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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Brazil World Cup will be impeccable: Football chief


The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ricardo Teixeira, insists the Latin American country will deliver an "impeccable" World Cup in 2014 despite criticism from FIFA that organisational progress is slow. "FIFA concerns with regard to preparation of all World Cups are natural and legitimate," said Teixeira. "But the body can keep calm because Brazil and its people have the competence and seriousness required to organise an impeccable and unforgettable World Cup," Teixeira said in a posting to the federation website overnight Saturday. Teixeira s comments came amid a deepening row between FIFA and the Brazilian government after FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke opined Friday that the organisers needed a "kick up the backside" to ensure that preperations were completed on time for Brazil s first World Cup in 64 years. Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo reacted angrily Saturday to Valcke s trenchant comments, saying the country would boycott Valcke as a spokesman over his criticisms. "The government will no longer accept the secretary general as FIFA spokesman," Rebelo said in deriding Valcke s comments as "impertinent," "inappropriate" and "offensive". And Rebelo said that if Valcke goes ahead with plans to visit Brazil on March 12 he will not be received. Valcke responded by dubbing Rebelo s reaction "a bit puerile." "I will go to Brazil on March 12," Valcke confirmed. FIFA have for months expressed varying degrees of concern over the extent to which preparations are on track for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950. But Frenchman Valcke pulled no punches on Friday in saying progress was much too slow. "I don t understand why things are not moving. The stadiums are not on schedule any more and why are a lot of things late?" he asked. "I am sorry to say but things are not working in Brazil," he added. "You have to push yourself, kick your arse and just deliver this World Cup and that is what we will do."

American Israel Public Affairs Committee


A powerful US pro-Israel lobby on Sunday opens an annual conference where thousands of delegates seem intent on hearing President Barack Obama echo the Jewish state s fears about Iran s nuclear aims. Obama s speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee may well set the tone for his meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will also speak to AIPAC after the pair s White House encounter. The events come as questions grow over whether Israel is preparing to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran and whether Washington will urge Israel to delay military action in order to allow time for crippling sanctions to work. AIPAC, which touts itself as the most influential US foreign policy lobby, will also host Israeli President Shimon Peres, who will give a speech and meet with Obama here on the opening day of the annual policy conference. In all, a record 13,000 people are to due attend this year: students, legislators, government and military officials, foreign ambassadors, analysts, and rabbis and other religious figures from across the United States and Israel. Iran is expected to be the dominant theme at AIPAC, unlike last year when Obama tried to rally support behind US-brokered Palestinian-Israeli peace talks that have have since foundered. "This year s conference gathers at a time when the global threat posed by Iran is at an all-time high," AIPAC said in a statement, adding that both Obama and Nethanyahu would tackle the threat in their speeches. "Iran is nearing nuclear-weapons capability, jeopardizing American national security and threatening our friends in the Gulf as well as our broader interests in the Middle East," it said. It warned of heightened Iranian terrorist activity and said "Iran s leaders call for Israel to be wiped off the map as they pursue nuclear weapons that would pose an intolerable threat to the Jewish state." Iran denies US and Israeli charges of a weapons drive, saying its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. AIPAC s annual policy conference "is a subset of the broader strategy and the tone of the meeting" between Obama and Netanyahu on Monday, according to Aaron David Miller, a former US Middle East peace negotiator. "AIPAC is a way to orchestrate what I think will be probably one of the best meetings the prime minister and the president have ever had, in large part because neither of them want a fight," he told AFP. During his visit to Washington last year, Netanyahu engaged Obama in a public spat over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Obama will likely say "Iran s efforts to acquire a nuclear (weapons) capacity, or certainly to weaponize... must be stopped," said Miller who is now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He said he will also make clear the United States "intends to continue to ratchet up the pressure" after imposing fresh sanctions in the last few months that target Iran s oil industry. As for whether Washington is prepared to launch military action against Iran, Miller said Obama "will be elusive about it, for sure, but he will make it unmistakably clear that it s still very much an option." The two leaders will finesse their differences in their meeting, he said. "Bibi (Netanyahu) would love a green light from Obama on the issue of attacking Iran, if he feels the need to. And Obama wants a red light from Bibi that he won t (attack)," Miller said. "Neither side will get that from one another, but they will manage the problem because they must," he said. "They must emerge from this meeting with unmistakable clarity and commonality of interests for the constituencies that need to hear it: the Russians, the Chinese and the Europeans, the Iranians for sure," he said. Obama, Miller said, will also try to avoid "giving the Republicans an issue to hammer him with" while "keeping the pro-Israeli community reassured" as he faces re-election this year. David Makovksy, with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Obama is likely to try to reassure Israel s supporters about US intentions on Iran. "The fact that he s agreed to meet (AIPAC) suggests that he wants them to clearly understand that he has no illusions about the Iranian nuclear program and when he says all options are on the table, he means it," Makovsky told AFP. "I think the tone he sets there will be very significant," he said.

6 Yemeni soldiers killed in suicide attacks


At least six soldiers have been killed as suicide bombers detonated two vehicles laden with explosives at two military outposts outside the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar on Sunday, local officials and residents say. They said one vehicle targeted on Sunday a military position held by coastal guards at the western entrance of the city; the second vehicle struck an artillery position at the southern entrance of Zinjibar. The bombers - believed to belong to a group linked to al-Qaeda called Ansar al-Sharia which controls Zinjibar – also launched a raid on both positions after the bombings, taking a number of soldiers prisoner, Local officials said. Al-Qaeda linked groups have exploited political upheaval to strengthen their foothold in Yemen, particularly in the south which is also home to rising secessionist sentiment.

Pakistani President & Army Chief factual information regarding May-2 raid on Osama Bin Laden about


Presidency spokesman Farhattullah Babar said that President Asif Ali Zardari did not talk to Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani regarding May 2 operation in which US forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The media reports in this regard are untrue and unfounded, Babar said adding that President neither ordered the army chief to stay out of US incursion nor gave any green-signal for the same. On the other hand, a spokesman of ISPR said that there was no telephone conversation between the President and the COAS on the night between 1 and 2 May 2011. The spokesman further said that the Military leadership has briefed the Joint session of the Parliament as well as the Abbotabad Commission on the subject matter and there is nothing more to add to it. Ijaz during his testimony on Friday, when asked to name the individuals, referred to as two senior officers, who allegedly spoke on the night of the May 2 raid, while the operation in Abbottabad was in progress, replied “As far as I know it was Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and President Asif Ali Zardari.”

FIFA complains about Brazil's 2014 WCup delays


FIFA's secretary general expressed serious concerns about Brazil s lack of progress in World Cup preparations, criticizing the country for prioritizing winning the tournament rather than making it ready for fans. Jerome Valcke said on Friday he will visit Brazil next week to push the organizing committee to take immediate action to ensure there is not transport and accommodation chaos for supporters. "The big issue we have in Brazil is that not a lot is moving," Valcke said. "I don t understand why things are not moving. The stadiums are not any more on schedule and why are a lot of things late? "In 2014 we will have a World Cup. The concern is nothing is made or prepared to receive so many people because the world wants to go to Brazil. I am sorry to say but things are not working in Brazil." Valcke s message to Brazil is: "You have to push yourself, kick your (backside) and just deliver this World Cup." Brazil greats Romario and Pele have already warned their homeland was risking embarrassment. The World Cup will be played in 12 far-flung venues, including a 44,000-seat stadium being built in the Amazon jungle city of Manaus.

Ahmadinejad rivals leading in parliament vote


Conservative rivals of Ahmadinejad were leading in the race for parliament, according to early election results Saturday, an indication the Iranian president may face a more hostile house in the remaining 18 months of his second term in office. The strong showing by loyalists of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Friday s parliamentary elections also reflected staunch support for Iran s theocracy and its firm stance in the nuclear standoff with the West. Early returns Saturday in the capital Tehran showed Khamenei loyalists have pulled ahead. Partial results from provincial towns also show conservative Ahmadinejad rivals were elected in many constituencies. State media said the turnout was estimated at over 67 percent from among 48 million Iranians eligible to vote. The conservatives  lead had been expected as the balloting for the 290-seat parliament had boiled down to a popularity contest between two conservative camps those opposing Ahmadinejad and those backing the president. The elections were the first major vote since Ahmadinejad s disputed re-election in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. With the opposition crushed in the brutal crackdowns over the past three years and major reformist factions absent from polling stations, the outcome of the elections is unlikely to change Iran s course over major policies including its refusal to halt uranium enrichment that the West fears is geared toward weapons making, military and oil policies. A win by his rivals will weaken Ahmadinejad s camp ahead of the 2013 presidential race. In another embarrassment, Parvin Ahmadinejad, a younger sister of the president, was defeated by a conservative rival in their hometown of Garmsar. Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, whose daughter is married to Khamenei s son, was leading in Tehran, followed by other Khamenei loyalists. Another Ahmadinejad opponent and current parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, won a seat from the city of Qom, a religious center. Out of 189 winners that emerged by Saturday noon, at least 97 were conservative Ahmadinejad opponents. Also elected were six liberal-leaning candidates opposed to Ahmadinejad. The remaining 86 seats were split between Ahmadinejad supporters and centrists. Authorities said 15 seats will have to be decided in runoffs. More than 3,440 parliamentary hopefuls all vetted by Iran s ruling Islamic system and none with links to the opposition Green Movement that led protests after Ahmadinejad s hotly disputed re-election ran in the elections. The state media said the balloting was a snub at Iran s enemies who had allegedly hoped for a low turnout that would show divisions and a weakened Islamic theocracy, making it easier for the West to pressure Iran over its nuclear program. "International media were surprised by the high turnout," state TV proclaimed Saturday. "It was a slap in the face of the U.S." The front-page headline in the hard-line daily Kayhan Saturday said the enemy was "checkmated." Nationwide, final results are expected to be released during the weekend and early next week. Results in small towns, with few representatives in parliament, appear sooner than cities like Tehran, which has some 5 million eligible voters and 30 legislators. The new parliament will begin its work in late May. It is expected to boost the voices of hard-line opponents of Ahmadinejad in next year s presidential elections. The split among the conservatives, who were once united, dates back to last year when the president fell out of favor with the supreme leader after he dared challenge Khamenei over the choice of intelligence chief in April. Many conservatives, who had supported Ahmadinejad s re-election, then turned against him. In parliament, lawmakers moved on a petition to summon Ahmadinejad for questioning over a long list of accusations, including corruption.

Britain, Japan eye joint arms development


Japan is planning to jointly develop weapons with Britain as Tokyo looks to boost its defence industry after easing a decades-old ban on arms exports, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is seeking to reach a deal on the defence partnership during a visit by his British counterpart David Cameron planned for April, the Sankei Shimbun said. The British government has so far proposed plans to jointly develop four items, including the autoloading system for 155-millimetre (6.2-inch) howitzers, the daily said. The move came after Tokyo relaxed its self-imposed ban on arms exports in December, paving the way for Japanese firms to participate in multinational weapons projects. In a move intended to bolster the domestic arms industry and reduce defence spending, officially pacifist Japan is for the first time in decades routinely allowing its companies to partner with foreign firms to develop weapons. Japan, whose industries took years to recover after World War II, declared in 1967 that it would tightly control its foreign weapons sales. The new rules allow Japan to develop and produce arms jointly with the United States and European countries and to export military equipment intended for operations such as UN peacekeeping.