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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Britain shuts Iran embassy in London


The step came after the UK mission was attacked by protesters angry at fresh sanctions against the Islamic republic s nuclear programme. Foreign Secretary William Hague also accused the Iranian government of tacit support for Tuesday s attack, although he said London would not be cutting off diplomatic ties altogether. The incursions and Britain s response dramatically heighten tensions between the West and Iran over Tehran s nuclear programme, which it insists is for civilian rather than military purposes. In a speech to parliament, Hague said he had ordered all Iranian embassy staff to leave Britain within 48 hours and closed the mission in London. He said all Britain-based staff had also been evacuated from the embassy in Iran and the mission had been shut with immediate effect. "If any country makes it impossible for us to operate on their soil they cannot expect to have a functioning embassy here," Hague said. Prime Minister David Cameron had earlier promised "very tough action" following Tuesday s violent scenes when protesters rampaged for hours through Britain s two diplomatic compounds in Tehran. They tore down the Union Jack, smashed windows, trashed embassy offices, set documents alight, and briefly blocked the movements of six diplomats. Iranian police, who initially appeared to do little to prevent the violence, eventually forced the protesters to leave after firing tear gas and clashing with them. Hague expressed scepticism at what he called the "belated" response by the Iranian authorities. "The idea that the Iranian authorities could not have protected our embassy or that this assault could have taken place without some degree of regime consent is fanciful," he told the House of Commons. Despite the embassy closures, the foreign secretary said diplomatic ties would continue with Iran, albeit at a much reduced level. "This does not amount to the severing of diplomatic relations in their entirety. It is action that reduces our relations with Iran to the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations," Hague said. The protests in Tehran had been called to express anger over Britain s announcement last week that it was halting all transactions with Iran s financial system, including its central bank. Iranian officials this week retaliated by passing a law to expel the British ambassador within days as diplomatic ties were downgraded. Other countries took action in response to Tuesday s attacks. Norway announced the temporary closure of its embassy, although its staff remained in Tehran, and other European missions were evaluating the security situation. Germany, France and Sweden summoned the Iranian envoys to their countries on Wednesday to protest against the incursion, while Italy said it was doing likewise and was thinking about closing its Tehran embassy. The UN Security Council, the United States, the European Union, France, Germany and even Iran s ally Russia had all condemned the attacks as unacceptable. In Tehran, Iran s foreign ministry expressed "regret" over the incident, and deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted by IRNA state news agency as saying a number of protesters had been arrested and others were being sought. But parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani defended the protesters, saying they had been "angered by the British government s behaviour" and "decades of domineering moves by the British in Iran." The UN condemnation was "hasty," he told lawmakers, according to state television. The head of parliament s security and foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said other countries should not be concerned, insisting Iran "respects" all treaties protecting foreign diplomats and embassies. Britain s sanctions against Iran s financial system were announced last week in conjunction with similar measures by the US and Canada following a report by the UN watchdog which crystallised fears about Tehran s nuclear programme. EU foreign ministers were set to unveil further sanctions at a meeting Thursday. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris was looking for a common EU position to apply "maximum pressure", telling L Express weekly that his country wanted a freeze on Iranian central bank assets and an embargo on Iranian oil. Although protests against Western embassies are frequent in Tehran, the storming of the British embassy was by far the worst since 1979, when Islamic students broke into the US embassy, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. That act resulted in the breaking of all diplomatic ties between the United States and Iran.

40,000 troops to leave Afghanistan by end of 2012


Drawdown plans announced by the U.S. and more than a dozen other nations will shrink the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan by 40,000 troops at the close of next year, leaving Afghan forces increasingly on the frontlines of the decade-long war.The United States is pulling out the most 33,000 by the end of 2012. That s one-third of 101,000 American troops who were in Afghanistan in June the peak of U.S. military presence in the war, according to figures provided by the Pentagon. Others in the 49-nation coalition have announced withdrawal plans too, even as they insist they are not rushing to leave. Many nations have vowed to keep troops in Afghanistan to continue training the Afghan police and army in the years to come. And many have pledged to keep sending aid to the impoverished country after the international combat mission ends in 2014. Still, the exit is making Afghans nervous. They fear their nation could plunge into civil war once the foreign forces go home. Their confidence in the Afghan security forces has risen, but they don t share the U.S.-led coalition s stated belief that the Afghan soldiers and policemen will be ready to secure the entire nation in three years. Others worry the Afghan economy will collapse if foreigners leave and donors get stingy with aid. Foreign forces began leaving Afghanistan this year. About 14,000 foreign troops will withdraw by the end of December, according to an Associated Press review of more than a dozen nations  drawdown plans. The United States is pulling out 10,000 service members this year; Canada withdrew 2,850 combat forces this summer; France and Britain will each send about 400 home; Poland is recalling 200; and Denmark and Slovenia are pulling out about 120 combined. Troop cutbacks will be deeper next year when an estimated 26,000 more will leave. That figure includes 23,000 Americans; 950 Germans; 600 more French; 500 additional Britons; 400 Poles; 290 Belgians; 156 Spaniards; and 100 Swedes. Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, told the AP that the number of Marines in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan will drop "markedly" in 2012, and the role of those who stay will shift from countering the insurgency to training and advising Afghan security forces. Amos declined to discuss the number of Marines expected to leave in 2012. There are now about 19,400 Marines in Helmand, and that is scheduled to fall to about 18,500 by the end of this year. "Am I OK with that? The answer is  yes, " Amos said. "We can t stay in Afghanistan forever." "Will it work? I don t know. But I know we ll do our part." Additional troop cuts or accelerated withdrawals are possible. Many other countries, including Hungary, Finland and Italy, are finalizing their withdrawal schedules. Presidential elections in Europe and the European debt crisis also could speed up pullout plans. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said this week that Australia s training mission could be completed before the 2014 target date. Back in June, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that when the Obama administration begins pulling troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. will resist a rush to the exists, "and we expect the same from our allies." Gates said it was critically important that a plan for winding down NATO s combat role by the end of 2014 did not squander gains made against the Taliban that were won at great cost in lives and money. "The more U.S. forces draw down, the more it gives the green light for our international partners to also head for the exits," said Jeffrey Dressler, a senior research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington. "There is a cyclical effect here that is hard to temper once it gets going." U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings Jr. said the cutbacks that have been announced will not affect the coalition s ability to fight the insurgency. "We are getting more Afghans into the field and we are transferring more responsibility to them in many areas," Cummings said, adding that many leaders of the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Haqqani militant networks have been captured or killed. Afghan security forces started taking the lead in seven areas in July. They soon will assume responsibility for many more regions as part of a gradual process that will put Afghans in charge of security across the nation by the end of 2014. Some countries are lobbying to start transition as soon as possible in areas where they have their troops deployed  so they can go home, said a senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss transition. The official insisted that those desires were not driving decisions on where Afghan troops are taking the lead. But the official said that because they want to leave, a number of troop-contributing nations faced with declining public support at home have started working harder to get their areas ready to hand off to Afghan forces. "The big question (after 2014) is if the Afghan security forces can take on an externally based insurgency with support from the Pakistani security establishment and all that entails," Dressler said. "I think they will have a real challenge on their hands if the U.S. and NATO countries do not address Pakistani sponsorship of these groups."

US military refuses to apologise over Nato attack


Gen Martin Dempsey, the most senior figure in the US military has refused to apologise for an air strike at the weekend that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistan Army claimed the attack lasted almost two hours, and that it continued even after commanders on the ground contacted Nato to ask what was going on. In a TV interview, Gen Dempsey said he telephoned Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani and “expressed regret”. “They have reason to be furious that they have 24 soldiers dead and that what killed them was the ordinance of a partner,” he said. Asked if there was anything to apologise for, Gen Dempsey said: “absolutely not.” Gen Dempsey also admitted that the US relationship with Pakistan, viewed from the outside is “the worst it’s ever been.”