Bani Walid civilians bombed with gas – RT source

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/bani-walid-gas-bomb-904/

Pro-government militias intercept food, fuel and medicine and use grad rockets and gas weapons against Bani Walid, a man whose family remains in the town told RT. He claims the daily shelling of the town is Misrata militias’ attempt to eliminate it.

Several hundreds of Bani Walid natives marched to the seat of the national parliament in Tripoli on Sunday to protest the assault on their home town, which has been continuing for over two weeks. The protesters demanded a peaceful solution to “the tribal war that is happening in the town.” The demonstrators, however, failed to enter the parliament, being dispersed by guards firing rounds into the air.

Pro-government forces and militias besieged the hilltop town of Bani Walid following the death of former rebel Omran Shaban. Shaban is credited for capturing the country’s ex-leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in October 2011. The Warfalla tribe controlling Bani Walid has been accused of kidnapping and torturing the former rebel.

Libya’s government has been empowered by the congress to use force to arrest those suspected of killing Shaban. Since the rebel was a Misrata native, Misrata militias joined the assault on Bani Walid.

The joint forces have been shelling Bani Walid almost non-stop since early October. At least 26 people died and over 200 more were injured in Saturday clashes alone, according to AFP. Gunfire and sporadic blasts continued into Sunday, and an AFP photographer says he saw hundreds of people were fleeing the besieged town.

Bani Walid commanders accuse the pro-government troops and militias of “shelling the town with long-range weapons and even targeting the hospital.”

One of them, Commander Salem al-Waer, said ­“They are pushing Libya towards civil war. Libya will become a second Somalia. Why are they putting tribes against each other?”

Children killed or mutilated in shelling – reports from besieged city

Several graphic clips published on YouTube claim to show dreadful consequences of the recent shelling in Bani Walid.

Plumes of white and black smoke can be seen rising all over the town and sporadic gunfire can be heard in one of the videos dated Friday. Shells hit civilian buildings. Inside one such house there are patches of blood across what appears to be the living room, while the whole house is strewn with rubble and dust, gaping holes in the walls.

Another video, allegedly from Bani Walid, claims to show victims of shelling. A 13-year-old boy killed in a blast is among them, his arm torn away. The caption reads: “Killed Oct 19 by ‘Misrata gang’ bombing.”The camera shifts to another kid – his face and right arm severely burnt, allegedly in the same shelling, and his left foot missing.

A man, who is now in Italy, but whose family is currently in Bani Walid, confirmed to RT the authenticity of the footage and sent more evidence. One of the photos shows the body of a girl under 10 years old, who reportedly died on Saturday following a bombing by Misrata forces.

However, the information could not be independently verified.

‘Bani Walid shelled with grad rockets and gas weapons’

The man who emailed the materials to RT, said in a subsequent interview that the current situation in the besieged town is grave: there are shortages of food, fuel and medicine; the hospital cannot house all the injured and power only appears for a couple of hours a day.

“Misrata’s militias want to eliminate us,” the man said on condition of anonymity, citing safety fears. Below is the full script of his interview to RT: “I have got a call from my family. They tell me the situation in Bani Walid is horrible. There is an awful attack with all kind of shooting and bombing everywhere in the city. The civilian buildings are falling down. “The situation in Bani Walid hospital is really bad. We don’t have a lot of medicine; we don’t have enough places for wounded civilians. Right now the hospital is keeping wounded people outside."

“No family would leave Bani Walid. All the people in Bani Walid say the same words: ‘We’ll never go from our land.’

“There are no Gaddafi people [in the city]. Even a member of Libya’s National Transitional Council, after visiting Bani Walid, also said there were no Gaddafi people there"

“What is happening there is a battle between [Bani Walid’s people] and Misrata, which wants to eliminate Bani Walid from existence. They want to do to Bani Walid what they did in Tahoura."

“There is almost no electricity; it only comes for two-three hours a day. It is three weeks that no food has been able reach Bani Walid as militias that surround the town are blocking the roads. They intercept food, fuel and medicine. There is no food inside Bani Walid, not even milk for kids, no necessities."

“Two hundred of those militias died yesterday, and the bodies are still there. They even left their wounded people there and Bani Walid hospital is taking care of those wounded people."

“Militias went inside the city, but they only went a few kilometers before getting kicked out. They used machine guns inside; and from outside they used grad rockets and gas weapons.”

 

This photo was emailed to RT by a man whose family remains in Bani Walid.

 

The fax which RT received from one of the hospitals in Bani Walid

 

A video screen shot taken from YouTube, sent to RT by a man whose family is currently in besieged Bani Walid. The image is said to show a 13 year old boy who was killed in recent fighting. The footage could not be independently verified.

 

This photo was sent to RT by a man whose family remains in the besieged Bani Walid. The image could not be independently verified.

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Lebanon on a knife-edge: Emergency cabinet called over blast



 

Source Video: Russia Today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Pd572qMsw
Story Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/lebanon-attack-bomb-syria-847/

Tensions run high in Lebanon as the government declared an emergency meeting following a bomb attack that killed a top security official. Clashes and protests have been reported throughout the country amid opposition calls for the PM to resign.

Riots and protests continued into Saturday as thousands of people across Lebanon voiced their ire at the car bomb blast in Beirut on Friday that claimed the lives of eight people. Over a hundred people were also injured in the explosion that killed Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan.

Enraged citizens have blocked roads with burning tires as a sign of their protest, while clashes in the city of Tripoli close to the southern Syrian border fueled fears the Syria’s conflict is overflowing across the border.

The secretary-general of Lebanese opposition group Future Movement, Ahmad Hariri, said that the attack had been masterminded by embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hariri also condemned Lebanon’s current PM Najib Mikati to resign immediately, saying that “he is personally responsible for the blood of General Wissam al-Hassan and the innocent.”

“We accuse Bashar al-Assad of the assassination of Wissam al-Hassan, the guarantor of the security of the Lebanese,” Hariri told a Lebanese TV station.

While former Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud told al-Jazeera that it was too early to ascertain who was behind the bombing.

"We have no indication whatsoever [of who is behind this]. We know this is a strong and sad message, and we know this could destabilize the whole country," said Baroud.

The attack has come at a time of strong antagonism between pro-Syrian regime groups and anti-Assad factions in Lebanon. Many fear that the conflict in Syria will exacerbate sectarian divisions in neighboring Lebanon.

Rifts are growing steadily wider in Lebanese society as the countries Sunni Muslims get behind the rebels and the Shiites offer their support to President Assad.

A Lebanese protester runs between burning tyres as demonstrators block a road in the southern city of Sidon on October 20, 2012 to protest against a bomb blast in the capital Beirut the day before (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Zayyat)

 

A Lebanese protester throws clothes on a pile of burning tyres as demonstrators block a road in the southern city of Sidon on October 20, 2012 to protest against a bomb blast in the capital Beirut the day before (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Zayyat)

The security official who was assassinated was a Sunni Muslim who opposed Assad and the regime’s strongest ally in Lebanon, the Shiite group Hezbollah.

The blast struck the Ashrafiyeh district of Beirut, a majority Christian neighborhood of the Lebanese capital. An explosives-laden car was detonated in a grounded street at rush hour, injuring over 100 people and decimating surrounding buildings.

It was the first car bombing in Lebanon since four years ago, when Lebanon’s top anti-terrorism investigator was killed along with three others.

The UN has condemned the attack calling for a thorough investigation to find the perpetrators, while the US called the blast a “terrorist attack.”

 

Lebanese people take part in a candlelight vigil near the site of a car bomb blast in Beirut on October 19, 2012 (AFP Photo / Patrick Baz)

 

A Lebanese man burns tyres in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon to protest against the assasination of top intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan in a blast on October 19, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Zayyat)

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Beirut blast: Who serves to gain?

Lebanese security forces and rescue workers gather at the site of an explosion in Beirut's Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafieh on October 19, 2012. (AFP Photo/Patrick Baz)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/beirut-blast-syria-israel-829/

The deadly blast in Beirut which killed eight and wounded 118 more has risked destabilizing Lebanon while civil war rages in Syria. Middle Eastern analyst Ali Rizk told RT that the one with the most to gain from the attack was not Syria, but Israel.

RT: So you are there in the city, how would you assess the situation there right now?

Ali Rizk: Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy to Syria, he was here in Beirut just two days ago. In his statements, he said that he was very afraid that the conflict or unrest in Syria could not stay within Syria’s borders forever, and that eventually, if it continues, it will go beyond these borders.

Now, two days after he made these statements, this massive, massive blast – I was at the scene for a couple of hours –we already have the political element coming into play. Some elements of the March 14th movement, which is known to be anti-Bashar al-Assad, even before it was known who was killed in this explosion, they quickly pointed the fingers at the Syrian government. And now with [senior Lebanese intelligence official ]Wissam al-Hassan, the head of internal security has been killed or targeted, is known to be pro-March 14th [and not an ally] of the Syrian government. This will only lead to more and more fingers [being pointed] from March 14th, and from their Western allies being pointed at Syria. [It is] similar to the situation we witnessed when [former Lebanese prime minister] Rafik Hariri was assassinated.

­Named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, the March 14th alliance was a coalition of political parties formed in the wake of the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. United by their anti-Syrian stance, the group pushed for a lessening of Damascus’ influence on internal Lebanese affairs, the establishment of a commission to investigate Hariri’s assassination, the resignation of security officials, and the organization of parliamentary elections. The Cedar Revolution secured a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese soil that same year.

RT: What do you make of the accusations that the Syrian government is behind the blast?

AR: The question that must be raised in all cases is who benefits from such an act? If the Syrian government goes ahead with [such] acts – we don’t have any information – but if it does…I think it’s only endangering itself and committing suicide. Is the Syrian government as such a suicidal government? I myself don’t [think] so.

The side which benefits maybe would be Israel. This might be a coincidence, but it might not be. Hezbollah actually sent an unmanned drone into Israeli airspace just a few days ago. So could this be a response from Israel…because many are saying that Israel doesn’t have the ability, that it now cannot actually wage a war against Hezbollah and against Lebanon. So has Israel resorted to creating internal instability inside Lebanon with the aim of keeping Lebanon preoccupied with itself and taking it out of what we refer to here as the resistance axis, which includes Iran, Syria and Hezbollah? We also must not forget the potential of Israel playing a role.

The fact that many of the al-Qaeda elements and the extremists who are fighting the Syrian government inside Syria, it is said that many of them have fled over here into Lebanon from the city of Homs and taken refuge. The explosion we saw today – car bombings – indeed do bear the traces of al-Qaeda, it affiliates and even some foreign intelligence sources.

RT: As you mentioned, after the Special Envoy to Syria did warn that the Syrian conflict could spread beyond Syria itself. You’ve just been talking about Israel, we’ve seen the events in Lebanon, and of course we’ve been reporting about the impact on Turkey. Which other countries now could be affected by the Syrian crisis?

AR: The Syrian crisis, as I said, could affect the whole region. We also have Iraq. Iraq could be very much involved, especially taking into consideration al-Qaeda and its presence there. The whole region could be set ablaze. Even some of Syria’s foes, like the United States and the Obama administration, have warned of the regional repercussions of the ongoing Syria unrest. So I think the whole region is exposed, and so for this reason it is necessary for there to be a judgment to the initiative by Lakhdar Brahimi, who focused on seeking a ceasefire on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

 

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Erdogan tells Turks to prepare for Syria war if necessary

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/08/265491/erdogan-asks-turks-to-be-ready-for-war/

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on his nation to be prepared for a possible war with the neighboring Syria if need be.

"You have to be ready at every moment to go to war if it is necessary. If you are not ready for this, you are not a state, if you are not ready for this, you are not a nation,” Erdogan said in a speech on Sunday.

The prime minister reiterated that Turkey does not want war, but warned Syria not to test its resolve.

"Nobody should attempt to test Turkey's decisiveness and sensibility,” stated the Turkish prime minister whose country is accused of being a key member of an international coalition attempting to destabilize Syria.

Tensions have been running high between Syria and Turkey, with Damascus accusing Ankara - along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, and the United States - of backing a deadly insurgency that has claimed the lives of many Syrians, including security and army personnel.

“Nobody should ask… but what will happen if a war were to begin and bring us to that point. You should be ready for it and have the memorandum in hand. What is necessary will be done if it becomes necessary," he stated.

Erdogan’s remarks came amid days of military strikes between the two countries.

On Sunday, Turkey's military fired an artillery shell into Syria shortly after a mortar round fired from Syria hit the southeastern Turkish border town of Akcakale.

On Saturday, the Turkish military fired mortar shells into Syria for the fourth day in a row after a number of projectiles slammed into the southern border province of Hatay.

Saturday’s exchange came three days after mortar shells from the Syrian side of the border killed five civilians in the town of Akcakale, which is located in Sanliurfa province in southeastern Turkey.

On October 5, Erdogan said that Turkey was not far from war with Syria due to the cross-border attacks.

"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from it either," Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul.

On October 4, the Turkish parliament authorized cross-border military action against Syria “when deemed right.”

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American Special Forces deployed to Iraq: US general

 

US re-deploy's its military forces in Iraq.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/29/264108/us-special-forces-deployed-to-iraq/

The American military has recently deployed a unit of US Army Special Operations soldiers to Iraq in what the US claims is an effort to offer advice on counterterrorism and intelligence.

The United States is again pushing for an agreement with the Iraqi government to redeploy small units of American soldiers to Iraq on military training missions and also to accelerate weapon sales to the country in a move to secure the oil-rich Persian Gulf nation as an ally, said the American commander in charge of the effort, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, the New York Timesreported this week.

According to Caslen, the United States is encountering difficulties in the delivery of weapons desired by Iraq, particularly anti-aircraft systems, so that it can prevent Baghdad from seeking required arms from other countries, including Russia.

Iraq, according to the report, is negotiating with Russia to purchase air defense systems that could be delivered much faster than those acquired from the United States.

Meanwhile, Washington is reportedly providing Baghdad with refurbished anti-aircraft guns, which would not be delivered until June.

The US military pulled out of Iraq at the end of 2011 after intense talks to maintain American troop presence in the country collapsed since the Iraqis refused to agree to provide legal immunities for the occupying forces.

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Lobbying campaign takes Iranian dissident group off US terror list

 

A supporter of the Iranian opposition group based abroad, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (Mujahedeen-e-Khalq) shouts slogans as celebrate the removal of the group from the US black list of designated terror groups in Washington, DC on September 28, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mark Garten)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/us-terror-list-mek-iran-269/

A group with a history of bombings and murders, including the killing of US citizens, which also happens to oppose the current Iranian government, has paid its way off of a US blacklist, Lajos Szasdi, an international affairs analyst told RT.

­The US Secretary of State announced the removal of the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MKO) from its list of terrorist organizations on Friday. Originally one of the main participants of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, it is now in opposition to the government in Tehran, and with the help of Israeli special forces carries out “assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran and obtains information on the Iranian nuclear program,” Szasdi says.

RT: Why has Washington chosen now to remove Mujahadeen-e-Khalq from its list of terrorist organizations?

Lajos Szasdi: This group, the MKO, has been apparently very successful in gaining the support of both the Republican and Democratic parties, civilians, as well as retired members of the military, senior officers included. So apparently, there has been a very successful lobbying campaign before the government to overturn the government’s decision, made in 1997, to place the MKO on the terrorist list of the Treasury Department.

There is also another issue. Washington might find this group highly useful. It seems that they have made use of it since 2007, in trying to destabilize the internal situation in Iran, and apparently with the cooperation of the Israeli secret service, the Mossad. They have used this group to conduct, it is said by some authors, assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran and obtain information on the Iranian nuclear program. And they've carried out some acts of sabotage – they caused the explosion of a missile factory as well. There is some strategic interest in terms of current and ongoing, bad relationships, to say the least, to put it mildly, between the United States on one side and Iran on the other.

And this group has also been carrying out a highly successful lobbying campaign, which is very interesting because according to some sectors in the press, if you spoke for ten minutes in favor of the group in a speech, you could have gotten twenty thousand dollars. And they have been paying for speeches defending their cause, so they would be removed from the list of being terrorists, between ten and fifty thousand dollars. So, it is quite interesting.

RT: Do you think this will influence the upcoming Iranian elections, is that the intention?

LS: The Iranian candidates will try to portray this event, the fact that the US government removed this group from the list of terrorists … it would be a further justification of any hardening of the position that the United States has no interest in finding a negotiated solution, but on the contrary – they are supporting its enemies.

It is going to, in any case, work to the detriment of the relationship between the West and Iran, and in particular the United States and Iran. It is going to favor taking hardening positions towards the West and the United States. I think it is quite inevitable in light of the rhetoric coming from Washington, alongside that coming from Tel Aviv regarding Iran and the Iranian nuclear program. It might not make much difference, but it certainly is going to be ammunition for those that would try to suppress the idea of any dialogue with Washington, because after all, Washington is not offering any olive branch for such a kind of dialogue.

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Iranian TV reporter killed on air by Syrian rebel sniper in Damascus

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/press-correspondent-killed-syria-007/

Iran’s Press TV claimed its Damascus correspondent was killed Wednesday by a rebel sniper while reporting on bombings in the Syrian capital. Two car bombs struck the Syrian Army’s command headquarters, setting one of the buildings on fire.

­Maya Nasser, a 33 -year-old Syrian national, was killed while reporting from the scene, Press TV said. Hussein Murtada – Press TV’s Damascus bureau chief and head of the Arabic-language Al-Alam TV network – was also reportedly injured in the attack.

In recent months, Nasser reported from the frontlines of the Syrian conflict. His video reports from war-torn Aleppo were a valuable source of on-the-ground information.

“Maya Nasser was a true professional, and his help to me was priceless while I was reporting from Syria,” RT’s Oksana Boyko said, recalling how Nasser gave her advance warning of which conflict zones were particularly dangerous.

Nasser maintained excellent relations with foreign journalists working in Syria, and was often cited by colleagues as the only source of reliable information on the conflict.

“In private he always stressed that it is the hardship of war that had fallen on the Syrian people is what disturbed him the most,” Boyko said. “Maya always stressed that ordinary people are those who suffer the most in the conflict.”

Nasser never hid his identity, and frequently debated political opponents on his Twitter account. Though he was threatened on the Web more than once, he was remembered as always being fearless about his work.

­Journalists in Syria killed in spate of rebel violence

Syrian rebels have targeted or kidnapped increasing numbers of foreign journalists in recent months as a way of striking the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.­

French journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in January by 81mm mortar fire from a rebel-held area.

On June 27, seven journalists and four security guards were killed in a rebel attack on the pro-government Al-Ikhbaria TV station in the town of Drousha, south of Damascus. One building in the complex was nearly demolished.

Syrian state TV host Mohammed al-Saeed was kidnapped and executed on July 19; a militant Islamist group claimed responsibility for the killing.

Two more Syrian journalists were kidnapped on August 4: Talal Jinbakly, a camera operator for Syrian state TV, and Mohammad Ali Hussein, who worked for an educational channel in Syria. That same day, Syrian rebels attempted to seize a state-run radio and TV broadcasting complex in Aleppo, and reportedly raised a rebel flag on top of the building.

Three TV journalists and their driver were kidnapped while reporting from a Damascus suburb on August 10.

On August 11, the head of Syrian news agency SANA was killed in Damascus.

In a mid-August statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the “terrorist attacks against journalists” who “ensure the democratic rights of people to receive objective information, freedom of speech and opinion.”

 

 

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Dempsey Backs Away from Obama’s Threat to Intervene in Syria

 

By: John Glaser

http://antiwar.com/

Source: Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/dempsey-backs-away-from-obamas-threat-to-intervene-in-syria/

The top general of America’s military last week backed away from President Obama’s threats to intervene militarily in Syria against the Assad regime, warning that the worst-case scenario would be some kind of failed state in the embattled country.

Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff General Martin Dempsey stressed while on a trip to London that direct military action in Syria, even simply no-fly zones, might be beyond the US and NATO’s capabilities and counter to their interests.

Last week President Obama warned that his “calculation” to refrain from direct military intervention in Syria “could change” if Syria’s chemical or biological weapons begin “moving around or being utilized,” describing the WMD issue as a “red line” that would prompt direct military action, like setting up safe zones, no-fly zones, or worse.

But Dempsey explained it wouldn’t be that easy. He said frequent comparison of the Syrian situation with that in Libya, where a “no-fly zone” was imposed following a United Nations resolution, is at best a source of “amusement.”

General Dempsey warned that possible safe zones for refugees were not being considered for inside Syria, cautioning that imposing them could open the path to a breakout of war.

“If you chose to establish [a safe zone/no-fly zone] you would assume the responsibility for protecting it. If you are tasked to protect it you have to look at those who might seek to attack it or to influence it and that could take you, depending on weapons systems, it could take you to a limited no-fly zone it could take you to the point of having to interdict air and ballistic missile systems,” he said.

As far as forcibly ousting the Assad regime, Dempsey said, such a move would be far too destabilizing. He said a failed state in Syria would be the worst-case scenario and warned against allowing armed extreme jihadists and rebels with ties to al-Qaeda to increase their influence and expand control in a post-Assad Syria.

 

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Turkey's interference in Syria, blow to Erdogan’s political future: Iran MP

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/12/255830/erdogan-future-victim-of-syria-crisis/

The government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has put its political future on a knife edge by propping up insurgent groups in Syria, an Iranian lawmaker says.

Ebrahim Aqa-Mohammadi, a member of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, on Saturday pointed to Tehran-Ankara amiable relations, adding, “I advise Mr. Erdogan and his friends not to engage in this issue; undoubtedly, in Turkey’s future elections, Erdogan’s party will be the victim of such matters.”

He urged Turkey to respect friendly ties with Iran and Syria as its neighbors and not to endanger Iran’s interests by supporting “a bunch of thugs and murderers” in Syria.

Damascus has accused several regional countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding and supplying weapons to armed gangs in the country.

On Tuesday, more than 100 Turkish troops armed with thermal rockets and sophisticated weaponry on briefly entered the town of Cerablos in Syria’s Kurdish region of Kobani.

Aqa-Mohammadi pointed to the kidnapping of Iranian pilgrims in Syria by the insurgent groups, adding, “The abduction of Iranian pilgrims is an inhuman action which is carried out by the support of the US, EU and some of the regional countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey.”

On August 4, Syrian insurgents abducted 48 Iranian pilgrims who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zeinab (AS).

“All these measures are aimed at putting the Islamic Republic of Iran under pressure to make it stop its support for the legitimate government in Syria,” the Iranian legislator pointed out.

Syria has been the scene of deadly unrest since mid-March, 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on August 1 that the country is engaged in a ''crucial and heroic'' battle that will determine the destiny of the nation.

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Egyptian Islamists blame Mossad for deadly Sinai attack

Burnt vehicle near the Kerem Shalom border crossing after unidentified gunmen crossed into Israel from Egypt on August 6, 2012 (AFP Photo / IDF / Gal Ashuach)

Source: Russia Today

http://www.rt.com/news/egypt-israel-sinai-hamas-006/

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has blamed Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, for a terrorist attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai on Sunday night. The act had further escalated tensions between the formerly allied nations.

The group’s official website posted that the attack “can be attributed to Mossad, which has been seeking to abort the revolution since its inception,” and went on to claim that that act was an attempt to cast a shadow on the administration of President Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi, who left the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party shortly after having been elected president, has not yet commented on the Brotherhood's remarks.

Meanwhile, Israel denies the claims, likewise pointing the finger at Hamas, which denies the accusations as well.

The blame game follows Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's comments that the attack should serve as a “wake-up call” to the new Egyptian president about growing volatility in the Sinai Peninsula.

Israel has long accused Egypt of losing its grip over the area.

The 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed after militants attacked a checkpoint along the border with Israel late Sunday night.

The attackers then drove their vehicles through a security fence and onto Israel territory, but the assault was quickly ended by an Israeli airstrike that killed at least eight of the militants.

It was one of the deadliest attacks to take place in the region in years – the Sinai border has been mostly quiet since Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement three decades ago.

The escalation comes just five days after Tel Aviv announced that it had received a letter from Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, which reportedly outlined the new president’s desire to work jointly with Israel on getting the Middle East peace process back on track.

But according to his spokesman, Morsi never wrote such a letter.

And with the spotlight back on the Sinai Peninsula in recent days, many are wondering whether there is reason to believe that the key agreement between Egypt and Israel, known as the Camp David Accords, is under threat.

The treaty was signed in 1978, and limits the number of troops Egypt can place in the peninsula, as well as their movements.

The attack is the first security challenge for Morsi, who took office in June.

Morsi’s predecessor Hosni Mubarak worked closely with Israel on matters relating to Sinai, but it remains unclear whether that will continue under Egypt's new leadership.

­Eric Draitser, a geopolitical analyst at Stopimperialism.org, believes the attack in Sinai works to Israel's benefit.

The attack allows Israel to continue subjecting the Palestinian people to egregious violations of international law, as a threat from the Sinai Peninsula gives Israel a reason to continue isolating and ghettoizing the Gaza Strip, he told RT. “To legitimize their attacks on Palestinians, they have to have an enemy. The enemy can’t be the weak and defenseless Palestinians, it has to be extremists in Sinai.”

The aim of those behind the attack is to destroy whatever cooperation that does exists as a remnant of Mubarak-era Egyptian-Israeli treaties, he states.

Draitser also believes that despite unambiguous anti-Israeli rhetoric, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is in fact playing right along with the West and international institutions. “They’ve paid lip service to anti-Zionists in Egypt while at the same time they court the IMF, the World Bank… they court a lot of Western institutions. Israel is an easy scapegoat for them.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is in fact “bought and paid for just as the Israelis are,” he concludes.

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