Khamenei rebuffs U.S. offer of direct talks


DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday slapped down an offer of direct talks made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problem between them.


"Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problem," Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of Iran's air force carried on his official website.


"If some people want American rule to be established again in Iran, the nation will rise up to face them," he said.


"American policy in the Middle East has been destroyed and Americans now need to play a new card. That card is dragging Iran into negotiations."


Khamenei made his comments just days after Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership. "That offer stands but it must be real and tangible," Biden said in a speech in Munich.


With traditional fiery rhetoric, Khamenei lambasted Biden's offer, saying that since the 1979 revolution the United States had gravely insulted Iran and continued to do so with its threat of military action.


"You take up arms against the nation of Iran and say: 'negotiate or we fire'. But you should know that pressure and negotiations are not compatible and our nation will not be intimidated by these actions," he added.


Relations between Iran and the United States were severed in 1979 after the overthrow of Iran's pro-western monarchy and diplomatic meetings between officials have since been very rare.


ALL OPTIONS STILL "ON THE TABLE"


Currently U.S.-Iran contact is limited to talks between Tehran and a so-called P5+1 group of powers on Iran's disputed nuclear program which are to resume on February 26 in Kazakhstan.


Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said he was skeptical the negotiations in Almaty could yield a result, telling Israel Radio that the United States needed to demonstrate to Iran that "all options were still on the table".


Israel, widely recognized to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, has warned it could mount a pre-emptive strike on Iranian atomic sites. Israel sees its existence as directly threatened by the prospect of an nuclear-armed Iran, given Tehran's refusal to recognize the existence of the Jewish state.


"The final option, this is the phrasing we have used, should remain in place and be serious," said Meridor.


"The fact that the Iranians have not yet come down from the path they are on means that talks ...are liable to bring about only a stalling for time," he said.


Iran maintains its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but Western powers are concerned it is intent on developing a weapons program.


Many believe a deal on settling the nuclear issue is impossible without a U.S.-Iranian thaw. But any rapprochement would require direct talks addressing many sources of mutual mistrust that have lingered since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.


Moreover, although his re-election last November may give President Barack Obama a freer hand to pursue direct negotiations, analysts say Iran's own presidential election in June may prove an additional obstacle to progress being made.


(Additional reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by William Maclean and Jon Boyle)



Read More..

War crimes court wants Gaddafi spy chief handed over






THE HAGUE: International Criminal Court judges on Thursday demanded Libya hand over Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief Abdullah Senussi to face charges of crimes against humanity.

The latest broadside in the legal tug-of-war between The Hague-based ICC and Tripoli over where Senussi and Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam should be tried repeated a demand for Senussi to be handed over.

The ICC "orders the Libyan authorities to proceed to the immediate surrender of Mr Senussi to the court," said a ruling issued on Wednesday and made public on Thursday.

The ICC has the option of calling on the United Nations Security Council to take action.

The ICC is mulling a Libyan request to put Senussi and Gaddafi on trial there, while the ICC itself wants to try Gaddafi and Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity committed in the conflict that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The ICC, which was mandated by the UN Security Council to investigate the Libyan conflict, issued arrest warrants in June 2011 for both Seif and Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity.

Lawyers for the two accused have said they will not get a fair trial in Libya.

- AFP/de



Read More..

SC pulls up CBI in Babri Masjid demolition case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday pulled up the CBI for its submission that BJP leader LK Advani and other party leaders present at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, had committed a "national crime" in the conspiracy that led to demolition of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure.

Taking a dim view of the submission, a bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the investigating agency should not pre-judge the case till it was decided either way by the apex court or the special court.

"Please don't call it a national crime or a matter of national importance until we or the special court (trying the case) come to a definite conclusion," Justice Dattu told senior counsel P.P.Rao, who appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The court's response came during the hearing of a petition by the investigating agency challenging the Allahabad high court verdict that discharged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Advani, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and 19 others in the Babri Masjid demolition conspiracy case.

The CBI again came in for drubbing for taking more than nine months in moving the apex court to challenge the Allahabad high court verdict discharging Advani and other leaders of conspiracy charge.

The probe agency had moved the apex court Feb 18, 2011, nearly nine months after the Allahabad high court May 20, 2010, discharged Advani, Thackeray and 19 others of the charges of criminal conspiracy in the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

"If you say that this is a case of national importance... can you say that the translation of documents would take days together and the filing of case will take months," Justice Dattu observed when senior counsel Rao sought some more time.

The court read through its order sheets to show that the investigating agency took three adjournments for filing documents.

"When you filed the first affidavit, court asked you to file a better affidavit. You did it. Can we ask you to file another affidavit to improve your case?" the court observed as Rao sought some more time as he was appearing for the first time and had to peruse the records.

Adjourning the hearing for a week, the court said that investigating agency would not file any more documents except for those relied on by the special CBI court and the high court in arriving at their judgments. It directed the hearing of the matter Feb 13.

The CBI in its appeal before the apex court said that the high court verdict discharging Advani and others of the charge of criminal conspiracy "is inconsistent with the previous judgment rendered by the Allahabad High Court on Feb 12, 2001".

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court by its Feb 12, 2001, order had held that the trial court committed no illegality in taking "cognizance of joint consolidated charge-sheet" and "all the offences were committed in the course of the same transaction to accomplish the conspiracy".

The high court order had noted that the "evidence for all the offences was almost the same."

Read More..

Ex-LA Cop Sought in Shootings of 3 Cops, 2 Slayings













Police in Southern California say they suspect that a fired cop is connected to the shootings -- one fatal -- of three police officers this morning, as well as the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in the suspect's online manifesto.


Former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who's also a former U.S. Navy reservist, has been publically named as a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old fiancé, Keith Lawrence, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday night.


"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department said.


Police say the expert marksman shot at four officers in two incidents overnight, hitting three of them: one in Corona, Calif., and two in Riverside, Calif.


Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD said two LAPD officers were in Corona and headed out on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.


"[This is an] extremely tense situation," Lopez said. "We call this a manhunt. We approach it cautiously because of the propensity of what has already happened."


The Riverside Police Department said two of its officers were shot before one of them died, KABC-TV reported. The extent of the other's injuries is unclear.
Police suspected a connection to Dorner.








Engaged California Couple Found Dead in Car Watch Video









Missing Ohio Mother: Manhunt for Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video







"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lt. Guy Toussant of the Riverside police department said.


A badge and identification belonging to Dorner have been found in San Diego, according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Dorner's LAPD badge and ID were found by someone near the city's airport, and turned in to police overnight, The Associated Press reported.


Police around Southern California are wearing tactical gear, including helmets and guns across their chests. The light-up signs along California highways show the license plate number of Dorner's car, and say to call 911 if it is seen. The problem, police say, is that they believe Dorner is switching license plates on his car, a 2005 charcoal-gray Nissan Titan pickup truck.


Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex in Irvine Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.


"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.


Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.


The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, apparently blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.


"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over," he allegedly wrote.


One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."


"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it reads. "I'm terminating yours."


Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.


Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.


According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.


After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.






Read More..

Tunisia protests after government critic shot dead


TUNIS (Reuters) - A fierce critic of the Tunisian government's dealings with radical Islamists was shot dead on Wednesday, sending protesters onto the streets two years after their Jasmine Revolution sparked revolt across the Arab world.


The headquarters of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which rules in a fractious coalition with secularists, was set ablaze after Chokri Belaid, an outspoken, secular leader, was gunned down outside his home in the capital.


His party and others in the opposition parties said they would quit the assembly that is writing a new constitution and called a general strike for Thursday when Belaid will be buried.


Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who said the identity of the attacker was not known, condemned his killing as a political assassination and a strike against the "Arab Spring" revolution. Ennahda denied any involvement.


As Belaid's body was taken by ambulance through Tunis from the hospital where he died, police fired teargas towards about 20,000 protesters at the Interior Ministry chanting for the fall of the government.


"This is a black day in the history of modern Tunisia ... Today we say to the Islamists, 'get out' ... enough is enough," said Souad, a 40-year-old teacher outside the ministry.


"Tunisia will sink in the blood if you stay in power."


Despite calls for calm from the president, who is not an Islamist, thousands also demonstrated in cities including Mahdia, Sousse, Monastir and Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the revolution, where police fired teargas and warning shots at protesters who set cars and a police station on fire.


While Belaid's nine-party Popular Front bloc has only three seats in the constituent assembly, the opposition jointly agreed to pull its 90 or so members out of the body, which is acting as parliament and writing the new post-revolution charter. Ennahda and its fellow ruling parties have some 120 seats.


The small North African state was the first Arab country to oust its leader and hold free elections as uprisings spread around the region in 2011, leading to the ousting of the rulers of Egypt, Yemen and Libya and to the civil war in Syria.


But as in Egypt, many who campaigned for freedom from repression under autocratic rulers and better prospects for their future now feel their revolutions have been hijacked by Islamists they accuse of clamping down on personal liberties, with no sign of new jobs or improvements in infrastructure.


Tunisia's new constitution will pave the way for new elections but will inevitably be a source of friction between secularists and Islamists, just as it was in Egypt, where the president adopted sweeping powers to force it through.


The ruling parties have agreed to hold the vote in June, but that date still needs approval by the assembly.


HARDSHIP


Since the uprising, the government has faced a string of protests over economic hardship and Tunisia's future path, with many complaining hardline Salafists were taking over the revolution in the former French colony once dominated by a secular elite under the autocratic rule of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.


Last year, Salafist groups prevented several concerts and plays from taking place in Tunisian cities, saying they violated Islamic principles. That worries the secular-minded among the 11 million Tunisians, who fear freedom of expression is in danger.


Salafists also ransacked the U.S. embassy in Tunis in September, during international protests over an Internet video mocking Islam.


The embassy issued a statement on Wednesday condemning Belaid's killing: "There is no justification for this heinous and cowardly act," it said. "Political violence has no place in the democratic transition in Tunisia."


The United States urged the Tunisian government to bring his killers to book.


Declining trade with the crisis-hit euro zone has left Tunisians struggling to achieve the better living standards many had hoped for following Ben Ali's departure. Any further signs of unrest could scare off tourists vital to an industry only just recovering from the revolution.


"More than 4,000 are protesting now, burning tires and throwing stones at the police," Mehdi Horchani, a Sidi Bouzid resident, told Reuters. "There is great anger."


Jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010 in the city, 300 km (180 miles) southwest of Tunis, after police confiscated his unlicensed fruit cart, triggering the "Jasmine Revolution" that forced Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia less than a month later, on January 14, 2011.


President Moncef Marzouki, who last month warned the tension between secularists and Islamists might lead to "civil war", canceled a visit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday and cut short a trip to France, where he addressed the European Parliament.


"There are political forces inside Tunisia that don't want this transition to succeed," Marzouki told journalists in Strasbourg.


"When one has a revolution, the counter revolution immediately sets in because those who lose power - it's not only Ben Ali and his family - are the hundreds of thousands of people with many interests who see themselves threatened by this revolution," he added.


Belaid, who died in hospital, said earlier this week that dozens of people close to the government had attacked a Popular Front group meeting in Kef, northern Tunisia, on Sunday.


A lawyer and human rights activist, the 48-year-old had been a constant critic of the government, accusing it of being a puppet of the rulers in the small but wealthy Gulf state of Qatar, which Tunisia denies.


"Chokri Belaid was killed today by four bullets to the head and chest," Ziad Lakhader, a Popular Front leader, told Reuters.


The Interior Ministry said he had been gunned down by a man who fled on a motorcycle with an accomplice.


DENIES INVOLVEMENT


Prime Minister Jebali, a member of Ennahda, said the killers wanted to "silence his voice".


"The murder of Belaid is a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution," he said.


Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi denied any involvement by his party in the killing. "Is it possible that the ruling party could carry out this assassination when it would disrupt investment and tourism?" Ghannouchi told Reuters.


He blamed those seeking to derail Tunisia's democratic transition: "Tunisia today is in the biggest political stalemate since the revolution. We should be quiet and not fall into a spiral of violence. We need unity more than ever," he said.


He accused secular opponents of stirring up sentiment against his party following Belaid's death. "The result is burning and attacking the headquarters of our party in many areas," he said.


Witnesses said crowds had also attacked Ennahda offices in Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia and Sfax.


French President Francois Hollande said he was concerned by the rise of violence in Paris's former dominion, where the government says al Qaeda-linked militants linked to those in neighboring countries have been accumulating weapons with the aim of creating an Islamic state.


"This murder deprives Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices," Hollande's office said in a statement.


Riccardo Fabiani, Eurasia analyst on Tunisia, described it as a "major failure for Tunisian politics".


"The question is now what is Ennahda going to do and what are its allies going to do?" he said. "They could be forced to withdraw from the government which would lead to a major crisis in the transition."


Marzouki warned last month that the conflict between Islamists and secularists could lead to civil war and called for a national dialogue that included all political groupings.


Ennahda won 42 percent of seats in a parliamentary election in 2011 and formed a government in coalition with two secular parties, the Congress for the Republic, to which President Marzouki belongs, and Ettakatol.


Marzouki's party threatened on Sunday to withdraw from the government unless it dropped two Islamist ministers.


(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Alison Williams; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)



Read More..

Boeing 787 probe results weeks away, says NTSB chief






WASHINGTON: The results of the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the causes of a battery fire on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner are expected in the coming weeks, NTSB chair Deborah Hersman said on Wednesday.

"We're probably weeks away from being able to tell people what happened and what needs to be changed," Hersman said at a news conference.

The NTSB chief said investigators were "proceeding with a lot of care" in probing the cause of a January 7 lithium-ion battery fire on a Japan Airlines 787 that occurred as the plane sat on the tarmac at Boston's Logan airport.

Hersman said the most concerning issues seen in the probe so far were short circuits and thermal runaway, an uncontrolled chemical reaction that produces rising temperatures.

"These factors are not what we expected to see in a brand-new battery," she said.

The battery problem on the JAL 787, and another on an All Nippon Airways 787, led to a global grounding of all 50 Dreamliners in service until the issue is fixed.

The NTSB will hold a news conference on Thursday to update the public on the 787 investigation, Hersman said.

- AFP/de



Read More..

Notice to Buddhadeb for questioning Mamata's honesty

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress Wednesday slapped a legal notice on former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and demanded an apology from him for questioning his successor Mamata Banerjee's honesty.

The notice, sent by lawyer Rajdeep Mazumdar following the directive of the party's all India general secretary Mukul Roy, asked Bhattacharjee to apologise publicly within 48 hours for his remarks against the Trinamool chief, failing which the party would start legal proceedings against him in both civil and criminal courts.

Raising questions about Banerjee being projected as a "symbol of honesty" by the Trinamool, CPI-M politburo member Bhattacharjee Tuesday asked the media to probe her family's financial situation after she came to power.

On Wednesday, Trinamool leader and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim slammed Bhattacharjee.

"Nobody in Indian politics can question Mamata Banerjee's honesty. Workers of the Trinamool Congress believe her. The people of the state believe her. Buddhadeb should come to his senses. When that happens, he will admit his mistake and apologise to Banerjee," Hakim said.

"Bhattacharjee left (former chief minister) Jyoti Basu's ministry in the 1990s. His daughter said he would not continue in a ministry of thieves. But he rejoined the cabinet in a couple of years lured by its office," he said.

Hakim then referred to the Left Front's defeat in the 2011 assembly polls.

"Bhattacharjee was rejected by the people of the state. Even people of his constituency rejected him. He has no moral right to make such allegations against a person of integrity like Banerjee, who is a real mass leader," Hakim said.

"We condemn his statement. Mamata Banerjee has faith in the people. We leave the matter to the people who will give a befitting reply (to Bhattacharjee)," he said.

Lashing out at Bhattacharjee, who had during a TV interview gave Banerjee a "zero" for her performance, Hakim said: "When West Bengal is on the fast track to development, peace and progress, he is giving a zero to the government. Bhattacharjee himself is a big zero. Can you name one industrial venture which succeeded during his tenure? In contrast, he left the state with 55,000 closed factories".

Asked to comment in an interview with Bengali TV channel Chobbis Ghanta on Trinamool projecting Banerjee as a symbol of honesty, Bhattacharjee replied: "I'm unable to agree".

Pressed further, he said: "You conduct a probe into her family condition now as compared to what it was earlier. According to my yardstick, she does not pass the yardstick of honesty."

"I can't accept her as being honest. This is no secret. A lot of people close to her know this and they have started talking about it," he said.

Asked if he could provide details, Bhattacharjee said: "I'm not a drain inspector. You can probe it if you want to. Many know what people close to her are doing. Everything will come out easily if there is an investigation."

On Bhattacharjee's reference to Banerjee's family, Hakim said: "Every individual has the right to earn. Nobody can question this. For example, I am in politics, but my brother may not be in politics. He can pursue his own calling."

"The income tax and other government institutions are there to look into what people possess. No individual can conduct an inquiry," he said.

Read More..

Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit


NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.


With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.


"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.


City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.


"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.


Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.


Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.


"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.


Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.


While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.


Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.


Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.


___


Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz


Read More..

US Postal Service to End Saturday Mail Delivery





Feb 6, 2013 8:28am


Weekend mail delivery is about to come to an end.


The U.S. Postal Service will stop delivering mail on Saturdays, but will continue to deliver packages six days a week, the USPS announced at a news conference this morning.


While post offices that open on Saturdays will continue to do so, the initiative, which is expected to begin the week of August 5, will save an estimated $2 billion annually. The USPS had a $15.9 billion loss in financial year 2012.


“America’s mailing habits are changing and so are their shipping habits,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said. “People will say this is a responsible decision. It makes common sense.”


The service reduction is the latest of Postal Service steps to cut costs as the independent agency of the U.S. government struggles with its finances.


To close its budget gap and reduce debt, it needs to generate $20 billion in cost reductions.


USPS officials have pushed for eliminating mail and package delivery on Saturdays for the past few years, but recent data showing growth in package delivery, which is up by 14 percent since 2010, and projected additional growth in the coming decade made them revise their decision to continue package delivery only.


Saturday mail delivery to P.O. boxes will also continue.


Research by the post office and major news organizations indicated that 7 out of 10 Americans support switching to five-day service.


Since 2006, the Postal Service has reduced annual costs by $15 billion, cut the career force by 28 percent and consolidated 200 mail-processing locations.


The USPS announced in May it was cutting back on the number of operating hours instead of shuttering 3,700 rural post offices. The move, which reduced hours of operation at 13,000 rural post offices from an eight-hour day to between two and six hours a day, was made with the aim of saving about $500 million per year.


The cutback in hours last year resulted in 9,000 full-time postal employees’ being reduced to part time plus the loss of their benefits, while another 4,000 full-time employees became part time but kept their benefits.


gty us postal service lpl 130206 wblog U.S. Postal Service to End Saturday Mail Delivery

                                              (Image Credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)



SHOWS: Good Morning America







Read More..

Iran's Ahmadinejad kissed and scolded in Egypt


CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution.


The trip was meant to underline a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state, President Mohamed Mursi, last June. But it also highlighted deep theological and geopolitical differences.


Mursi, a member of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, kissed Ahmadinejad after he landed at Cairo airport and gave him a red carpet reception with military honors. Ahmadinejad beamed as he shook hands with waiting dignitaries.


But the Shi'ite Iranian leader received a stiff rebuke when he met Egypt's leading Sunni Muslim scholar later at Cairo's historic al-Azhar mosque and university.


Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, head of the 1,000-year-old seat of religious learning, urged Iran to refrain from interfering in Gulf Arab states, to recognize Bahrain as a "sisterly Arab nation" and rejected the extension of Shi'ite Muslim influence in Sunni countries, a statement from al-Azhar said.


Visiting Cairo to attend an Islamic summit that begins on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad told a news conference he hoped his trip would be "a new starting point in relations between us".


However, a senior cleric from the Egyptian seminary, Hassan al-Shafai, who appeared alongside him, said the meeting had degenerated into an exchange of theological differences.


"There ensued some misunderstandings on certain issues that could have an effect on the cultural, political and social climate of both countries," Shafai said.


"The issues were such that the grand sheikh saw that the meeting ... did not serve the desired purpose."


The visit would have been unthinkable during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, the military-backed autocrat who preserved Egypt's peace treaty with Israel during his 30 years in power and deepened ties between Cairo and the West.


"The political geography of the region will change if Iran and Egypt take a unified position on the Palestinian question," Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based TV station, on the eve of his trip.


He said he wanted to visit the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory which neighbors Egypt to the east and is run by the Islamist movement Hamas. "If they allow it, I would go to Gaza to visit the people," Ahmadinejad said.


Analysts doubt that the historic changes that brought Mursi to power will result in a full restoration of diplomatic ties between states whose relations were broken off after the conclusion of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in 1979.


OBSTACLES TO FULL TIES


At the airport the two leaders discussed ways of improving relations and resolving the Syrian crisis "without resorting to military intervention", Egyptian state media reported.


Egypt is concerned by Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to crush an uprising inspired by the revolt that swept Mubarak from power two years ago. Egypt's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population is broadly supportive of the uprising against Assad's Alawite-led administration.


Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr sought to reassure Gulf Arab allies - that are supporting Cairo's battered state finances and are deeply suspicious of Iran - that Egypt would not jeopardize their security.


"The security of the Gulf states is the security of Egypt," he said in remarks reported by the official MENA news agency.


Mursi wants to preserve ties with the United States, the source of $1.3 billion in aid each year to the influential Egyptian military.


"The restoration of full relations with Iran in this period is difficult, despite the warmth in ties ... because of many problems including the Syrian crisis and Cairo's links with the Gulf states, Israel and the United States," said one former Egyptian diplomat.


Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he was optimistic that ties could grow closer.


"We are gradually improving. We have to be a little bit patient. I'm very hopeful about the expansion of the bilateral relationship," he told Reuters. Asked where he saw room for closer ties, he said: "Trade and economics."


Egypt and Iran have taken opposite courses since the late 1970s. Egypt, under Mubarak's predecessor Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and became a close ally of the United States and Europe. Iran from 1979 turned into a center of opposition to Western influence in the Middle East.


Symbolically, Iran named a street in Tehran after the Islamist who led the 1981 assassination of Sadat.


Egypt gave asylum and a state funeral to Iran's exiled Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian revolution. He is buried in a mosque beside Cairo's mediaeval Citadel alongside his ex-brother-in-law, Egypt's last king, Farouk.


(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir, Marwa Awad and Alexander Diadosz; Writing by Paul Taylor and Tom Perry; Editing by Andrew Roche and Robin Pomeroy)



Read More..