Calls on continued resistance and hope for victory

Iran leader says Israel’s destruction ‘imminent’

Dec. 15, 2009.TEHRAN (AFP)

Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday the destruction of Israel was "imminent," and called for continued resistance against the Jewish state, state media reported.

"I am very optimistic about the future of Palestine and believe Israel is on the steep path of decline and deterioration," Khamenei told Ramadan Abdullah, the secretary general of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.

" I am very optimistic about the future of Palestine and believe Israel is on the steep path of decline and deterioration "

Iran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

"God willing, its destruction will be imminent," the Islamic republic's all-powerful leader said. "Continued resistance and hope for victory should be taken into consideration."

Iran does not recognize Israel, and is a staunch backer of Palestinian Islamist militants.

Tensions have soared between Iran and Israel over the past five years since hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power.

Ahmadinejad has drawn international condemnation by repeatedly predicting that Israel is doomed to disappear and dismissing the Holocaust as a "myth."

Israel, the sole if undeclared nuclear power in the Middle East, has called for tougher action against Tehran over its controversial atomic program and accuses it of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

President tells atomic body to begin enrichment

Iran to begin 20% nuclear enrichment Tuesday

TEHRAN (Agencies)

Iran will tell the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday of its plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent, atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi told state television on Sunday, adding that the process will begin on Tuesday.

"We will inform the IAEA in a letter tomorrow (Monday) of our intention to enrich uranium to 20 percent," Salehi told the Arabic-language Al-Alam television, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

" The higher enrichment will begin at the Natanz plant from the day after tomorrow (Tuesday) "

Iranian atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi

"The higher enrichment will begin at the Natanz plant from the day after tomorrow (Tuesday)," he added. Natanz is in the central province of Isfahan.

Salehi's remarks came hours after hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered him to begin higher uranium enrichment, raising the stakes in a dispute with the West days after seeming to accept a U.N. drafted nuclear deal.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said the Islamic Republic can make fuel enriched to 20 percent itself if there is no agreement on obtaining the material from abroad.

" We had told them to come and have a swap, although we could produce the 20 percent enriched fuel ourselves "

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

"We had told them (the West) to come and have a swap, although we could produce the 20 percent enriched fuel ourselves," said in a speech at an exhibition on laser technology which was broadcast live on state television.

"We gave them two-to-three months' time for such a deal. They started a new game and now I (ask) Dr Salehi to start work on the production of 20 percent fuel using centrifuges," he said, referring to Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads the atomic energy body.

But he added: "The doors for interaction are still open."

Ahmadinejad also said Iran had the capability to enrich uranium using laser technology, without elaborating.

On Saturday, the United States and Germany said they saw no sign Tehran would make concessions on its nuclear program, despite upbeat comments from Iran's foreign minister over prospects for a deal.

An accord on exchanging fuel could mark a breakthrough in the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which the West fears could be used to produce an atomic bomb.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told ISNA news agency on Sunday: "Iran's stance on the nuclear fuel swap has not changed. Iran is still ready to do such an exchange and if the other side is ready we can negotiate over the details of such a deal."

Tests being run at time of plant explosion

Reports of 50 dead in US plant blast: hospital

Middletown, CONNECTICUT (Agencies)

As many as 50 people may have been killed in an explosion Sunday at a U.S. energy plant in Connecticut, a hospital spokesman told AFP, adding a search and rescue operation was under way.

"The reports vary from a few, several to possibly as many as 50 dead," Brian Albert from the Middlesex hospital, which was treating several of those injured in the blast, told AFP.

" The reports vary from a few, several to possibly as many as 50 dead "

Brian Albert from the Middlesex hospital

The local CBS station WFSB reported on its website that up to 250 people were feared hurt but this could not be confirmed by other sources. Scores of ambulances and several helicopters rushed to the scene of the Kleen Energy plant on the banks of the Connecticut River.

A fire official said 51 construction workers were believed to be on site at the time. Some might still be trapped under the rubble, and a search-and-rescue team was trying to find them, he said.

There was no further danger to the public, the official told reporters. Local hospitals were on mass casualty alert.

The explosion happened just before 11:30 a.m. (16:30 GMT) during tests at the plant, a 620 megawatt gas-fired power plant which was due to come online in the summer.

Officer Kevin White of Middletown Police told Reuters there were "mass casualties" but could not give precise details. Firefighter Cliff Seifert confirmed there were numerous casualties.

State emergency official Betsy Hard said local authorities had asked the state for help.

Middletown, a college town, is 37 kilometers (23 miles) south of the city of Hartford, the state capital.

The explosion was felt as far away as East Haven, a distance of 48 kilometers (30 miles), and black smoke was visible for miles around.

"I felt the ground shake and thought a tree had fallen nearby," said Ethan Goller, who at the time was working in his garage in Ivoryton, 12 kilometers (20 miles) from Middletown.

Saudi Arabia opens military supply to local firms

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry will for the first time allow local firms to bid to supply basic materials excluding arms with the longـterm goal of encouraging a domestic military industry, officials said. The move, which will open a field that was reserved for foreign manufacturers, will first involve some 15,000 items that range from plastic to pipes, covers for jet engines and batteries, Colonel Attiyah AlـMaliki said at a meeting with businessmen in Riyadh''s Chamber of Commerce late on Saturday. Saudi authorities expect the move ـ backed by assistant Defense Minister Khaled bin Sultan ـ to encourage foreign suppliers to partner with Saudi peers and set up shop within the kingdom so that they can continue to qualify as suppliers. The Defense Ministry created a Central Committee for Local Industrialization which comprises business leaders and defense officials to "develop local capabilities, ensure speedy deliveries and reduce costs", Colonel AlـMaliki said. Abdulrahman AlـZamil, a member of the committee and chairman of a large familyـowned industrial group, welcomed the move.

"This is a breakthrough for local firms because before all purchases were internationally tendered or bought from abroad by local suppliers. We know that these (15,000) products can be made locally," AlـZamil said at the meeting. None of the items are weapons or heavy military gear. "The Defense Ministry will gradually eliminate from international tenders all items that can be produced here ... We are working for the next 20 years," AlـZamil said. Reuters

Rejects Ayalon’s claims over Saudi support to Palestine

Handshake Israeli apology to Saudi: Prince Turki

RIYADH - Saudi's former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal said on Sunday Israel's deputy foreign minister shook hands with him at a Munich security conference to apologize for his affront to the kingdom.

Prince Turki told Al Arabiya that Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon "indirectly addressed himself to me by saying that 'the person from a certain country with a lot of oil refused to sit on the same panel with me.'"

The former Saudi ambassador to the United States added that Ayalon also said that "the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with all its wealth, has not given a penny to the Palestinian Authority."

" Authority by reminding him that the Kingdom has given more than $500 million in the last five years to the PA as a stop-gap measure "

Prince Turki al-Faisal

Prince Turki said his response was that he did not object to sitting on the same panel with Ayalon because the latter is an Israeli diplomat but because of Ayalon's "boorish conduct with the Turkish ambassador to Israeli Ahmet Oguz Celikkol."

In January Ayalon made a show of publicly humiliating Celikkol to demonstrate displeasure with a Turkish television show critical of Israel.

"I also refuted his claim about my country’s support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) by reminding him that the Kingdom has given more than $500 million in the last five years to the PA as a stop-gap measure," Prince Turki added.

"Mr. Ayalon then asked me to come up to the podium to shake hands to show that there were no hard feelings," he added. "I pointed to him that he should step down from the podium and come to me and when we stood face-to-face he said that he apologized for what he had said and I replied that accept his apology not only to me but also to the Turkish ambassador."

The panel had been set to feature speakers from Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

But disagreements led to splitting the panel into two sessions. The first featureed Prince Turki, Egyptian diplomat Hossam Zaki and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The second session featured Ayalon, Russian academic Igor Yurgens and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman.

Prince Turki said Lieberman “initially had challenged my presumed objection to sitting with the Israeli deputy foreign minister, but after he heard my words, he also, graciously regretted that he had misunderstood my conduct.”

Recovery operation to take time: minister

Lebanon finds crashed Ethiopian jet’s black box

BEIRUT (Agencies)

Searchers located the black boxes of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the sea off Lebanon last month killing 90 people, Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said on Saturday.

"The boxes have been found under the rear part of the fuselage" which was found on Saturday morning, the Lebanese minister told AFP.

"Lebanese army divers have gone down to retrieve them, but this operation will take time," said Aridi.

" Lebanese army divers have gone down to retrieve them, but this operation will take time "

Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi

"We have to be cautious because we must preserve the data contained in the boxes," he added.

Aridi stressed special measures would be taken to bring to the surface the flight recorders in a way to avoid any damage that could be detrimental to the information they contain.

The minister also said he had been informed by the Syrian authorities that debris from the plane had been found in the Mediterranean Sea off the western city of Lattakia.

He said earlier that the search vessel, Ocean Alert, had located the rear sections of the aircraft's cabin.

The Boeing 737-800 plane was carrying mostly Lebanese and Ethiopian passengers and was headed to Addis Ababa on Jan. 25. It crashed minutes after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather, plunging in a ball of fire in the sea.

Lebanese and international search teams have been scouring the Mediterranean along Beirut's coast to look for the bodies of victims and wreckage of the plane.

The flight recorders should shed light on why the pilot did not respond to a request to change direction even though he acknowledged the control tower's commands.

The plane had apparently made a sharp turn before disappearing off the radar. Lebanese officials have said it was too early to draw any conclusion of pilot error.

At least 15 bodies and some body parts have been recovered.

The eight-year-old plane last underwent a maintenance check on Dec. 25 and no technical problems were found.

Israel open to peace talks with Syria: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM: Israel's prime minister says his country is open to peace talks with Syria, attempting to end a recent war of words between the two old enemies.

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel wants peace agreements with the Palestinians and the Syrians similar to the ones it signed with Egypt and Jordan.

Israeli and Syrian officials have traded threats over the past week, raising concerns of an escalation. Netanyahu's comments at his Cabinet''s weekly meeting Sunday appeared aimed at calming those tensions.

Netanyahu says Israel is willing to negotiate if there are no preconditions and if its security is guaranteed.ـAP