‘Guarantees’ needed for Iran’s nukes: Clinton interview

United States Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said that Iran should offer “guarantees” to the neighboring countries that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.
Saudi Arabia totally comprehends the main aim of the pressure posed by the international community on Iran in this regard, the top U.S. diplomat to Al Arabia in a special interview, to be fully aired on Wednesday at 1500 GMT.
Clinton reiterated that Washington urges Tehran to abide by the Security Council resolutions regarding its nuclear program.
She pointed out that she could not predict what would Iran’s reaction be towards imposing new sanctions. AlArabiya

Clinton:We have a lot in common with Muslim World

An interview with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton by Michel Ghandour of Al Hurra

Mitri: Lebanon cabinet adopted proportional representation

Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri briefed the media following the cabinet meeting at the Baabda palace.
Municipal elections :
-The cabinet adopted proportional representation for the upcoming municipal elections and asked Interior Minister Baroud to prepare a new draft law, in which he includes all the proposed amendments to the municipal electoral law for a final discussion in the cabinet. The cabinet will meet on February 27 to discuss Baroud’s new draft. The draft law once adopted will be referred to the parliament. Baroud has repeated that his ministry is ready to hold elections on time .
US military aid:
- Defense Minister Murr discussed his visit to Washington and the US five-year military aid program to the national army. Murr said the US financial aid would be based on priorities set by the Lebanese army.
-Murr also said he discussed the issue of special security measure that Lebanese will be subjected to when traveling to the US and asked the US to take Lebanon off the list . He said the US officials expressed understanding toward his demands.

Crashed Ethiopian airlines flight ET409:
- President Suleiman highlighted the importance of retrieving the crucial component of the crashed Ethiopian plane’s second black box ( CVR) .
-PM Hariri said the cockpit voice recorder of the crashed Ethiopian plane was sent to France. He also said the report of the investigation committee as well as the Lebanese report, will be finalized soon. Hariri said he is determined to meet with the families of the victims.
Mitri said We have always wanted to present our report to the families of the victims of the crashed plane. The cabinet will issue soon a detailed report on the plane’s crash.

Foreign visitors:
The visits by the Gerard Larcher, head of the French senate and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns were discussed .President Suleiman said Larcher’s visit confirmed Lebanon’s solid relations with France. PM Hariri said Burns confirmed US rejection of Palestinian naturalization.

White House hails capture of Taliban leader

The White House broke its silence on Wednesday on the capture of a key Taliban military commander, calling the development a “big success for our mutual efforts in the region.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, after declining to speak on Tuesday about the capture of Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, confirmed the arrest of Baradar. Reuters

Turkey and Iraq revive rail link

The first passenger train from Iraq arrived in Turkey on Wednesday after the two neighbours revived a historic rail link as part of a drive to boost bilateral ties, officials said.
The train, which embarked from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, was greeted with an official ceremony in Gaziantep, southern Turkey, covering the distance of some 500 kilometres (310 miles) in 18 hours.
The resumption of rail services was among a series of agreements that Turkey and Iraq signed last year in a bid to boost economic exchange.
The train, which links the two countries via Syria, is scheduled to make one run in both directions each week.
It had 13 passengers on its first trip Wednesday, Anatolia news agency reported.
The Mosul-Gaziantep link is part of a railway linking Istanbul and Baghdad, built in the dying years of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.

Over a million people affected by drought in Syria

Drought in eastern and northeastern Syria has driven some 300,000 families to urban settlements such as Aleppo, Damascus and Deir ez Zour in search of work in one of the largest internal displacements in the Middle East in recent years.
The country’s agriculture sector, which until recently employed 40 percent of Syria’s workforce and accounted for 25 percent of gross domestic product, has been hit badly, but farmers themselves are worst affected, say aid officials.
In some villages, up to 50 percent of the population has left for nearby cities.
“Farmers who depend on only one crop are in trouble – they have nothing else to help them and they have to move,” said Abdulla Bin Yehia, a representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Damascus.
Those with livestock have seen the cost of feed rise 75 percent, according to FAO, resulting in the deaths of up to 80 percent of livestock on small and medium-sized farms.
More than one million people, already bordering on the poverty line because of low incomes, have been affected by the drought. Outdated and wasteful irrigation methods used by farmers are also contributing to the problem, experts said. IRIN

Burns says Syria talks were candid

A top US diplomat has described as “candid” his lengthy talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad – part of a US move to improve ties with Damascus.
Under-Secretary of State William Burns‘ visit comes a day after US President Barack Obama officially nominated the first US ambassador to Syria in five years.
Syrian-US ties snapped in 2005 when the US withdrew its envoy after Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated.
Following his talks with Assad, Burns said in a statement: “We talked candidly about the areas in which we disagree, but also identified the areas of common ground on which we can build.”
He added: “There are challenges on the road but my meeting with President Assad leaves me hopeful that we can make progress together in the interest of both our countries.” BBC

85 Israelis sue Iran banks in US court

A suit filed in the United States by 85 Israelis seeks compensation from Iran for allegedly financing Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War.
The $1 billion claim against Iran’s central bank and commercial banks alleges in the Washington District Court suit a direct connection between funds transferred from Iran to Hezbollah and damage caused to Israelis, Israeli Ynetnews.com reported.
“The central bank of Iran and the Saderat Bank are the chief monetary pipelines from Iran to Hezbollah,” attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said. “Without these funds, Hezbollah would not have been able to build and maintain its infrastructure, to train the terrorists in its ranks, or carry out massive rocket fire at Israel. UPI

France urges Israel to exercise ‘great restraint’

A senior French politician urged Israel to exercise “great restraint” during a visit to Beirut on Wednesday, amid a war of words between the Jewish state and Lebanon’s Shiite movement Hezbollah.
“The French parliament today calls on Israel to exercise great restraint, and we mean it,” said Gerard Larcher, head of the French senate, or upper house of parliament.
“French parliamentarians of all political affiliations await … the end of all escalating threats in the region, especially as concerns Lebanon,” Larcher told a news conference.
Larcher was ending a four-day official visit to Lebanon during which he held talks with top leaders and a Hezbollah delegation.AFP

Cabinet may adopt proportional representation in municipal elections

The Cabinet kicked off its weekly session at the Baabda Palace Wednesday afternoon . The meeting is being chaired by president Michel Suleiman.
Prior to the cabinet meeting President Suleiman and PM Saad Hariri held a closed-door meeting at the Baabda Palace.
Ministerial sources told LBC TV that there is consensus on the need to adopt proportional representation in municipal elections, but the discussion is ongoing regarding the mechanism of implementation.