IPT IO N SC R SU B
SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012
RABIA ALTHANI 10, 1433 AH
No: 15376
150 Fils
Kuwait National & Liberation Days
Obama cautions he is not bluffing on Iran Tehran would ‘play victim if attacked’
Max 16º Min 07º
Execution-style killings in Syria? 35 more shot dead BEIRUT: Syrian activists accused regime forces of carrying out execution-style killings and burning homes yesterday as part of a scorched-earth campaign in a restive neighborhood in the city of Homs, while the Red Cross headed to the area following a bloody, month-long siege to dislodge rebel forces. Meanwhile, 35 Syrians were killed yesterday, including 10 shot dead in Baba Amr after regime forces overran the rebel district of the central city of Homs, a watchdog said. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 10 Syrians were “shot dead” in Baba Amr, but added: “The circumstances of their deaths are not clear.” The Britain-based watchdog said regime forces had turned a Baba Amr shopping centre into a detention area, and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has a relief convoy poised to enter the neighborhood, to inspect it. The Observatory warned of summary executions in Baba Amr after regime troops seized it on Thursday following the withdrawal of rebel fighters. Syria has faced mounting international criticism over its bloody crackdown on the uprising, which started with peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized. The UN has estimated that more than 7,500 people have been killed since the uprising began nearly a year ago. Activists put the death toll at over 8,000. France said yesterday it is closing its embassy in Syria, a day after two French journalists escaped to Lebanon after being trapped for days in the central city of Homs. The United States and Britain already have closed their embassies in Syria. “The situation is worse than terrible inside Baba Amr,” Fouad said. “Shabiha are entering homes and setting them on fire.”. — Agencies
Over 50 die in NW Pakistan violence PESHAWAR: At least 55 people were killed yesterday in violence in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal region of Kyhber, which borders Afghanistan, local officials said. Twenty-two people were killed in a suicide attack targeting a mosque after Friday prayers in the Tirah valley, while at least 10 soldiers and 23 Islamist militants died in an earlier clash around 10 kilometres away (six miles). Kyhber is a haven for militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban and the threat of renewed fighting there between the army and insurgents prompted some 18,000 people to flee their homes in October last year. Local administration official Jamilur Rehman told AFP that the suicide blast killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 20 others, adding the toll may rise. “The bomber detonated himself near the gate of a mosque in Tirah valley of Khyber tribal region when people were returning from the prayers,” he said. — AFP
TEHRAN: A young Iranian couple shows the ink on their fingers after voting at a polling station in Tehran yesterday. Iran’s 48 million voters are being called on to decide their next parliament yesterday in elections whose turnout will be weighed to give an idea of support for the Islamic republic’s regime. — AFP (Page 7) WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama warned that he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, but in an interview published yesterday, he also warned US ally Israel that a premature attack would do more harm than good. In his most expansive remarks on the issue so far, Obama told The Atlantic magazine that Iran and Israel both understand that “a military component” is among a mix of options for dealing with Iran, along with sanctions and diplomacy. That is the most direct threat Obama has issued during months of escalating tension with Iran over its disputed nuclear development program. His comments appeared aimed more at Israel and its supporters in the United States. Obama addresses the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee tomorrow and meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House. Netanyahu will also address AIPAC. “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff,” Obama said in the interview. “I also don’t, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exact-
ly what our intentions are. But (both) governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.” Obama will try to convince Netanyahu to postpone any plans his government may have to unilaterally attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in coming months. An attack that soon would not carry US backing, and the US would probably not be involved in planning or executing it. Netanyahu’s government has maintained that all options remain on the table with regard to action on Iran, whose firebrand leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned Israel’s right to exist. “At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?” Obama said. Israeli President Shimon Peres told the New York Times on Thursday that the United States must make it clear to Iran that “all options are on the table.” “We need a total and clear commitment that the catastrophe of Iran will not create an impossible situation,” Peres said, acknowledging there was disagreement
over where to draw the red line that would spark military action. Nonetheless, it could force the United States into a new conflict and an arms race in the Middle East, as Obama made clear in the interview. It also could allow Iran to paint itself the victim and draw new support that would undermine rather than enhance Israel’s security, Obama warned. “At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?” Obama said. In the interview, Obama did go further than he has before. He explicitly referred to the possible use of military force, and he firmly rejected the notion that the United States might settle for a strategy of deterring Iran from using a nuclear weapon. “You’re talking about the most volatile region in the world,” he said. “It will not be tolerable to a number of states in that region for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and them not to have a nuclear weapon. Iran is known to sponsor terrorist organizations, so the threat of proliferation becomes that much more severe. “ — Agencies