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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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New hope for flight MH370 families as Malaysia agrees to resume search

Updated 21 December 2024
Kanyakumari Damodaran
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New hope for flight MH370 families as Malaysia agrees to resume search

  • Plane carrying 239 people went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014
  • Families say they hope new search operation will offer ‘long-awaited answers and closure’
Updated 21 December 2024
Kanyakumari Damodaran

KUALA LUMPUR: The families of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passengers have welcomed with renewed hope the announcement of a new search for the aircraft, which disappeared more than 10 years ago in one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014.

The search became the most expensive operation in aviation history but ended inconclusively in 2018, leaving the families of those on board still haunted by the tragedy.

On Friday, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that he hoped to “give closure to the families” as the government agreed to allow private contractor Ocean Infinity, which was the last to try to locate the plane, to resume search efforts.

He told reporters that the operation would focus on a new area spanning 15,000 sq. km in the southern Indian Ocean — a development raising hope among relatives of passengers and crew aboard flight MH370.

“The significance of this renewed search cannot be overstated. For the families of passengers, the scientific community and global civil aviation safety, it offers renewed hope for long-awaited answers and closure,” Voice 370, the association representing them, said in a statement.

“We, the next of kin, have endured over a decade of uncertainty, and we hope that the terms of the renewed search are finalized at the earliest and the decks are cleared for the search to begin.

“We continue to hope that our wait for answers is met.”

Ocean Infinity, the private underwater exploration firm that will undertake the $70 million search, was briefly involved in the 2018 efforts after a three-year operation covering 120,000 sq. km of the Indian Ocean failed to locate the aircraft and was suspended in 2017.

The new agreement was met on a no-find, no-fee basis, meaning that Ocean Infinity will be paid only when the wreckage is found.

“We are encouraged by Ocean Infinity’s readiness to deploy their advanced fleet, including sophisticated vessels, AUVs and cutting-edge imaging technologies,” Voice 370 said.

“We gather that the company has followed this up with thorough due diligence, analyzing all available data, and alternative scenarios proposed by independent researchers and recommendations on potential search areas.”

Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of March 8, 2014 and lost communication with air traffic control less than an hour later. Military radar showed the aircraft had deviated from its planned path. It remains unclear why that happened.

Many conspiracy theories have emerged to explain the aircraft’s disappearance, ranging from suspicions of the captain’s suicide to concerns over the 221 kg of lithium-ion batteries in the plane’s cargo, as well as the involvement of passengers, two of whom were found traveling on stolen passports.

When the probe was suspended, Kok Soo Chon, head of the MH370 safety investigation team, told reporters in July 2018 that his team was “unable to determine the real cause for disappearance of MH370” and “the answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found.”

Topics: Flight MH370 MH370 Malaysia Boeing 777

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At least 38 die in bus accident in southeastern Brazil

Updated 21 December 2024
AFP
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At least 38 die in bus accident in southeastern Brazil

Updated 21 December 2024
AFP

SAO PAULO: At least 38 people were killed in a bus crash in southeastern Brazil on Saturday, officials said, in what President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called a “terrible tragedy.”
The accident in Minas Gerais state, involving a bus that caught fire in the collision, is the worst seen on Brazil’s federal highways since 2007, according to police data cited by local media.
In their latest report, civil police confirmed 38 fatalities with eight people hospitalized.
Conflicting accounts of the accident have emerged: firefighters initially said the bus at around 3:30 am had blown a tire near the town of Lajinha, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and hit a truck. Another vehicle also hit the bus from behind, officials said, but its occupants survived.
However, firefighters later cited witnesses as saying that a granite block being transported by the truck fell onto the bus, causing the accident.
After the crash, the bus, which had been making its way from Sao Paulo to Vitoria da Conquista, in the northeastern Bahia state, caught fire.
The death toll has crept upward throughout the day, with a spokeswoman for the local fire department earlier telling AFP that “it was not yet possible to specify the exact number due to the state of the bodies.”
The fire department, upon removing charred remains, said earlier that some of the victims had been trapped inside.
In a video released Saturday morning, Lt. Alonso Vieira Junior, with the Minas Gerais fire department, said a crane would be needed to clear the wreckage, and that “there are still more victims to be removed.”
Among the dead are the bus driver and at least one child.
Lula took to social media to offer his prayers for “the recovery of the survivors of this terrible tragedy.”
“I am deeply sorry,” he said, offering condolences to the families of the victims.
The governor of Minas Gerais said he was working “so that the families of the victims are cared for, to deal with this tragedy in the most humane way possible.”
At the end of November, a bus accident in the state of Alagoas, in the northeast, left 17 dead when it plunged into a ravine while traveling on a remote mountain road.

Topics: Brazil

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More than 30 dead in Brazil bus and truck collision

Updated 21 December 2024
Reuters
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More than 30 dead in Brazil bus and truck collision

  • The exact death toll remains uncertain due to the condition of the bodies, which were burned beyond recognition
  • Initially, firefighters reported the bus, carrying 45 passengers, had a tire blowout, causing driver to lose control
Updated 21 December 2024
Reuters

A packed bus collided with a truck and burst into flames early on Saturday in Brazil, killing more than 30 people, the fire department said.
After completing the removal of victims from a major highway near the town of Teofilo Otoni in Minas Gerais, the state’s fire department estimated the number of fatalities between 32 and 35, including at least one child.
The exact death toll remains uncertain due to the condition of the bodies, which were burned beyond recognition.
Confirmation will likely depend on forensic work by the Civil Police, the department said in a statement.
A forensic investigation will also be required to determine the accident’s cause, as differing accounts were gathered from witness testimonies, it added.
Initially, firefighters reported the bus, carrying 45 passengers, had a tire blowout, causing the driver to lose control before colliding with an oncoming truck on the BR-116 federal highway, a major route connecting Brazil’s densely populated southeast to the poorer northeast.
However, witnesses also reported that a granite block the truck was transporting came loose, fell on the road and caused the collision with the bus, said the fire department.
“Only the forensic investigation will confirm the true version,” it added.
The bus departed from Sao Paulo and was headed to the state of Bahia.
Firefighters said they rescued 13 passengers from the wrecked bus. Three occupants of a car that also collided and was trapped under the truck survived the accident.

Topics: brazil bus accident

Indian man denies hospital rape and murder of doctor

Updated 21 December 2024
AFP
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Indian man denies hospital rape and murder of doctor

  • The discovery of the doctor’s bloodied body at a government hospital in Kolkata on August 9 sparked nationwide anger
  • The gruesome nature of the attack drew comparisons with the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus
Updated 21 December 2024
AFP

KOLKATA: An Indian man on trial for raping and murdering a 31-year-old doctor has pleaded not guilty, his lawyer said Saturday, a crime that appalled the nation and triggered wide-scale protests.
The discovery of the doctor’s bloodied body at a government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata on August 9 sparked nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.
Sanjoy Roy, 33, the lone accused in the case, pleaded not guilty before the judge in a closed court on Friday in Kolkata, his lawyer Sourav Bandyopadhyay told AFP.
“I am not guilty, your honor, I have been framed,” Roy told the court, Bandyopadhyay said, repeating his client’s words.
Roy, a civic volunteer in the hospital, was arrested the day after the murder and has been held in custody since.
He would potentially face the death penalty if convicted.
The court began hearings on November 11, listening to evidence from some 50 witnesses, but it was on Friday that Roy took the stand.
“Judge Anirban Das questioned him with more than 100 questions during the six-hour-long in camera deposition, that continued until late in the evening,” Bandyopadhyay said.
Roy had earlier proclaimed his innocence to the public while screaming from a prison van outside the court before a hearing in November.
Doctors in Kolkata went on strike for weeks in response to the brutal attack.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians joined in the protests, which focused anger on the lack of measures for female doctors to work without fear.
India’s Supreme Court has ordered a national task force to examine how to bolster security for health care workers, saying the brutality of the killing had “shocked the conscience of the nation.”
The gruesome nature of the attack drew comparisons with the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus, which also sparked weeks of nationwide protests.
The trial continues. The next hearing is set for January 2, 2025.

Topics: Kolkata rape kolkata rape case

Russia’s UK embassy denounces G7 loans to Ukraine as ‘fraudulent scheme’

Updated 21 December 2024
Reuters
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Russia’s UK embassy denounces G7 loans to Ukraine as ‘fraudulent scheme’

  • Britain said in October it would lend Ukraine 2.26 billion pounds as part of a much larger loan from the Group of Seven nations backed by frozen Russian central bank assets
Updated 21 December 2024
Reuters

LONDON: The Russian embassy in London on Saturday described Britain’s planned transfer to Ukraine of more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) backed by frozen Russian assets as a “fraudulent scheme.”
Britain said in October it would lend Ukraine 2.26 billion pounds as part of a much larger loan from the Group of Seven nations backed by frozen Russian central bank assets to help buy weapons and rebuild damaged infrastructure.
The loans were agreed in July by leaders of the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US — along with top officials from the European Union, where most of the Russian assets frozen as a result of the war are held.
“We are closely following UK authorities’ efforts aimed at implementing a fraudulent scheme of expropriating incomes from Russian state assets ‘frozen’ in the EU,” the Russian embassy in London said on social media.
British Defense Minister John Healey said the money would be solely for Ukraine’s military and could be used to help develop drones capable of traveling further than some long-range missiles.
The embassy added: “The elaborate legislative choreography fails to conceal the illegitimate nature of this arrangement.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry last week described the US transfer to Ukraine of its share of the G7’s $50 billion in loans as “simply robbery.”

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict UK G7 countries

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