Israel could launch military strike on Iran 'within nine months

Israel could launch an air strike against Iran within nine months in a bid to slow Tehran's progress towards building a nuclear weapon, according to a former senior White House aide.

Dennis Ross, a veteran diplomat on the Middle East, said Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not necessarily feel restrained by objections from President Barack Obama, despite his country's historically close ties with Washington.

His remarks came as Israel's chief of military intelligence, Gen Aviv Kochavi, said Israel was convinced Iran had enough radioactive material to produce four nuclear bombs.

"Iran is very actively pursuing its efforts to develop its nuclear capacities, and we have evidence that they are seeking nuclear weapons," he said.

With anxiety about an Israeli attack spreading, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "I worry that there will be a military conflict and that certain countries might seek to take matters into their own hands."

Britain, he said, had been attempting to demonstrate "that there are very tough things we can do which are not military steps in order to place pressure on Iran".

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Taliban will retake Afghanistan: US

LONDON: The Taliban are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country.

That’s according to a leaked US report, which also accuses Pakistan of assisting the Taliban in attacking NATO forces.

The Times of London newspaper said the document’s findings were based on interrogations of more than 4-thousand Taliban and al Qaeda detainees. Pakistan denies the charge, describing the report as "frivolous" and going against the country’s policy of "non-interference".

The leaked report comes as the US and Afghan governments are trying to enter peace talks with the Taliban. Despite the presence of about 100-thousand foreign troops, the UN says violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

Large parts of Afghanistan have recently been handed back to the Afghan security forces, with the last foreign troops due to leave by the end of 2014.

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UAE, Qatar stop trade finance to Iran over sanctions

 The central banks of UAE and Qatar have told lenders to stop financing trade withIran, bankers said on Thursday, cutting another source of credit for a country struggling under Western economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme.

The Gulf has a long history of trade with Iran, especially in Dubai where there is a large Iranian trading community, and Gulf banks had been expected to fill a funding gap for the import of grains left by European lenders banned from financing trade by EU sanctions.

"Banks in Dubai were asked by the UAE central bank to stop issuing letters of credit to finance trade with Iran. Before the sanctions, the central bank regularly checked on trading with Iran and wanted to know of all dealings between the two countries," said a Dubai-based banker active in trade financing.

"Banks can't do this anymore."

About 8,000 Iranian traders are registered in Dubai, and re-export trade between Iran and the UAE totalled 19.5 billion dirhams ($5.32 billion) in the first half of 2011, according to the latest figures from United Arab Emirates' customs authority.

Qatar's central bank also recently told banks to stop providing credit for Iranian trade, according to a senior Doha-based banker.

Iran is struggling under the weight of sanctions. Its currency, the rial, has depreciated, there has been a run on its banks and inflation is rising, U.S. intelligence chiefs have said.

The United States imposed the harshest sanctions so far on Iran, banning transactions involving Iran's central bank, and the European Union has banned the import, purchase or transport of Iranian oil, cutting off its main foreign currency earner.

The 27-member bloc also agreed in January to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank to try to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at producing an atomic weapon.

Iran denies the charge.

The sanctions, which Western powers say are aimed only at the Iranian administration, may be having unexpected consequences.

SHIPMENTS STOP

Iran is heavily dependent on grain imports for animal feed, but some 10 ships have been unable to deliver grain to Iran for more than three weeks after banks refused to process payments, or offer loans to, Iranian buyers.

On Thursday, up to five of those vessels may have been diverted to new destinations, ship tracking data showed.

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The United Arab Emirates' central bank ordered financial institutions two years ago to freeze Iran-linked accounts belonging to firms targeted by United Nations sanctions.

In Bahrain, which has traditionally had more limited trade ties with Iran, there have been no guidelines.

"Business with Iranians flourished in the past but Bahrain was never a trading hub like Dubai," one senior banker said. "Financing export of goods through the ports wasn't really a prime line of business."

Iranian trade with Dubai has flowed for decades, plied by wooden dhows carrying household goods and basic commodities such as grain, rice and sugar.

"Historically, grain came to Dubai from South America, mainly Argentina, the USA and EU, mainly France and then re-exported from Dubai to Iran," said the Dubai-based banker.

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Taliban deny talks with Afghan govt

The Taliban have scotched reports they have planned direct peace talks with the Afghan government.
Rumours have swirled for days that President Hamid Karzai's government was seeking direct talks, to be held in Saudi Arabia, in an effort to take charge of the peace effort that has so far been dominated by American efforts and talks with Taliban representatives.
A statement on Wednesday from Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected those reports as 'baseless.'
He also noted that exploratory talks between the insurgency and the US-led international military coalition in Afghanistan have not yet reached the stage for negotiations.
'Before the negotiation phase, there should be trust-building between the sides, which has not started yet,' Mujahid said.
The Taliban have so far expressed willingness only to talk with the US, calling the Afghan government a puppet regime. Washington insists it is only setting the stage, and any eventual talks must involve Karzai's government.
US intelligence officials acknowledged on Tuesday that the United States may release several Afghan Taliban prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an incentive to bring the Taliban to peace talks.
Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper told Congress on Tuesday that no decision had been made whether to trade the five Taliban prisoners, now held at Guantanamo Bay, as part of the nascent peace talks with the Taliban. He and CIA Director David Petraeus did not dispute that the Obama administration was considering transferring the five to a third country.
Who will lead any future peace negotiations has become a major concern. Karzai has reportedly felt sidelined by the US effort.
Afghanistan's own moves toward talks with the Taliban stalled after an ex-president heading the High Peace Council spearheading the effort was assassinated by a bomber claiming to have a message from the insurgents.
That killing damaged relations between Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan after Kabul blamed insurgents based over the Pakistani border for the killing.
Pakistan's foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, visited Kabul on Wednesday to mend relations and insisted her country has no hidden agenda in Afghanistan. Khar said Pakistan will back a peace process with the Taliban as long as it's driven by Afghans and not other figures on the international stage.
'Pakistan wants peace and stability in Afghanistan, and contrary to the hypotheses that do the rounds the world over, Pakistan prefers and considers it vital to have a stable Afghanistan,' she said.
'Our only prerequisite to be supportive of an initiative is that it should be Afghan-led, it should be Afghan-owned, it should be Afghan-driven and Afghan-backed.'
Khar's visit coincided with the leak of a classified NATO report saying that Taliban and its allied insurgents get support from Pakistan.
The US-led military coalition in Afghanistan said on Wednesday that an Afghan soldier shot and killed a NATO service member in southern Afghanistan in what the coalition described as an attack and an Afghan commander called an accident.
It was the sixth report since December 26 of an Afghan soldier turning his weapon on the international troops working to train the Afghan security forces. The string of attacks has raised concerns about relations between Afghan troops and their foreign allies.
The rising number of attacks by supposed friendly Afghan forces has prompted speculation that Taliban insurgents or sympathisers may be infiltrating national army and police as they rapidly expand to meet the 2014 target for Afghan forces to take over security and most international troops to leave.
There have been at least 35 attacks on international troops since 2007 by Afghan soldiers, police or insurgents wearing their uniforms, according to a tally by The Associated Press. The number rose sharply last year to 17, up from six in 2010.
Tuesday's killing brought to 34 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year.

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Pakistan ready to complete whitewash against England

Courtesy: The News Tribe

Dubai: England will try it best to avoid a whitewash at the hand of Pakistan in the three-match test series, as it is facing the host in the final test in Dubai on Friday.

Pakistan leading the series with an unassailable merging of 2-0 and ready to complete 3-0.

England would replace out of form Morgan with Ravi Bopara while Pakistan would replace Junaid Khan with Wahab Riaz.

There are reports that the pitch of Dubai stadium will help spinners.

Under Andrew Strauss England had won only against Bangladesh in the Sub-Continent.

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Azan inspires Hollywood actor Liam Neeson to convert to Islam

ISTANBUL (Turkey), 9 Rabi Al-Awwal/1 Feb (IINA)-Hollywood actor Liam Neeson has announced that he may convert to Islam as he was inspired by Islamic call to prayer (Azan) while filming in Istanbul, Turkey, media reports quoted the actor as saying on Monday.
He was ranked at number 69 on Empire magazine’s 100 greatest movie stars of all time in 1997.
Neeson, 59,   is an Irish actor, who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards. He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars (the film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey, Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises as well as the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia film series.
“There are 4000 mosques in the city (Istanbul) – some are just stunning, and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim,” he said.
“The call to prayer happens five times a day, and for the first week, it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit, and it’s the most beautiful thing.” Neeson, a Roman Catholic, said he had always been religious and was always questioning the meaning of life.
“It’s a very good thing and it shows people it’s not a religion to be scared about or frightened about, and that it’s a religion that people are interested in and are attracted to, and when you’ve got someone like that attracted to it, they might think `maybe there is something in this religion’,” he said.
“There are 4000 mosques in the city (Istanbul) – some are just stunning, and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim,” he said.
“The call to prayer happens five times a day, and for the first week, it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit, and it’s the most beautiful thing.” Neeson, a Roman Catholic, said he had always been religious and was always questioning the meaning of life.

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