Nov 8 Others

Sarkozy tells Obama Israeli PM Netanyahu is a 'liar'
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-262079-sarkozy-tells-obama-israeli-pm-netanyahu-is-a-liar.html
08 November 2011, Tuesday / REUTERS, PARIS

French President Nicolas Sarkozy branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "a liar" in a private conversation with US President Barack Obama that was accidentally broadcast to journalists during last week's G20 summit in Cannes.

"I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama, unaware that the microphones in their meeting room had been switched on, enabling reporters in a separate location to listen in to a simultaneous translation.

"You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you," Obama replied, according to the French interpreter.

The technical gaffe is likely to cause great embarrassment to all three leaders as they look to work together to intensify international pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

The conversation was not initially reported by the small group of journalists who overheard it because it was considered private and off-the-record. But the comments have since emerged on French websites and can be confirmed by Reuters.

Obama's apparent failure to defend Netanyahu is likely to be leapt on by his Republican foes, who are looking to unseat him in next year's presidential election and have portrayed him as hostile to Israel, Washington's closest ally in the region.

Pushing Netanyahu risks alienating Israel's strong base of support among the US public and in Congress.

Netanyahu's office declined immediate comment.

Obama and Netanyahu have had a rocky relationship as US efforts to broker a Middle East peace deal have foundered, with the US president openly criticizing Jewish settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It was unclear why exactly Sarkozy had criticized Netanyahu. However, European diplomats have largely blamed Israel for the breakdown in peace talks and have expressed anger over Netanyahu's approval of large-scale settlement building.

Palestinian worries

During their bilateral meeting on Nov. 3, on the sidelines of the Cannes summit, Obama criticized Sarkozy's surprise decision to vote in favor of a Palestinian request for membership of the UN cultural heritage agency UNESCO.

"I didn't appreciate your way of presenting things over the Palestinian membership of UNESCO. It weakened us. You should have consulted us, but that is now behind us," Obama was quoted as saying.

The Oct. 31 UNESCO vote marked a success for the Palestinians in their broader thrust for recognition as a sovereign state in the UN system -- a unilateral initiative fiercely opposed by Israel and the United States.

As a result of the vote, Washington was compelled to halt its funding for UNESCO under a 1990s law that prohibits Washington from giving money to any UN body that grants membership to groups that do not have full, legal statehood.

Obama told Sarkozy that he was worried about the impact if Washington had to pull funding from other UN bodies such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the IAEA nuclear watchdog if the Palestinians gained membership there.

"You have to pass the message along to the Palestinians that they must stop this immediately," Obama said.

The day the conversation took place, the Palestinians announced that they would not seek membership of any other UN agency.

Sarkozy confirmed that France would not take any unilateral decisions when the UN Security Council discusses a Palestinian membership request, a debate expected later this month.

"I am with you on that," Obama replied.

---

'Israel spreading spy hubs across Asia'
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208956.html
Tue Nov 8, 2011 12:27AM
Share | Email | Print

The Israeli spy agency, Mossad, is decentralizing by spreading its operational and espionage centers to several Asian countries, a report says.

The report leaked from some diplomatic circles said Tel Aviv had taken the decision after coming under several retaliatory attacks by the Iranian intelligence services, Fars News Agency reported on Monday.

The decision also came after Iran arrested a number of terrorists operating for 'the Zionist regime of Israel' and revealed some of Tel Aviv's anti-Iran intelligence strategies.

Ali Jamali-Fashi, the man who killed Professor Massoud Ali-Muhammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, near his home in northern Tehran on January 12, 2010, admitted in a court in Iran that he had made numerous visits to Turkey to meet Mossad agents prior to the assassination attempt.

Israel has thus been forced to transfer its espionage offices to several other countries such as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Georgia, the report said.

According to well-informed sources, the Israeli Embassy in Turkmenistan, which was opened under the US pressure, is a guise for Tel Aviv's espionage operations.

Israel is reinforcing its espionage centers in Thailand, India, Armenia, and Malaysia, whose governments are not aware of the real nature of the hubs, the report added.

The espionage operations were not merely carried out against Iran, the sources said, adding that some other countries such as Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Tunisia were also among the targets of the Tel Aviv-hired operatives.

Moreover, some experts stated that the waves of Islamic Awakening, which have been sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, have also been among the reasons behind the rearrangement.