranks and government’s cautious approach towards their demand for release of non-combatants put the process on the backburner.

Though Tuesday’s meeting discussed the security situation in regional and national context, the official statement did not have a mention of talks with the Taliban.

On the other hand, officials did not say as to whether the issue of talks with the Taliban was taken up or not irrespective of the fact that the interior minister had recently announced that the government was going to resurrect the talk’s process.

The meeting, according to the statement, discussed national and regional security situation. Additionally, the law and order situation in Balochistan and Karachi was also reviewed.

The interior minister briefed the premier on the law and order situation in Karachi in particular and it was decided the targeted operations against miscreants would continue in the metropolis.

The meeting was also attended by Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen Ashfaq Nadeem and DG Military Operations Maj Gen Amir Riaz.

(By Qamar Zaman) Published in GNN & Tribune, May 21st, 2014.