Iranian diplomat threatens to kidnap Obama’s daughter if U.S. attacks Syria.

Iranian diplomat threatens to kidnap Obama’s daughter if U.S. attacks Syria.

U.S. President Barack Obama with his daughters
Malia and Sasha. (File photo: AFP)

Al Arabiya | 07 sep 2013 :: An Iranian strategic expert has warned that one of the daughters of U.S. President Barack Obama will be kidnapped and raped if America carries out a military strike on Syria, reported the Daily Mail on Friday.

Alireza Forghani, the former governor of the Kish Province in southern Iran, threatened mass murders and abductions on U.S. citizens in the event of an American-led attack on Syria.

“Hopefully Obama will be pigheaded enough to attack Syria, and then we will see the … loss of U.S. interests [through terrorist attacks],” the website reported him as saying.

“In just 21 hours [after the attack on Syria], a family member of every U.S. minister [department secretary], U.S. ambassadors, U.S. military commanders around the world will be abducted. And then 18 hours later, videos of their amputation will be spread [around the world].”

According to media reports on Friday, the United States intercepted an order from an Iranian official instructing militants in Iraq to attack U.S. interests in Baghdad if the attack goes ahead.

The State Department issued a warning on Thursday telling U.S. citizens to avoid all but essential travel to Iraq.

The United States has been preparing for a military strike on Syria, evacuating non-essential embassy staff from Beirut. It has also warned Americans to avoid all travel to Lebanon and southern Turkey.

Obama is still awaiting the Congress’ authorization for military action. The lawmakers will reconvene on Monday and the president will address the nation on Tuesday.(courtesy:Al Arabiya)

Obama ‘confident’ of getting Congressional support for Syria strike.

Obama ‘confident’ of getting Congressional support for Syria strike.

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd R) talks to bipartisan Congressional
 leaders in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington while
 discussing a military response to Syria, Sept. 3, 2013. (Reuters)

Al Arabia | 03 Sep 2013 :: U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was confident that Congress will support his decision to take military action against the Syrian regime.

Obama said he is open to changes to his resolution to obtain Congressional approval, as long as the resolution sends a clear message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and impedes his ability to use chemical weapons.

Obama told reporters during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House that he wants the American people to know that “this is not Iraq, and this is not Afghanistan.” He said action in Syria will be limited and proportional, Associated Press reported.

The meeting in the White House Cabinet room was attended by congressional leaders from both parties in the House and Senate.

Obama called for a prompt vote on Capitol Hill and reiterated that the U.S. plan would be limited in scope and not repeat the long U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional. It will degrade Assad's capabilities,” Obama said, according to Reuters.

“At the same time we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition,” he said.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)

Netanyahu: Israel is ready for every possible scenario on Syria.

Netanyahu: Israel is ready for every 

possible scenario on Syria.

Israeli army Merkava tanks are seen stationed in a deployment
 training area in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the
 border with Syria on August 28, 2013. (AFP)

Al Arabia | 01 Sep 2013 :: Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country was prepared for “every possible scenario” that could happen in adjacent Syria after U.S President Barack Obama delayed military action.

“Israel is calm and sure of itself, the citizens of Israel know that we are prepared for every possible scenario,” he told ministers at a cabinet meeting, in remarks broadcast on public radio, according to Reuters.

Although the White House is currently waiting for U.S. Congress to convene on Syria, Israel’s military is on high alert over a possible strike, Israel-based news site Ynet reported on Sunday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has chosen to seek congressional approval for military action on Syria.

The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Northern Command and Air Force is currently on high alert, with the Iron Dome and Patriot missile systems expected to be positioned in the country’s north and central areas.

Israeli political sources quoted by Ynet noted that waiting for Congress to convene on Syria will mean that the U.S. will not attack Syria until at least ten days. Congress does not return from recess until September 9.

“Obama is determined to take action, and as far as Israel is concerned when an attack is launched is meaningless,” said a source quoted by the website.

“What's important is the president's clear stance that he will not stand idly by.”

By seeking approval from Congress, Obama now risks the same fate as British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was defeated on Friday when he lost his motion in support of military action on Syria.

The Syrian government said on Saturday that it has its “finger on the trigger” as it braced for what it had considered an imminent Western military strike, following the departure of U.N. weapons inspectors.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)

Al-Qaeda in Yemen denies U.S. claims on attack plots.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen denies U.S. claims 

on attack plots.

Yemeni security forces at a checkpoint in Sana’a. Embassies were
 closed during August due to allegations that the al-Qaeda was
planning attacks in Yemen. (File Photo: AFP)

Dubai | AFP | 27 Aug 2013 :: Al-Qaeda in Yemen has denied U.S. allegations it is plotting massive attacks that prompted the closure of Western missions in the country this month, in a statement posted online.

The extremist network also denied reports confirmed by Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi that U.S. intelligence services had intercepted a conversation between al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, head of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

“Hadi repeated the nonsense and propaganda published by U.S. intelligence on telephone calls between jihadist leaders to justify the US plot to kill Muslims in Yemen through continued raids,” AQAP said in the statement posted on jihadist Internet forums.

Hadi had “claimed the jihadists were plotting to target oil terminals in the country using bomb-laden trucks,” said AQAP.

“We deny what he said and regard it as an attempt to justify US criminal practices.”

“We also affirm our concern... in preserving the blood of Muslims,” the statement added.

A source close to Hadi quoted the Yemeni leader as saying Friday that in the alleged conversation between the al-Qaeda leaders Wuhayshi told Zawahiri he would be hearing of something “that will change the course of history”.

Hadi and U.S. President Barack Obama had discussed the matter at the White House on August 1, according to the same source.

On August 4, the United States shut 19 of its consulates and embassies in the Arab and Muslim countries amid what American officials said was a threat of an imminent al-Qaeda attack.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)Read More>>>

Al-Qaeda’s center of gravity ‘shifting’ from Pakistan to Yemen.

Al-Qaeda’s center of gravity ‘shifting’ from Pakistan to Yemen.

A police trooper guards a checkpoint on a street in Sanaa,
 Yemen August 10, 2013. Analysts say the recent terrorist
threat in Yemen suggests al-Qaeda is moving its
 powerbase away from Pakistan. (Reuters)

 Islamabad | AFP | 14 Aug 2013 :: As al-Qaeda marks its 25th anniversary this month, analysts say the recent security threat in Yemen shows the organization’s center of gravity is shifting away from its historic base in Pakistan.

U.S. President Barack Obama has cautioned that affiliates such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a unit of the extremist group that effectively controls parts of Yemen, still pose a threat despite successful efforts to disrupt the organization’s core leadership.

His warning came after the United States closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa last week after reported intelligence intercepts from al-Qaeda suggested an attack was imminent.

Reports indicated the intercepts involved some kind of group communication between al-Qaeda supremo Ayman al-Zawahiri, and AQAP leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi.

Zawahiri assumed al-Qaeda leadership when Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. Special Forces raid in Pakistan in 2011 and the 62-year-old Egyptian is believed to be hiding in the border region with Afghanistan.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert on Islamist groups in Pakistan, said that while the traditional core leadership of al-Qaeda -- which was founded in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, in 1988 -- still retains symbolic importance, its operational center of gravity has moved.

“In terms of strength, of power, of effectiveness, we can say it has shifted,” he told AFP.

“It is no longer Pakistan or Afganistan, so most of the fighters, most of the affiliates, are not in Pakistan and Afghanistan. By and large, the plans are not coming from Zawahiri.”

Zawahiri, who has a $25 million U.S. government bounty on him, lacks the charisma of bin Laden but has long been seen as the brains of al-Qaeda.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)Read More>>>