Ahmadinejad threatens to “eradicate” Israel “once and for all”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said any attack by Israel on countries in the region would lead those nations to “eradicate” the country.

Iran hopes Israel “will not be tempted” to initiate an offensive in the Middle East, Ahmadinejad said Tuesday in an address to supporters that was aired live by state television from the eastern city of Birjand. “If these criminals make the mistake again, the regional countries will need to eradicate them once and for all,” he said.

“No power can harm Iran. The Iranian nation will chop off the hands of any attacker from any part of the world,” Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad’s comments came a day after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned that a pre-emptive Israeli attack on Iran would be a disaster for the region.

Ahmadinejad told Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on Feb. 18 that the movement should be ready to repel any attack by Israel. Iran is a backer of the Lebanese Shiite Muslim group, which fought Israel in 2006 and joined Lebanon’s government in November. (Hurriyet)

Leaders of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas to meet in Syria on Friday

A well-informed source told Saudi newspaper Okaz in an interview published on Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas Movement leader Khaled Meshaal are expected to meet end of this week in Syria.

The source added that officials from the March 8 coalition will visit Damascus at the same time to meet with the Iranian president.

“Ahmadinejad’s meeting with important Lebanese and Palestinian figures is a clear message that Tehran supports these groups in case they were targeted by an Israeli aggression,” he said. (Now Lebanon)

Australia to profile visitors from “terror-risk” countries

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that his country is now under a permanent and increased threat of militant attack. He also announced plans to fingerprint and face-scan visitors from 10 high-risk countries.

Last week five Australian citizens of Lebanese, Libyan and Bangladeshi origin were jailed for up to 28 years for gathering weapons in preparation for an attack on an unknown target. In August, five men with alleged links to Somalia’s al-Shabab militants were arrested and charged over an alleged plot to attack a Sydney military barracks.

Mr Rudd said there was a growing threat from Islamist radicals born or raised in Australia.

“The threat of home-grown terrorism is now increasing,” he said. “This white paper is clear: some of the threat we now face comes from the Australian-born, Australian-educated and Australian residents.”

Al-Qaida-linked groups in Yemen and Sudan are the new centre of threat internationally, the policy paper says, and the risks posed by Afghanistan and Pakistan remain high.

Australia will spend A$69m ($62m; £40m) on new biometric facilities and will set up a national control centre to co-ordinate efforts to fight extremism.

The government also plans to work with communities to stamp out radicalism by helping all ethnic groups integrate better with mainstream society. (BBC)

Gorillaz feature the Lebanese National Orchestra on new album

The popular virtual band, Gorillaz are back with their first single, “Stylo”, off of their third studio album, Plastic Beach. The new Gorillaz album will be released on March 9th in the U.S and will feature a diverse group of artists from Snoop Dogg and De La Soul to The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.

Gorillaz are an English virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. The band’s eponymous debut album, released in 2001, sold over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.

Their second studio album, Demon Days, was released in 2005 and included the singles “Feel Good Inc.”, “Dare”, and “Dirty Harry”. Demon Days went five times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the United States and earned five Grammy Award nominations for 2006. The combined sales of Gorillaz and Demon Days had, by 2007, exceeded 15 million albums. (BeatCrave & Wikipedia)

Murdoch to own Rotana and LBC

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is close to buying a stake in Rotana Media, the broadcaster and music group owned by Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud, according to a report in Tuesday’s Financial Times.

The newspaper, citing sources familiar with discussions between the two groups, said that the deal would see News Corp take an initial stake of about 10 percent for an undisclosed sum, with an option to take this up to about 20 percent in time.

It will also include the prince’s interest in LBC Sat, the Lebanese broadcaster, the newspaper said.

The deal would mark Murdoch’s most significant investment so far in the Middle East media industry. It will also tie News Corp closer to one of its largest shareholders: Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holdings owns 7 per cent, or 56m shares, of News Corp’s class B stock and is the largest shareholder outside the Murdoch family, the newspaper said.

The Financial Times said that Rotana already shows programming from News Corp’s Fox channels in Saudi Arabia through its free-to-air television network. (Arabian Business)

U.S. introduces next ambassador to Lebanon

Maura Connelly, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Near Eastern Affairs bureau, and former charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Damascus, will be nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, diplomatic sources say. That’s the job her boss Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman previously held.

Connelly traveled with State counterterrorism coordinator Dan Benjamin to Syria last week. She served as charge in Damascus from 2008-2009, and in the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in 2003.

From 1993-1996, Connelly served as the political section chief at the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, where she was awarded for her reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and in the late 1980s, she served as the head of the political section at the U.S. embassy in Algiers. She has also served as Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in London.

She’s due to speak next month at the Middle East Institute on the Obama administration’s Lebanon policy. (Politico)

Jumblatt: Sectarian politics prevented lowering of voting age

Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt told Al-Manar television on Monday that sectarian considerations led to the failure to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 in the parliament earlier in the day.

Sixty-six out of the 100 MPs who attended Monday’s parliamentary session abstained from voting on Article 21 of the constitution, which pertains to the legal voting age.

Jumblatt also said that the Democratic Gathering bloc decided to respect its diversity and allow its members to vote on the issue as they please.

The bloc members who are part of the Progressive Socialist Party voted with lowering the voting age, whereas the independent members abstained. (Now Lebanon)

Conspiracy, smuggling and Playstations for Hezbollah

Three men were charged in an indictment unsealed with illegally exporting electronics and video games to a South American shopping center that U.S. officials claim funnels money to Hizbullah. The men, along with a fourth still being sought in South America, are accused of violating a U.S. ban on transactions involving people or entities on a Treasury Department list of suspected terrorist fundraising networks. Hizbullah is considered a terrorist group by the U.S.

The shopping center, Galeria Page in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, was included on the banned list in December 2006 along with owner Mohammed Yosusef Abdallah. Abdallah is described as a senior Hizbullah leader in a region of South America long considered a haven for counterfeiting, smuggling, piracy and other crimes. The suspects arrested in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation were identified in court documents as Khaled Safadi, 56, and 43-year-old Emilio Gonzalez, both of Miami; and 46-year-old Ulises Talavera-Campos, a citizen of Paraguay.

Attorney Michael Tein represents Safadi, whom he said is innocent.

“Terrorism?” Tein said. “More like ‘The Great Sony Playstation Caper.’ The indictment literally charges them with selling Playstation 2 video games to Paraguay. That’s some weapon of mass destruction.”

The men also face charges of conspiracy and smuggling. They face a maximum of 35 years each in prison if convicted. (Naharnet)

Geagea: Hezbollah has no right to war

Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea spoke out against Hezbollah and the possibility of an imminent war with Israel, declaring “I am against irrational war.”

Geagea: We are obliged to grant Lebanese expatriates a vote

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea held a press conference following the Parliament session to discuss legislation. “Unfortunately, the initiative to lower the voting age in the parliament did not pass today. In essence, we are with lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 [for the June municipal elections], but we are also obliged to grant the Lebanese living abroad the right to vote [from their countries of residence]. If anyone wants to postpone the municipal elections, let them say it clearly. The cabinet discussed Baroud’s proposed reforms for the municipal law, and some suggestions passed while others didn’t. The cabinet agreed that Baroud would draft a proposal for the municipal law, but we were surprised to hear that the municipal elections cannot take place without having reforms added. It as if the cabinet did not spend hours deliberating on reforms. Manipulating with constitutional dates must not happen, or else it would show that President [Michel Sleiman] and the cabinet have failed in the beginning of their tenure.”