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Suspects in plot to bomb Iranian opposition rally in France to be sent to Belgium

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Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), holds flower during their gathering in Villepinte, near Paris on June 30, 2018. (REUTERS/Regis Duvignau)
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Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, delivers his speech as he attends the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), meeting in Villepinte, near Paris on June 30, 2018. French, Belgian and German authories have arrested an Iranian diplomat and three others for allegedly plotting to bomb the Villepinte meeting. (REUTERS/Regis Duvignau)
Updated 05 July 2018
Arab News
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Suspects in plot to bomb Iranian opposition rally in France to be sent to Belgium

  • Two Belgians of Iranian origin were arrested on Saturday with 500 grams of the homemade explosive TATP and a detonation device.
  • Iran blames the opposition group NCRI of orchestrating the alleged plot and said the couple arrested in Belgium were actually members of the group.
Updated 05 July 2018
Arab News

PARIS/JEDDAH: France and Germany will send two men, including an Iranian diplomat, to Belgium to face accusations they were involved in a plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally on the outskirts of Paris, judicial sources said on Wednesday.
Belgium is investigating two Belgians of Iranian origin arrested on Saturday, the day of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) meeting. Five hundred grams of the homemade explosive TATP and a detonation device were found in their car.
Iran has said it had nothing to do with the plot, which it called a “false flag” operation staged by figures within the opposition group itself.
The exiled Iranian opposition group’s meeting was attended by Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who gave a speech calling for the removal of Iran’s rulers.
In addition to the two people arrested in Belgium, an Austria-based Iranian diplomat was held in Germany, and a man of Iranian origin was held in France. Judicial authorities in France and Germany told Reuters Belgium had requested they be extradited.
“It’s extremely sensitive and the Belgians are taking the lead,” said one European intelligence source.
The plot and the envoy’s arrest cast a shadow over Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Vienna on Wednesday to try to bolster support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which is close to collapse after the US pulled out. The NCRI held a small protest against Rouhani’s visit on the edge of central Vienna.
During a visit by Rouhani to Vienna on Wednesday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a statement to reporters that Rouhani had assured him that he would work to clarify the case.
Foreign ministers from the remaining signatories to the deal — Iran, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China — meet in the city on Friday to discuss its future. Proof of Iranian involvement in a terrorist bomb plot on European soil would make it difficult for Rouhani to win their support.
“The Iranian regime has been involved in terrorist activities since its establishment in 1979, but this is the first time an Iranian official has been arrested for such a blatant act related to orchestrating a terrorist attack,” the Harvard scholar and Iranian affairs expert Dr. Majid Rafizadeh told Arab News.
“It is time for the international community, particularly the European Union, to join many Iranian people and hold the regime accountable for its terrorist activities and human rights violations. Appeasement policies with the Islamic Republic ought to be stopped.”
French officials have declined to comment on the matter saying the nature of the incident is unclear.
Highlighting the political sensitivities, Iran summoned France’s ambassador to protest against the staging of the opposition meeting. Tehran “strongly protested against the French support of activities of the terrorist organization,” referring to an exiled opposition group.
France’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since the United States withdrew in May from a deal to lift sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to Tehran’s nuclear program, the deal’s European signatories Britain, France and Germany have said they want to save the accord. Iran has called on the European countries to offer economic benefits to make up for the damage caused by new US sanctions.
Any suggestion that Iranian authorities were behind the plot in France could make it politically difficult for leaders, especially French President Emmanuel Macron, to continue to back the nuclear deal.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was stripping the diplomatic status of the diplomat arrested in Germany. Iran’s foreign ministry has rejected as baseless the allegations against the diplomat.

Iran blames Mujahedeen
Tehran has dismissed accusations it was behind the plot. It blamed the NCRI of orchestrating the alleged plot and said a couple arrested in Belgium were actually members of the group.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said it was the People’s Mujahedeen itself that was behind the “scenario.”
“Based on the information available, the individuals arrested in Belgium are among the ... notorious and operational elements” of the MEK, the ministry said on its website.
“Relevant Iranian authorities are prepared to offer the necessary cooperation by presenting the required documents and evidence to shed light on the real dimensions of this pre-planned scenario orchestrated by the terrorist group,” it said.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is with Rouhani in Europe, said on Monday the foiled Villepinte attack was a “false flag ploy” to harm Iran and offered his country’s help in investigating the matter.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the foreign ministry had summoned France’s ambassador to Tehran, Francois Senemaud, to hear officials “strongly protesting against the activities of the terrorist and hypocritical MEK group in France.”
“Extremist terrorist groups should not be allowed to take refuge (in a country) under the pretext of freedom of expression and thus promote their ideology,” it said, citing the ministry.
On Tuesday the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper criticized the ministry’s handling of the case and called for the expulsion of the French ambassador, who is due to step down days after being appointed as President Emmanuel Macron’s personal representative for Syria.

(With Reuters & AFP)

Topics: Iran Belgium National Council of Resistance of Iran Iranian President Hassan Rouhani MEK Iran terror plot

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Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute ‘genocide’

Updated 4 sec ago
AP
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Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute ‘genocide’

  • First time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip
  • Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war
Updated 4 sec ago
AP
ROME: Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff’s jubilee year.
It’s the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.
The book, by Hernan Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims toward a better world.” It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the pope’s 2025 jubilee. Francis’ yearlong jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope said in excerpts published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa.
“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added.
Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”
Francis spoke at the time about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced.
The pontiff, who last week also met with a delegation of Israeli hostages who were released and their families pressing the campaign to bring the remaining captives home had editorial control over the upcoming book.
The war started when the militant Hamas group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 as hostages and taking them back to Gaza, where dozens still remain.
Israel’s subsequent yearlong military campaign has killed more than 43,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, whose count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and fighters, though they say more than half of the dead are women and children.
The Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has triggered several legal cases at international courts in The Hague involving requests for arrest warrants as well as accusations and denials of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
In the new book, Francis also speaks about migration and the problem of integrating migrants in their host countries.
“Faced with this challenge, no country can be left alone and no one can think of addressing the issue in isolation through more restrictive and repressive laws, sometimes approved under the pressure of fear or in search of electoral advantages,” Francis said.
“On the contrary, just as we see that there is a globalization of indifference, we must respond with the globalization of charity and cooperation,” he added. Francis also mentioned the “still open wound of the war in Ukraine has led thousands of people to abandon their homes, especially during the first months of the conflict.”

Survivors still trapped after deadly Tanzania building collapse

Updated 12 min 34 sec ago
AFP
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Survivors still trapped after deadly Tanzania building collapse

  • The four-story block came down at around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday in the east African country’s busy Kariakoo market
  • Dar es Salaam has been the scene of a frenetic property boom with buildings shooting up at speed, often with scant regard for regulations
Updated 12 min 34 sec ago
AFP

DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzanian rescue workers dug through the ruins of a collapsed building for a second day on Sunday, hoping to pull survivors from beneath the rubble.
The four-story block came down at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) on Saturday in the east African country’s busy Kariakoo market, in the center of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Five people have been confirmed dead from the disaster, the fire brigade said. At least 70 people had been retrieved alive from the site.
Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Albert Chalamila on Sunday said there were more people still trapped in the basement floor of the shattered building, without specifying how many.
“We are communicating... and already we have supplied them with oxygen and water,” he said.
“They are stable and we believe they will be rescued alive and safe.”
The fire brigade chief John Masunga said the search and rescue had been hampered by the many walls making up the structure of the building.
In the aftermath of the building’s floors rapidly buckling beneath each other until they formed a mountain of debris, hundreds of first responders used sledgehammers and their bare hands to pull away masonry for hours.
Cranes and other heavy lifting equipment were then brought in to help.
It is not clear why the commercial building collapsed but witnesses told local media that construction to expand its underground business space began on Friday.
The incident has renewed criticism over unregulated construction in the Indian Ocean city of more than five million people.
One of the world’s fastest growing cities, Dar es Salaam has been the scene of a frenetic property boom with buildings shooting up at speed, often with scant regard for regulations.
In 2013, a 16-story building collapsed in Dar es Salaam, killing 34 people.

Topics: Tanzania

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Indian police battle Maoist rebels, five killed

Updated 19 min 29 sec ago
AFP
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Indian police battle Maoist rebels, five killed

  • More than 10,000 people have died in the insurgency against the Maoists
  • The clash took place in regions bordering Kanker and Narayanpur
Updated 19 min 29 sec ago
AFP

RAIPUR, India: Indian security forces have killed five Maoist rebels in jungle clashes, an officer said Sunday, as security forces seek to quash the decades-long insurgency in the resource-rich central regions.
Gun battles took place in the Abujhmad forests of Chhattisgarh state on Saturday, taking the toll of the conflict in 2024 to around 200, one of the highest in years.
More than 10,000 people have died in the insurgency against the Maoists — known as the Naxalite movement, who say they are fighting for the rights of marginalized indigenous people.
“In the gunbattle five Maoists have been killed,” senior police officer P. Sunderraj said, adding that two of the rebels were women.
The clash took place in regions bordering Kanker and Narayanpur, with police seizing rifles and ammunition from the corpses.
Two officers were wounded in the clash.
India’s government has warned the insurgents to surrender, with Amit Shah, the interior minister, saying in September that he expected the rebellion to be defeated by early 2026.
The Naxalites, named for the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
They demanded land, jobs and a share of the region’s immense natural resources for the local people, and made inroads in a number of remote communities.
India claimed to have confined the insurgency to about 45 districts in 2023, down from 96 in 2010.
Authorities have pumped in millions of dollars for new investments in local infrastructure projects and social spending.

Topics: India

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India’s successful test of hypersonic missile puts it among elite group

Updated 17 November 2024
Reuters
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India’s successful test of hypersonic missile puts it among elite group

  • Missile is designed to carry payloads for ranges exceeding 1,500 km for armed forces
  • India is striving to develop long-range missiles along with China, Russia and United States
Updated 17 November 2024
Reuters

NEW DELHI: India has successfully tested a domestically developed long-range hypersonic missile, it said on Sunday, attaining a key milestone in military development that puts it in a small group of nations possessing the advanced technology.
The global push for hypersonic weapons figures in the efforts of some countries, such as India, which is striving to develop advanced long-range missiles, along with China, Russia and the United States.
The Indian missile, developed by the state-run Defense Research and Development Organization and industry partners, is designed to carry payloads for ranges exceeding 1,500 km (930 miles) for the armed forces, the government said in a statement.
“The flight data ... confirmed the successful terminal maneuvers and impact with high degree of accuracy,” it added.
The test-firing took place from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam island off the eastern coast of Odisha state on Saturday, it said.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh called the test a “historic achievement” in a post on X, adding that it placed India among a select group of nations possessing such critical and advanced technologies.

Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid in ‘massive’ missile strike, officials say

Updated 17 November 2024
Reuters
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Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid in ‘massive’ missile strike, officials say

  • Ukrainians have been bracing for a major attack on the hobbled power system for weeks
  • A crippling damage to the grid that would cause long blackouts and build psychological pressure
Updated 17 November 2024
Reuters

KYIV: Blasts rang out across Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities early on Sunday, as Russia staged its biggest missile attack since August and targeted power facilities with the winter setting in, officials said.
Ukrainians have been bracing for a major attack on the hobbled power system for weeks, fearing crippling damage to the grid that would cause long blackouts and build psychological pressure at a critical moment in the war Russia launched in February 2022.
“Another massive attack on the power system is under way. The enemy is attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.
Air defenses could be heard engaging drones over the capital in the night, and a series of powerful blasts rang out across the city center as the missile attack was under way in the morning.
The scale of the damage was not immediately clear. Officials cut power supply to numerous city districts, including in Kyiv, the surrounding region and Dnipropetrovsk region, in what they said was a precaution to prevent a surge in case of damage.
Authorities in the Volyn region in northwestern Ukraine said energy infrastructure had sustained damage but did not elaborate. Officials often withhold information on the state of the power system because of the war.
In Mykolaiv in the south, two people were killed in the overnight drone attack, the regional governor said. Blasts shook the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and the Black Sea port of Odesa, Reuters witnesses said. More blasts were reported in the regions of Kryvyi Rih in the south and Rivne in the west.
“Russia launched one of the largest air attacks: drones and missiles against peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, critical infrastructure,” said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
He described the strike as Moscow’s “true response” to leaders who had interacted with President Vladimir Putin, an apparent swipe at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who placed a phone call to the Russian leader on Friday for the first time since late 2022.
NATO member Poland, which borders Ukraine to the west, said it had scrambled its air force within its airspace as a security precaution due to the Russian attack, which it said used cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones.
Poland “activated all available forces and resources at his disposal, the on-duty fighter pairs were scrambled, and the ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems reached the highest state of readiness,” the operational command of its armed forces posted on X.
Ukraine’s air force urged residents to take cover, providing regular updates on the progress of Russian cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles it said were hurtling through Ukrainian air space.
In Kyiv, the roof of a residential building caught fire due to falling debris and at least two people were hurt, city officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Emergency services were dispatched to the scene,” Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Russia last conducted a major missile strike on Kyiv on Aug. 26, when officials said it fired a salvo of more than 200 drones and missiles across the country in an attack that attack killed seven people.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Russia Ukraine

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