ISIS claims killing of Iranian military adviser in Iraq

Monday, 29 December 2014

ISIS has claimed the killing of a senior Iranian officer advising Iraqi forces in their fight against the jihadists, in posts on jihadist Internet forums on Monday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday announced the death of Brigadier General Hamid Taghavi, who had been training the army and Iraqi volunteers in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

One jihadist forum posted an image of the officer standing next to three others, with a red circle around his head and the caption: “A photo of the miscreant Hamid Taghavi who was killed by the men of ISIS in the region of Samarra.”

Another image on the forum purportedly showed the body of the Iranian officer. 

ISIS has not said how Taghavi died, but his funeral was held in Tehran on Monday in the presence of several senior officials.

“If people like the martyr Taghavi were not engaged in Syria and Iraq against the terrorists, the enemy would surely look to create insecurity in our country,” Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani told mourners, the official Fars news agency reported. 

Shiite Iran has sent military advisers to Iraq to help train and equip troops and allied militias in their counter-offensive against ISIS, which seized large areas of the country in a lightning June assault.

It has also armed Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and Iranian media have reported the deaths of several military personnel in both Iraq and Syria this year.

Iranian Defense Minister General Hossein Dehgan on Monday underscored his country’s support for Iraq, during talks in Tehran with his Iraqi counterpart Khaled al-Obeidi.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for the army and military forces of Iraq is a strategic policy,” he said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Tehran is “ready to develop military cooperation with Iraq in order to boost its defensive capacity,” he added.

IRNA said Obeidi also insisted on the “strategic” cooperation between the two neighbors and urged Iran to step up its assistance to Baghdad to fight “terrorism and corruption.”

Iran did not join a U.S.-led coalition conducting air strikes against IS positions in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Samarra, 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Baghdad, is a mainly Sunni city but also home to the Askari shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.

Several Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, have declared the preservation of Iraqi Shiite sites a “red line.”

Last Update: Monday, 29 December 2014 KSA 19:30 - GMT 16:30

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Senator Graham: U.S. Senate will vote on Iran sanction bill next month

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham who is expected to take over as chairman of the Foreign Appropriations Subcommittee when the Republicans take control of the Senate in January, said that the Senate will vote on an Iran sanctions bill next month.

Graham said on Saturday in a press conference in Jerusalem: “In January of next year, there will be a vote on the Kirk-Menendez bill, bipartisan sanction legislation that says, if Iran walks away from the table, sanctions will be reimposed. If Iran cheats regarding any deal that we enter to the Iranians, sanctions will be reimposed.”

U.S. sanctions currently in place target energy and banking sectors in Iran, as well as any trade that might benefit its nuclear enterprise.

“The last time the international community tried to control a rogue regime’s nuclear ambitions, it resulted in a nuclear armed North Korea. What started as a small enrichment capability to be monitored by the United Nations, resulted in multiple nuclear weapons being procured by one of the most dangerous regimes in the world — North Korea.”

Senator Graham said he fears that “if a deal was done between the P5+1 that allows an enrichment capability to be given to the Ayatollahs in Iran, that we will suffer the same fate.”

In an interview with CNN aired on Sunday he said: “I would like to end the nuclear ambitions of the Iranians peacefully, but the deal needs to be looked at and approved by Congress. They have been trying to develop a nuclear weapon, not a peaceful nuclear power program. And of all of the things that could throw the world into more chaos than exists today, it would be a bad deal regarding the Iranian nuclear ambitions.”

Obama signs act urging protection of Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty

Congress calls on US Government to probe use of American weapons and training in killing of members of Iranian opposition, PMOI (MEK). in Iraq

An act approved by the United States Congress and Senate calling for the protection and security of the residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq has been signed by President Barack Obama.

The government spending bill signed into law on December 16 calls on the US government to demand congressional committee reports detailing the steps taken to address the plight of and resettlement needs of Iranian dissidents at Camp Liberty.

It states: "Not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant United States Government agencies, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees detailing steps taken by the United States Government to address the plight, including resettlement needs, of Iranian dissidents located at Camp Liberty/Hurriya in Iraq."

A supplementary report to Budget Act adds: "The Committee directs the Secretary of State to include in the report on the resettlement plan for Iranian dissidents required by section 7041(c)(6) of this act: a description of measures taken to improve the security and welfare (including quality of life and access to medical care) of residents at Camp Liberty.

"An analysis of attacks against such dissidents since February 2009, including whether any weapons or training provided by the United States were used in the attacks, and safeguards to ensure that no such weapons or training are used in the future.

"And options for the resettlement of Iranian dissidents outside Iraq, including in the United States."

Based on legislative procedure the budget bill is reviewed by appropriations committees in the House and the Senate. Subsequent to approval at both chambers, it will be adjusted in the conference committee before being presented to the president for signing it into law.

This is the first time that an Act signed by the U.S. President explicitly supports protection of Camp Liberty residents that include members of the Iranian opposition the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The approval represents a very long path from the 1997 terrorist labeling of the PMOI to 2014 approval of a bill in support of the Camp Liberty residents. The Iranian Resistance has been able to make headways despite all of conspiracies and silence and turn the support for Liberty to a law in the U.S.

The legislation is a warning to the U.S. government to uphold its responsibilities regarding the residents of Camp Liberty and increase pressure on the Government of Iraq to respect the rights of the camp’s residents.

The legislation is also a warning to the Government of Iraq that should reduce the violation of the rights of the PMOI members in Camp Liberty and to end jeopardizing their security, particularly at a time when the current government of Iraq is more reliant to U.S. and E.U. than Nouri al-Maliki.
This legislation also illuminates the status of the Iranian Resistance and their supporters in the United States and Europe and their impact.

Three factors contributed to this achievement: The perseverance and steadfastness of the PMOI members in Ashraf and Liberty in the past few years, unrelenting endeavors of members and supporters of the resistance in the US ,and concerted bipartisan efforts of the US senators and congressmen, political dignitaries, and former senior officials of the Obama, Bush, Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Regan administrations in support of Iranian Resistance and residents of Camp Liberty.

Rare Sumatran tiger eats her cubs in Jerusalem zoo

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- A rare Sumatran tiger in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has killed and eaten her two five-week-old cubs in a blow to its captive breeding program, its chief vet said Monday.
The mother tiger, named Hana, had given birth to three cubs after being mated with a tiger from Germany called Avigdor, Nili Avni-Magen told AFP.

"One cub died shortly after birth but the other two were in good health. We discovered they had been killed when we went to weigh them," she said.

"We have no explanation for the behavior of the mother, who had taken good care of them at the start."

Listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, just 400 Sumatran tigers survive in the wild on the Indonesian island.

But captive breeding program have raised their number in zoos around the world to 261 from 180 in 2008. This year, 32 were born in captivity.

The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, which boasts a collection of wildlife mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, is also known for its success in breeding endangered species.

The zoo is located in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Malha, originally a Palestinian village whose nearly 2,000 residents were expelled to refugee camps in the West Bank in 1948.

U.S. Immigration Turns to Ankle Bracelets to Track Migrants

TUCSON, Arizona – Immigration authorities have chosen to put GPS ankle bracelets on the undocumented women who continue to cross the border with their young children.

Central American consular officials in Texas have noted since November that immigration authorities free most women with children that they detain at the border, but not before fastening them with an electronic ankle bracelet.

“We have seen a slight increase in mothers with children crossing the border, and what we have observed is that they are being set free after having one of these ankle bracelets clapped on them,” Allan Perez, Guatemalan consul in McAllen, Texas, told Efe

From Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, the Border Patrol detained 4,575 family units on the southern border and 5,143 unaccompanied minors, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Virginia Rice, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Efe that the use of these electronic devices is part of ICE’s Alternatives to Detention Program.

She said they analyze case by case who should given the GPS-enabled ankle bracelets, whose use was approved by Congress in 2002.

According to ICE statistics, this program improves the likelihood of undocumented immigrants showing up in court when they’re supposed to.

Factors considered for the use of electronic monitors include the immigrant’s criminal record, humanitarian concerns and community ties.

Toward the end of March there were approximately 5,100 undocumented immigrants around the country who were being tracked with electronic ankle bracelets.

One of them is the Honduran Nelly Diaz, 29, who crossed the Texas border early this year when she was seven months pregnant and had a little 2-year-old boy.

Diaz, who came to the United States to be with the mother she hadn’t seen since she was 4 years old, remained in ICE custody for two weeks and was later freed on condition that she wore the GPS device on her left ankle.

“They didn’t want to take it off me because I supposedly had five infractions. They say I don’t wear it, but that’s because it doesn’t work properly. They have changed it three times, I never took it off, it’s uncomfortable, it’s very hot and makes me want to scratch myself,” the young woman said.

Diaz said she has to appear before the authorities every Monday and that an ICE official makes surprise visits to her home.

Attorney Alex Galvez, who handles the case of Diaz’s asylum, said that her situation is an example of the poor use of resources.

“She handed herself over to the authorities and has showed up for all her appointments. She doesn’t intend to escape, but they want it to look otherwise,” Galvez said