Askari wa Marekani wachoma moto Qur'ani Tukufu

Wananchi wa Afghanistan wamefanya maandamano makubwa ya kulaani kitendo cha vikosi vya majeshi ya Marekani kuchoma moto nakala za Qur'ani Tukufu. 

Wananchi hao wameandamana katika barabara za mji wa Kabul na nje ya kambi ya jeshi la anga la Marekani ya Bagram. Waandamanaji hao waliokuwa wamejawa na ghadhabu kwa kitendo hicho walichokiita cha kijuba cha askari wa Marekani, wamesikika wakipiga nara za mauti kwa dola hilo la kibeberu na kutoa wito wa wahusika wa uhalifu huo kufikishwa mbele ya sheria. 

Aidha, maandamano ya kulaani kitendo hicho cha kuvunjiwa heshima matukufu ya Kiislamu, yameripotiwa katika miji mingine ya Afghanistan.

Ni vizuri kuashiria hapa kuwa, Aprili mwaka jana 2011, watu zaidi ya 10 waliuawa katika maandamano ya siku kadhaa nchini Afghanistan, baada ya Kasisi Terry Jones wa Marekani kuteketeza kwa moto nuskha za Qurani Tukufu katika jimbo la Florida.

Uganda to lead AU forces against LRA rebels

African Union forces in Somalia 

Uganda will lead the proposed 5,000 African Union (AU) forces that will fight the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Central African Republic and DR Congo, Press TV reports.

According to the report, Dick Olum, the commander of Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) military police, will command the AU force, which will comprise mostly of UPDF, South Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo forces. 

The UN regional office for Central African Republic said the force will be based at the current UPDF headquarters in Nzara, South Sudan. 

The UPDF spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said, “They are waiting for the AU to approve Olum’s appointment and designing the time table of when the Force would be deployed.” 

The four countries affected by the LRA agreed to form a force against the rebels. 

Uganda State Minister for Defense, Jeje Odong, welcomed the involvement of the international community to fight LRA rebels who have displaced and killed thousands in the four countries. 

“Our troops are already present in every site where LRA operates. In due course, we could possibly make their re-organization based on the stakes and needs,” he said. 

Uganda now commands two AU military campaigns out of three in Africa. AU mission in Somalia is also commanded by Uganda.

US presses Pakistan to allow intelligence bases near Iran

An Indian newspaper says the United States is putting pressure on Pakistan to allow Washington to establish espionage bases in the country’s Balochistan province to gather intelligence on Iran.

According to a report published by The Times of India on Monday, the US Congress has been discussing a resolution to recognize the right of Baloch people to self-determination as a means of putting pressure on Islamabad to give in to the US demands. 

The move elicited angry reactions from Pakistan’s top leaders including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who described it as an attack on the country's sovereignty. 

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, also said though the resolution was an isolated move by a few individuals, it "is contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and international law.” 

“The outburst in America for Balochistan…is part of the move [by the US] to set up intelligence bases close to the Iranian border,” an unnamed Pakistani official was quoted by the paper as saying. 

The official indicated that the Congressional hearing and resolution were nothing but "pressure tactics." 

"They [Americans] want to use our soil against Iran, which we can never allow," he added. 

Meanwhile, two officials from Pakistan’s security agencies and one from diplomatic circles confirmed to the daily that the American diplomats and military leaders had requested permission for their agents to operate near the Iranian border in Balochistan. 

The revelation came a few days after the US House of Representatives blamed Pakistani security agencies for the abductions and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan. 

This is not the first time that the United States has made efforts to spy on Iran. 

On May 30, 2011, the members of a CIA espionage and sabotage network were arrested by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. 

On November 24, Iran announced the arrest of a dozen other CIA spies, who were found to have been on a mission to sabotage the country's nuclear facilities and other important compounds. 

Another CIA espionage network with 12 members was busted in Iran and Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah. 

On December 4, Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft when flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border. 

Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone had been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the United State's intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

EU oil flow conditional on payment guarantee, long-term deals: Iran

Foreign Ministry spokesman says Iran will only continue exporting oil to the European Union if the member states give a guarantee to pay the price and sign medium- and long-term oil purchase contracts.

After EU foreign ministers decided to ban the import of Iran's oil by member states in their January 23 meeting, Iran said it would cut oil exports to six European countries, including the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Portugal. 

The country officially announced on February 19 that it would sell no more oil to the British and French companies. 

Speaking in his weekly briefing on Tuesday, Ramin Mehmanparast said although Iran intends to continue oil trade with the EU states, it now requires those countries to provide guarantee for the payment of the oil price. 

“They [EU members] must also sign medium- or long-term contracts covering periods of three to five years [for importing Iran oil] and ban our country's oil customers from unilaterally canceling their contracts,” he added. 

The official added that these conditions will guarantee 3-5-year oil cooperation between Iran and Europe and ensure both sides’ interests. 

Mehmanparast stated that the EU’s decision to ban Iran oil imports has been illogical and against the mutual interests of Iran and the European Union. 

“It seems that the European countries have been forced to make this option [banning Iran oil imports] under political pressures from the US and the Zionist regime [of Israel], but this pressure will actually affect the European people and companies, putting them in dire conditions,” he said. 

The spokesman said the approach taken by the UK and France toward Iran has been more hostile than that of other EU members and this is why Iran has started with London and Paris when cutting oil imports to Europe. 

“They must know that our country is in a position which must be talked to and treated on equal standing and through mutual respect, and they must forget about their past empires and exploiting other countries,” he said.