KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
10/18/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Who advises the Pope?
Who advises the Pope?
Here are the portraits of the cardinals, bishops, priests and one
woman – Francesca Immacolata Chaoqui –whom the Pope talks and listens to
Marco Tosatti
vatican city
One of the most frequently asked questions behind
the Vatican walls (and a bit beyond) is who Francis has regular contact
with. Who advises him? Who does he listen to? One of these figures is
Mgr. Fabiàn Pedacchio Leaniz, an official of the Congregation of Bishops
and unofficial but highly efficient private secretary to the Pope, a
bit like – mutatis mutandis of course - what Stanislao Dziwisz was to
John Paul II. But after a fair number of consultations, the
names of quite a few other individuals begin to emerge; some of them
come as surprises. One name which is not surprising, however, is that of
Cláudio Hummes, a Brazilian cardinal who was formerly Prefect of
the Congregation for the Clergy and said to be one of Bergoglio’s “big
voters”. He successfully campaigned for Francis’ election in the last
Conclave and was by his side when Francis appeared on the loggia of St.
Peter’s Basilica, when the new Pope was presented to the world.
Then there is the over 80-year-old British
cardinal Murphy O’Connor, who plays less of a centre-stage role. He
certainly did not see eye to eye with Benedict XVI when it came to
bishop-related issues but under Francis’ pontificate he seems to have
gained in importance and Francis consults him often. The Nuncio to Great
Britain seems to be conscious of this “hotline” to the Pope and the two
apparently speak more regularly than before.Then there is Honduran cardinal Oscar Madariaga, a
member of the Salesian Order. There is a chance he could be appointed
as head of one of the Congregations and move to Rome at the ripe age of
73. Then again, the Pope is 77. Curia members say he is a key advisor to
Pope Francis as is the 80-year-old Chilean cardinal, Errazuriz Ossa.
Cardinal Ossa is a member of the official eight-member Council that
meets with the Pope to discuss Curia and Church reform.But there are also some Italians who form part of
Pope Francis’ “secret Council”, if one may call it this. One of them is
Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the Governor of Vatican City. Cardinal
Bertello served as Nuncio to Italy before being made Governor, thinking -
as the Secretary of State had hinted - that he would be appointed head
of the Congregation for Bishops and hoping he would get to lead the
Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (Propaganda Fide). He
never got the latter position because Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who
currently leads the Congregation, acted with greater skill and
determination.Other Italians that collaborate closely with Pope
Francis include Carlo Maria Viganò, Nuncio to the United States - and
averse to anything that so much as whiffs of Ratzinger or Bertone - and
the former Master of Ceremonies, Mgr. Piero Marini who some believe
played a role in the replacements discussed by the consultants to the
Congregation for Divine Worship. Finally, another cardinal whose
advice is taken very seriously – and one can understand why when one
takes a look at his resumé – is Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de
Chinchetru, a Spanish bishop who taught at the Pontifical University of
the Holy Cross, a canonist of the Apostolic Penitentiary and coordinator
of the commission that oversees the Vatican bank (IOR).
But there is also a female who has gone to St.
Martha’s House on a number of occasions – including recently –to meet
with the Pope and introduce him to various people. The woman in question
is Francesca Immacolata Chaoqui. Chaoqui made headlines – not all good
ones – about a week ago when she was nominated as a member of the
commission set up in July to overhaul the Vatican's
financial administration. Bergoglio has apparently met with her in a
friendly capacity on a number of occasions.
Then there is the telephone which Pope Francis uses unreservedly. Naturally, the secrecy surrounding this is far greater.
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
US on Saudi rejection of UNSC seat: ‘We don’t agree on every single issue’
State Department says Security Council does important work but the Kingdom ‘makes [its] own decision’
By Times of Israel staff and AP
October 19, 2013, 9:24 am
“We think the UN does important work. The
evidence of course is just a few weeks ago with the UNSC resolution [on
destroying Syria's chemical weapons] and these steps moving the removal
of CW forward. But beyond that, we will continue to work with Saudi
Arabia on a range of issues,” Psaki said Friday.
In a statement carried Friday by the official
Saudi Press Agency, the Foreign Ministry said the Security Council has
failed in its duties toward Syria.The statement also said the UNSC has not been
able to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the past six
decades and has failed to transform the Middle East into a zone free of
weapons of mass destruction — a reference to Israel, which has never
confirmed or denied possession of nuclear weapons.On Syria, the foreign ministry claimed that UN
inaction had enabled Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime to
perpetrate the killings of its people, including with chemical weapons,
without facing any punishment. The Syrian regime denies it has used
chemical weapons in the war.
The kingdom, which has backed the Syrian
rebels in their struggle to topple Assad, has often criticized the
international community for failing to halt Syria’s civil war, now in
its third year. According to UN figures, the conflict has so far killed
over 100,000 people.Saudi Arabia is also frustrated that the US
backed away from launching punitive strikes against Assad’s forces after
Damascus agreed to allow inspectors from the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations to destroy its
chemical weapons arsenal.“Saudi Arabia has been an important partner on Syria; they will continue to be,” said Psaki.
Earlier Friday, the Russian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs sharply criticized Saudi Arabia for its unprecedented
move of rejecting a two-year seat on the UN’s most powerful body.In a statement, the ministry slammed the
kingdom’s “strange” rationale that the UN Security Council had failed in
its handling of the civil war in Syria, reported AFP.“We are surprised by Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented decision,” the statement read.“The kingdom’s arguments arouse bewilderment
and the criticism of the UN Security Council in the context of the Syria
conflict is particularly strange,” the ministry added.Saudi Arabia’s rejection of its
freshly-acquired seat came just hours after the kingdom was elected as
one of the Council’s 10 nonpermanent members on Thursday night. It also
followed another gesture of displeasure from the kingdom in which Saudi
Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal declined to address the General Assembly
meeting last month.The kingdom easily won the Security Council
seat in a vote in New York on Thursday, facing no opposition because
there were no contested races for the first time in several years. The
Council seats are highly coveted because they give countries a strong
voice in matters dealing with international peace and security, in
places like Syria, Iran and North Korea, as well as the UN’s far-flung
peacekeeping operations.The 15-member council includes five permanent
members with veto power — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France —
and 10 nonpermanent members elected for two-year terms.After the vote, Saudi Arabia’s UN Ambassador
Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said his country’s election was “a reflection of a
longstanding policy in support of moderation and in support of
resolving disputes by peaceful means.”But the statement from Riyadh on Friday struck a dramatically different tone.“Allowing the ruling regime in Syria to kill
its people and burn them with chemical weapons in front of the entire
world and without any deterrent or punishment is clear proof and
evidence of the UN Security Council’s inability to perform its duties
and shoulder its responsibilities,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters
he had not received any official notification about the Saudi rejection,
and said member states are holding discussions on how to deal with the
Saudi move. There was speculation about whether they might recant, but
several diplomats said they doubt it after such a dramatic announcement.
MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south ( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS-MUSLIMS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them,(BEFORE THE NUKE GOES OFF) and behind them a desolate wilderness;(AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB GOES OFF) yea, and nothing shall escape them.(EVERYTHING NUKED)
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate,(SIBERIAN DESERT) with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
JEREMIAH 8:7
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times;(MIGRATION TIME) and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming;(IN MIGRATION SEASON) but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.(WW3 MIGRATING BIRDS EAT ISRAELS ENEMIES FLESH AND BLOOD)
This would represent a major change of
orientation for Egypt, since its entire army had been built on US
equipment for the past three decades.The news came four days after
reports that Israel had argued “directly and bluntly” with
the Obama administration against US aid cuts to Egypt, telling
Washington it was making “a strategic error” in reducing financial
assistance to Cairo in the wake of the military’s ouster of president
Mohammed Morsi.The
unusually frank Israeli intervention, a Channel 2 report said on
Monday, was partially successful, in that US funding of relevance to
military strongman Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s fight against Islamist
terrorists in the Sinai is not being affected by the cutback.However,
other planned cuts in aid to the Egyptian military are going ahead, to
Israel’s open dismay, the report said, quoting unnamed Israeli
government sources.Dissatisfied with Egypt’s progress toward reinstating a democratic government, the US announced last week that it was freezing a
sizable portion of the $1.5 billion it provides Egypt each year. US
officials said the aid being withheld included 10 Apache helicopters, at
a cost of more than $500 million, and M1A1 tank kits and Harpoon
anti-ship missiles. The US had already suspended the delivery of four
F-16 fighter jets and canceled biennial US-Egyptian military exercises.The US will continue to provide support for
health and education and counterterrorism, spare military parts,
military training and education, border security and security assistance
in the Sinai Peninsula, where near-daily attacks against security
forces and soldiers have increasingly resembled a full-fledged
insurgency.Israeli officials told their US counterparts
that it was “a strategic error” to cut aid to Egypt, and that the US
needed to look at “wider interests,” the Monday report said. Officials
urged Washington to cancel the cut altogether, and if that was not
possible, to at least redirect military funding for planes and tanks to
instead bolster the fight against terror. This advice was ignored, but
the funding already in place for fighting terror was not cut, as it
might otherwise have been, according to the report.
Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, April 2013 (photo credit: AP Photo/Jim Watson/Pool/File)
The Israeli officials reportedly told their
American counterparts that undermining El-Sissi might simply lead him to
seek military assistance instead from Gulf states and Saudi Arabia.The TV report did not specify which Israeli officials raised their concerns with which American counterparts.However, last Tuesday, Israel’s
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon held talks with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon.
Iran presented ‘no serious proposals’ at nuke talks, US officials tell Israel
Minister Yuval Steinitz heading to Washington amid Israeli concern that the US will prematurely ease economic pressure on Tehran
By Times of Israel staff and Yoel Goldman
October 19, 2013, 1:09 am
Iran made “no serious proposals”
during the two days of talks on its nuclear program in Geneva this
week, senior US officials reportedly told their Israeli counterparts.
The talks were “exploratory” rather than substantive, the US officials
told Jerusalem, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported Friday night.Israel,
nonetheless, is wary that Iran’s position at the talks — where it is
said to have offered to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, and to
convert the country’s current 20% stockpile into fuel rods, among other
measures — may prompt the international community to consider partially
easing economic sanctions. The New York Times said Friday that the Obama
administration was weighing
a graduated unfreezing of Iranian oversees assets without rescinding the sanctions themselves,With that concern in mind, Israel’s Minister
for Strategic and Intelligence Affairs, is set to travel to the US next
week — both to be briefed on what was said in Geneva, and to warn
Washington against being duped into premature concessions to Iran. His
visit comes in the framework of the ongoing strategic dialogue between
the two countries.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also
discuss the Iranian issue with US Secretary of State John Kerry when the
two meet in Rome next week.
A report in Al Monitor
on
Friday quoted an Iranian source, with purported knowledge of the
two-day talks between his country and the P5+1 countries, saying Tehran was ready to stop enriching uranium to 20%, convert its existing stockpile into fuel rods, relinquish spent fuel for the still-to-be completed Arak heavy water reactor, accept surprise
inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and convert its Fordo underground enrichment facility into a fully-supervised research facility.Israel’s position is that those ostensible
concessions would still leave Iran with the infrastructure for a nuclear
weapons program, Channel 2 reported. Netanyahu has repeatedly demanded
that Iran be stripped of its entire “military nuclear” program, with
Arak and Fordo closed, all capacity to enrich uranium removed, and
already enriched uranium shipped out of the country.The Al-Monitor report was denied by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.
Zarif also accused Israel of trying to undermine what he described as progress in Tehran’s nuclear talks with world powers. He
posted
on his Facebook page that “there is a high possibility the talks would
be disturbed through various efforts” on the part of Israel. Zarif said these efforts reflect Israel’s “frustration and warmongering.”
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
1 hour ago-OCT 19,13-yahoonews
Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas Gaza government, gestures as he delivers a speech in Gaza …
By Nidal al-Mughrabi-GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas, its Gaza
Strip stronghold cut off by the new military-backed government in Egypt,
called upon rival Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday to
end their six-year schism and form a unity government.Abbas's
secular, U.S.-backed Fatah faction lost a 2006 ballot to Islamist Hamas.
They sat in an uneasy alliance until a civil war the following year
left Hamas ruling Gaza while Abbas's authority was limited to the
Israeli-occupied West Bank.Egypt brokered a Palestinian
reconciliation deal in 2011 but it was never implemented. In Cairo,
meanwhile, Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was toppled by the army,
which treats Egypt's Hamas neighbors as security threats."Our
conditions do not allow for keeping up differences," Ismail Haniyeh,
prime minister in the Gaza administration, said in a speech calling on
Abbas and Fatah to renew dialogue with Hamas, schedule new elections and
enter a temporary power-share."Let's have one government, one parliament and one president," Haniyeh said.
The overture was received coolly by Fatah, whose leader, Abbas, is
engaged in a new round of U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Israel. Hamas
refuses coexistence with the Jewish state.Ahmed Assaf, a Fatah spokesman, said Haniyeh's speech "included nothing new, neither a clear plan nor a certain timetable".
Pressured by the deterioration of ties with former regional backers
Syria, Hezbollah, Iran, as well as by Mursi's fall and the ensuing
Egyptian crackdown on Palestinian tunnels used to smuggle arms and
commercial goods into Gaza, Hamas is in steep financial decline.
Haniyeh sought to soften tensions with Cairo, denying Egyptian
accusations the group had intervened in the internal unrest on behalf of
Mursi's Islamist supporters.Hamas has also tried to fend off
allegations that it was aiding Islamist militants in the lawless
Egyptian Sinai desert, which borders both Gaza and Israel."We have not intervened in internal Egyptian affairs, neither in Sinai nor anywhere else in Egypt," Haniyeh said.
Cairo's closure of some 1,200 smuggling tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza
border has deepened Palestinian material shortages, adding to pressure
from a long-standing Israeli embargo on the coastal strip, and denied
Hamas a major source of tax revenue.Haniyeh said Palestinians
could do without the smuggling tunnels were Egypt to open up its border
with Gaza rather than support the Israeli blockade.But he hinted
that Hamas was hard at work digging a different kind of tunnel - under
the border with Israel, to strike at the Jewish state in a future
conflict. Israel and Hamas fought an eight-day war in November.The Israelis unearthed one such tunnel last week, saying its Palestinian
operators apparently planned to kidnap a soldier or set off underground
explosives.Hamas did not claim or deny responsibility for that
tunnel. But Haniyeh said in the speech that "thousands of heroes have
been working in silence, below ground, to prepare for the coming battles
in Palestine".(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by Dan Williams and Mike Collett-White)
EU hails 'landmark' Canada trade deal
18.10.13 @ 19:01
By Benjamin Fox
BRUSSELS - EU and Canadian leaders have
signed up to a trade agreement worth over €25 billion per year, in a
deal seen by Brussels as the forerunner to a successful trade accord
with the US.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso Friday (18 October)
said the agreement, which is the first such deal between the EU and a
G8 country, was "a landmark achievement" which marked "a turning point
in EU-Canadian relations"."This is the biggest deal our country has ever made," said Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.Harper added that the deal "means the access of Canadian businesses
to half a billion affluent citizens, and to a market that is bigger than
NAFTA", the trade agreement between Canada, the United States and
Mexico which came into force in 1994.The deal should increase bilateral trade between the EU and Canada by
23 percent and the EU's GDP by €11.6 billion per year, according to the
EU executive.But Barroso and Harper conceded that not all sectors would reap quick rewards.The Canadian premier confirmed that dairy farmers would be
compensated for losses resulting from the expected increase of European
cheeses on their markets, although he said that Canadian farmers would
benefit "overwhelmingly" from the accord. He also indicated that
medicine prices were likely to increase in the short-term.Under the proposed deal, an estimated 99.4 percent of the remaining
tariff barriers on industrial goods will be scrapped on the signing of
the agreement. The remaining levies are to be phased out over a seven
year transition period.EU officials have indicated that the machinery, textiles and
chemicals sectors were likely to be the biggest winners from the deal.Meanwhile, Canada and the EU will both scrap around 93 percent of
agricultural tariffs. Prepared agricultural products (PAPs), which
includes wines, spirits, chocolate and some dairy, will have all import
and export levies removed.That said, the most sensitive agricultural products - beef, pork and
sweetcorn for EU and cheese for Canada - will still be subject to annual
quotas.
But the agreement to open up of all Canadian government procurement
contracts to EU firms is arguably the most significant reform in the
eyes of commission officials."This goes beyond NAFTA," said one EU official, adding that "we have
not only gained a level playing field with NAFTA members but in some
areas been able to exceed that."The deal was immediately welcomed by EU trade chief Karel de Gucht as
a "template" for the recently opened trade talks with the United
States.The German and UK governments were also quick to offer their endorsement."The EU has delivered its largest free trade agreement ever and
proved that it can be an asset for British business," said UK prime
minister David Cameron in a statement.But French trade minister Nicole Bricq expressed reservations at the deal."I am waiting for confirmation from the commission that this accord,
particularly in agriculture, does not set a precedent for talks with the
United States," she said at a meeting of EU trade ministers in
Luxembourg on Friday.However, although EU officials described the agreement, which comes
after more than four years of negotiations, as "the political
breakthrough", signing and sealing the deal is expected to take another
two years.Officials confirmed that the draft text would be subject to several
months of "legal scrubbing" by lawyers before being initialled by
politicians.The EU's 28 governments will have to give their consent together with
the European Parliament before the deal enters into force.For his part, Harper will require the support of Canada's thirteen
provinces and territories in addition to the Canadian parliament in
Ottawa.In a separate development, trade ministers agreed on a mandate for
the commission to begin negotiations with China on an investment treaty.
Talks are expected to begin in November.
