UN CALLS FOR ISRAEL TO JOIN NPT, ALLOW INSPECTORS
After refusing to join its Arab neighbors in nuclear talks this month, Israel was called on by the United Nations to allow IAEA inspections of the country’s many nuclear facilities. With overwhelming approval from the UN General Assembly, the United Nations passed a resolution asking Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty—a move that, if agreed to, would open the lid on Israel’s nuclear weapons program. Perhaps the worst kept secret in the Middle East, Israel is thought to possess around 200 nuclear warheads. One of the four nuclear weapon states not to sign the treaty, Israel has long said it wouldn’t join the process until a Middle East peace agreement has been signed. (Associated Press, December 4, 2012)
SYRIA MIXING CHEMICAL WEAPONS, DRAWING U.S. WARNING...
Syria is believed to be preparing chemical weapons, mixing ingredients at multiple sites across the war-torn country which could be used to create sarin, mustard gas, or the VX nerve agent. The Assad regime has publically stated several times they would not resort to using chemical weapons, but recent intelligence retrieved by the United States was strong enough to bring about a sharp public warning from President Obama: “Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: the world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable, and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.” The U.S. military is actively watching 50 different buildings in which it believes Syria is either storing or creating chemical weapons to use against the rebels. (CNN, December 4, 2012)
...WHILE SYRIAN MOUTHPIECE DEFECTS TO UNITED STATES
Syria’s mouthpiece, Jihad Makdissi, is on his way to the United States, according to a source close to the former foreign ministry spokesman. Diplomatic sources had believed Makdissi, the most senior Christian official in the Assad regime, was on his way to the United Kingdom by way of Beirut. A television station in neighboring Lebanon reported that Makdissi had been fired after making disparaging remarks against the regime. Reports from Damascus on the other hand point to defection, as Makdissi’s gated community home set on fire shortly after his disappearance. (Al-Arabiya, December 5, 2012)
MALI REBELS MEET WITH GOVERNMENT
Representatives from the Malian government have met with several rebel groups to discuss the future of the divided African state. Members of the separatist Tuareg MNLA and Ansar Dine, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist group, accepted the invitation from Blaise Compaore, President of neighboring Burkina. Gathering in Ouagadougou, Burkina’s capital, the three groups agreed to put down arms in the name of “national unity and territorial integrity.” The Tuareg separatist group also agreed to stop pursuing a separate state in Mali’s north, while representatives from Ansar Dine pledged to reject extremism and terrorist action. Absent from the meeting were al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), two regional jihadist groups that have terrorized northern Mali. The meeting between Malian officials and MNLA and Ansar Dine comes at a time when the African Union is deliberating military action to mend the broken nation. (Al-Jazeera, December 5, 2012; Reuters, December 5, 2012)
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