
Middle East News Spotlight 4-25-11

Blood Flows in Syrian Revolt
Army Tanks Move To Crush Rebellion
At least 300 Dead
Regime Support Wavering
The Syrian government of President Bashar Assad continues to teeter on the edge of collapse in the face of massive protests across the nation.
The Assad regime has called on the Syrian Army, led by the loyalist Republican Guard to put down what seems to be a mounting effort for revolution and overthrow of the Bashar Assad regime.
Things turned violent on Friday after prayer services and the bloodletting continued over the weekend as Army tanks and soldiers challenged protesters in various towns and cities across the nation, including the streets of Damascus. Preliminary reports estimate the weekend death toll at around 300 and climbing, with thousands more protesters detained during the past week. Many detainees are thought to be dead, but no one knows for sure.
On Monday morning, reports indicate that Assad had unleashed his entire Syrian Army against the nation, including army tanks firing their cannon indiscriminately. There are reports of paratroops being dropped on more remote areas of the nation, attempting to secure hostile tribal areas.
The military force being exercised by Syria's Assad, dwarfs anything put together by Gaddafi's Libyan military, or the Egyptian Army. The Republican Guard is securing Damascus while elements of the 4th infantry division and other units converge on larger Syrian cities.
President Assad's younger brother is the Army commander in charge of all crackdown operations. Other army units have sealed off all border crosings between Syria and its neighbors to shut off the flow of small arms and ammunition that might be made available to the protesters from foreign sources.
There are sketchy reports sketchy reports that some Syrian military units have refused orders to shoot on civilians and instead have become engaged with other hostile Syrian army units trying to carry out genocidal orders from the Assad regime. It remains to be seen whether or not the Syrian military will continue to follow orders in what appears to be a campaign of genocide. If the Syrian military divides like the Libyan military, Syria could find itself facing a full-scale civil war much like the sitaution now in Libya.
For more on the Syrian situation see the following links below.
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Mass Protests Erupt In Syria As
"Great Friday" Demonstrations Unfold
The turmoil in Syria reached a fever pitch on Friday (4/22/11) as Syrians across the nation united to stage pretests across the country in protest against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The day of protests were billed in advance as being a "Great Friday" protest.
Prior to "Great Friday" protests were regional and not nationwide. The Great Friday protests were organized to become a great show of unity among the majority of Syrians. It was the first time, to date, that such an endeavor had been attempted in Syria. It was met by Syrian security forces turning their guns on protestors, with reports of widespread bloodshed.
For more on this story, LINK HERE to a CNN report - and LINK HERE for a BBC update.
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Assad Faced Criminal Charges at World Court
President Bashar al-Assad faces indictment by the International Criminal Court as Western leaders were told on Sunday that the Syrian leader could be held to account for the deaths of 120 anti-government protesters. Full story details, LINK HERE.
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Bloodshed Raises the Stakes
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Syrian Opposition Begins to Mobilize
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Syrian Christians Caught in the Conflict
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2nd Computer Virus Hits Iran Computers
Last year, Iran admitted that a sophisticated computer virus had infected computers in its defense industry as well as in its nuclear program. Iran claims to have finally eliminated the pesky Stuxnet Virus earlier this year. Now comes an admission from Iranian military leaders that a second computer virus has infected its computer systems.
The latest virus is being called "Stars." The admission comes without any additional information as the extent of the problem or when the problem was first detected. For more details, LINK HERE.
Additional coverage - LINK HERE. Still more coverage LINK HERE.
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Iran's Prez Predicts Demise of USA & Israel
“A new Middle East will emerge without the presence of the United States and the Zionist regime and their allies in the near future,” Ahmadinejad declared, claiming that the US and Israel were plotting to “spark an Iranian-Arabian Shia-Sunni conflict.” The Iranian leader also denounced “US imperialism” in the region, saying, “Regional governments and nations should remain vigilant to overcome US plots.” According to Ahmadinejad, the Iranian people and regional nations are unhappy with the existence of Israel and will continue their fight “until the defeat of the US and Zionist regime in the region.” LINK HERE for more details. Here's Iran's version - LINK HERE.
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Ahmadinejad Prepares A Successor
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preparing the ground for a successor, his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. His choice of a successor is controversial and at ods with Iran's religious leader, according to US State Department documents leaked and published on Wikileaks. More details from the British newspaper, The Guardian - LINK HERE.
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Iran Blames West for Mideast Revolts
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Arabian Nations Concerned with
Egypt's Friendly Overtures to Iran
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Egypt Moving To Develop
Closer, Friendlier Ties to Iran
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Iran Widening Relations with Pakistan
Shades of Ezekiel's Magog Prophecy
Ezekiel's Magog prophecy speaks of an alliance of nations led by Iran (as Magog) into a major war with Israel. Pakistan is one of those areas mentioned by Ezekiel as being part of the confederation which attempts to launch a war on Israel.
Even now, reports are comoing out of the Middle East that Iran has been quietly negotiating with Iran to widen the doors to further See LINK HERE for more details on Iran's latest diplomatic moves.
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Palestinian Police Kill Israeli
Near Joseph's Tomb
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Netanyahu Calls It "Heinous Act"
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Western Leaders Mull Idea Of
Assassinating Libya's Gaddafi
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Heavy Fighting Continues in Libya
Primary Action Aournd City of Misrata
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Kuwait Gives $181 Million in Aid to Libyan Rebels
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Saudis & Pakistan Strengthen Ties
In the face of a growing military threat from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are working to strengthen their ties, even as Iran attempts to woo Pakistan to its side.
Our A-O Intelligence Digest has previously reported on these strengthen ties behind closed doors, including an agreement to supply the Saudis with nuclear weapons and assistance in developing Saudi Arabia's own nuclear weapons. For more on this mainstream media report's coverage of strengthening ties - LINK HERE, but note the mainstream media has yet to mention the nuclear ties which remain an essential secret for the mainstream media.
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Pakistani Minister Makes Visit to Riyadh
Here's an article covering the state visit of Pakistan's foreign minister to Saudi Arabia and an analysis of the relationship between the two countries. The article also mentions Saudi Arabia's ballistic missile program and prior missile purchases with China and the possibility that another ballistic missile deal with China is in the works. We understand this is indeed a developing situation. for this article, LINK HERE.
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Saudi Arabia, Iran and Obama
A New Cold War Emerges in Mideast
But Could Soon Become A Hot War
We've been reporting in our donor's section about the escalating tensions towards war between Iran and Saudi Arabia and rising tensions and antagonism between President Obama and the Saudi Arabian monarchy. Now the Wall Street Journals has posted a spotlight article on these developments, once again underscoring A-O advance information ahead of the mainstream news media. The A-O Report and our Intelligence Digest tries to bring you the pertinent information mainstream media fails to report or only reporting belatedly when the information becomes obvious to all.
This Wall Street Journal articles makes an effort to point out the souring, personal relationship between President Obama and King Abdullah as we've already been reporting on for nearly the past two years, since the two leaders first met. Read the WSJ article at the LINK HERE.
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Protests Continue In Yemen
Despite Compromise Efforts
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New Gaza AId Flotilla Planned For May
Will Challenge Israeli Navy's Gaza Blockade
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