Syria - Assad Still Defiant

اخبار سوريا : بشار الأسد ينفي استخدام قواته للأسلحة الكيميائية ويستبعد الاستقالة

News from Syria:
Bashar al-Assad denies that his forces used chemical weapons and refuses to step down.



نفى الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد أن تكون قواته استخدمت أسلحة كيميائية ضد المقاتلين المعارضين كما استبعد الاستقالة، في حديث لوسيلتي إعلام أرجنتينيتين اليوم.ـ

Today, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad denied that it was his troops who used chemical weapons against opposition fighters [while] refusing to step down in an interview with an Argentinian news [service].

[Source: akhbar.today.com أخبار النهاردة, Egypt, on May 19, 2013]

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Recent visitors to "blueprint news" coming from East- and West-Africa:


As to the origin of the Nairobi request for my blogspot on Syria using chemical weapons, I have some second thoughts. Did this request really come from Kenyan authorities or rather from the nearby Iranian embassy which might use the same internet access.
The below picture is proving that Iran is very much interested in Syria. It shows an article published by Al-Arabiya on April 28, 2013, dealing with a meeting of Iranian president Ahmadi Nejad and Egypt's president Morsy for a discussion of the Syrian crisis.

Egypt مصر - Morsy or Shafiq مرسي او شفيق

As first results on May 26 already indicated, there will be a second ballot to decide between Morsy, the presidential candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Shafiq, the former prime minister of ousted president Mubarak. This ballot should take place on June 16 and 17, 2012.

مرحلة الثانية : 16 و17 يونيو القادم

وجاء مرسي في المركز الأول بنحو 5 ملايين و764 ألفاً و952 صوتاً، وشفيق في المركز الثاني بـ5 ملايين و505 آلاف و327 صوتاً، فيما حلّ حمدين صباحي ثالثاً بنحو 4 ملايين 820 ألفاً، وعبدالمنعم أبوالفتوح رابعاً بحوالي 4 ملايين 650 ألفا، وجاء عمرو موسى في المركز الخامس بحوالي مليونين و588 ألفاً 850 صوتاً.

Latest Election Results:

Mohammed Morsy 5.764.952 votes
Ahmed Shafiq 5.505.327 votes
Hamdeen Sabahi 4.820.000 votes
Abdel-Moneim Abu al-Fatuh 4.650.000 votes
Amr Moussa 2.588.850 votes

[Source: Al-Arabiya, Arabic website, May 28]

China's Aircraft Carrier - Latest News

On November 26, Chinese and Western media reported the first flight operation on board of China's brandnew aircraft carrier "Liaoning". That event was troubled by the sudden death of the responsible commander of seaborne fighter jets, Luo Yang, who had died the day before from a heart attack at the age of 51.

According to Chinese sources, the final configuration of the "Liaoning" should comprise 50 fighter jets and helicopters:

26 dual-engine Chinese fighter jets Qian-15 ( also known as C-15 or Shenyang J-15 and purportedly comparable to U.S. F-18 jets).
20 helicopters equipped for anti-submarine combat.
4 helicopters used as an early-warning system.

According to Western sources, the "Liaoning" will not be fully operational before 2013. While that carrier has been constructed on the hull of an abandoned Soviet carrier, the "Varyag", same Western sources are saying that another Chinese aircraft carrier should already be in construction, being entirely built on Chinese parts.

Further information can be found on another blogspot of mine dealing with the inauguration of China's first aircraft carrier.

The below poster reveals detailed technical data. Carrier "Liaoning" should therefore be smaller in size than U.S. Nimitz-class carriers which make up as the ultimate and most sophisticated "dinosaurs" of the seas:

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The Impact of Middle Eastern Developments on
the Distribution of Visitors to "Blueprint News"

While dealing with the daily visitor statistics of "blueprint news", I noticed that some of my recent blogspots brought about lots of additional visitors. These visitors referred to such news items dealing with a probable war on Iran, the proceedings of Egypt's president Morsy and the current Ghaza conflict. All those subjects are interrelated within a wider frame that comprises relations between Israel, Palestine and Egypt as well as some kind of ubiquitous Islamic resistance against a U.S.-Israeli alliance that is allegedly threatening the world of Islam in general and the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the people of Palestine in detail.

No wonder that visitors from Israel and the surrounding countries are increasingly interested in such frame of interrelated items as can be seen from their regional distribution below:

Please note: The maps on this site are showing visitor access points that can be activated by one or more visitors according to their individual specifications. There are general access points for a certain country / region or specific access points enabling the identification of a single visitor. Visitors using address tags like ".com" or ".net" instead of country tags cannot be detected. All local visitor signs are referring to the last 200 registered visitors. Visits dating back more than two weeks have not been included.

Above: Visitor access point activated from Jerusalem
(subject of interest: Egypt's new president Morsy)

Visitors from Northern Pakistan are showing a similar distribution for their subjects of interest together with an unusual increase in the number of visits:

Egypt - The Day After

After the military clearance of camps installed by pro-Morsy demonstrators on public places, here is what Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, wrote on their website the day after, August 15, 2013:

مشاعر قلق تخيم على البلاد ما دفع معظم المصريين إلى أخذ ما يشبه العطلة الاختيارية

Troubled feelings ruling over the [townships] is what the majority of Egyptians has led to the [acception] of what resembles an absence of options.

ذكر التلفزيون المصري، اليوم الخميس، أن الفريق أول عبدالفتاح السيسي، وزير الدفاع، وجه الهيئة الهندسية بإجراء كل الإصلاحات بمسجد رابعة العدوية الذي لحقت به أضرار في اشتباكات أمس، فضلاً عن المصالح الحكومية والمنشآت المتضررة، وإعادة الميدان إلى طبيعته بمشاركة القوات المسلحة

Today, Thursday [15] , Egypt's [state] TV reminded that the first group of Abdulfatah Assisi, minister of defense, instructed the engineering corps with the execution of all repairs on the fourth mosque [where hostilities] inflicted damages during yesterday's fightings, not to speak of government offices and damaged institutions [or: enterprises] as well as the restauration of the original character of public place[s] with the contribution of the armed forces.



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Above: Turkey's ambassador to Egypt.



استدعت تركيا سفيرها في مصر من أجل التشاور، حسب ما أعلنت وزارة الخارجية التركية، وذلك بعد أن فضت قوات الأمن المظاهرات المؤيدة للرئيس المعزول محمد مرسي

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Egypt for consultations according to an announcement of the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs. [This happened] after security forces broke up demonstrations in favour of [deposed / isolated] president Mohammad Morsy.

[Source: Al-Ahram الأهرام, Cairo, quoting the French news agency AFP on August 16, 2013]

Syria - Chemical Weapons Out Of Control ?

Arabic background information further down !
Last Update: December 29, 2012.

Yesterday, December 27, France 24 - International news quoted a report by Agence France Press AFP. The gist of it is as follows:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman recently to discuss violence in Syria and the country's chemical weapons stock, Israeli media said Thursday [i.e. Dec 27].

Public radio, as well as several local newspapers, said Israeli and Jordanian officials had confirmed the meeting, which was first reported in the Al-Quds al-Arabi daily on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment on the reports.

The date of the meeting has not been reported, but Israeli media said the meeting focused on the regional threat posed by Syria's chemical weapons stocks.

"Both sides arrived at the meeting with maps in hand," the Yediot Aharonot daily said. "Their maps marked the various sites across Syria where the forbidden weapons are being stored."

The newspaper cited Jordanian officials as saying the king and Netanyahu "raised situation assessments about the 'day after Assad,' and examined the danger posed by the chemical weapons in Syria to the neighbouring countries, first and foremost Jordan and Israel."

On December 27, the information was distributed as well by People's Network, Beijing. Today, December 28, it can be found on a large variety of Chinese networks. The following screenshot has been taken from an official Chinese website in Hebei province dedicated to plannings and legal proceedings:

以色列和约旦领导人秘密商讨叙利亚局势

Israeli and Jordanian leaders held secret talks on the situation in Syria.

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Arabic Background Information

The below articles have been found in the archives of Al-Quds al-Arabi, the well-known Palestinian daily, during a search for information related to "chemical weapons":

The first article, dating back to December 4, is quoting the Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh saying the use of chemical weapons in Syria would necessarily lead to an international intervention.

The second article, dating back to December 24, is citing Russia's foreign minister Sergej Lavrov saying the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be kind of "political suicide" for the Syrian regime of Bashir al-Assad.

The third article that is showing a map of Syria seems to be a mere update of the above article from December 24 quoting Russia's foreign minister. Furthermore, that article is citing a related AFP report.


Above: A Syrian store of chemical weapons / Map of Syria

Another related blogspot of mine published in December 2012:
Syria - Assad's Dangerous Games

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مرسي: أمن منطقة الخليج مسؤولية قومية و سنقف ضد أى تدخل عسكري في سوريا

Morsy: Security of the Gulf region is [a matter of] national responsibility and will [smash] any armed intervention in Syria whatsoever.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV, in their broadcast "Revolution Talk" on December 29, 2012. The quotation of Egypt's president Morsy has been taken from his speech before Egypt's parliament on the same day.]

Elections in Egypt انتخابات الرئاسة المصرية - First Results النتائج الأولية

سباق الرئاسة
Race for Presidency

فرز 95% من الأصوات بانتخابات الرئاسة المصرية و النتائج الأولية تشير إلى حتمية خوض جولة ثانية

The counting of 95% of the votes in the presidential elections of Egypt and first results are indicating the necessity to enter into a second round [of voting].

حزب الحرية و العدالة يدعو التيارات السياسية في مصر إلى الحوار من أجل إنقاذ الثورة

The Party of Liberty and Justice is calling [all] political currents in Egypt [to participate] in a dialogue in order to save the revolution.

First results of the presidential elections in Egypt are seeing Mohammed Morsy, candidate for the Party for Liberty and Justice in the lead with 25% of the votes, followed by Ahmed Shafiq, last prime minister of the Mubarak era, who gained 24%.

Morsy and his party are representing the Muslim Brotherhood:

A rather low result of 11% reached Amr Moussa, the former secretary general of the Arab League.

Two further candidates: Hamdeen Sabahi (20%) and Abdel Moneim Abu al-Fatuh (17%)



Latest news from Saturday, May 26:
Independent candidate Hamdeen Sabahi has lodged a complaint at the central election committee because of irregularities that happened during the voting. Two other candidates joined him. The necessity of a final ballot becomes even more visible.

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Latest News from Syria:

The Massacre of Houla

Al-Jazeera Arabic TV: On Friday, May 25, Syrian military killed 92 persons comprising 32 children in Houla, community in the outskirts of Homs. Syrian state television blamed "terrorists" for that massacre.

Pictures were shown on Sunday morning, May 27, in the frame of "Revolution Talk", a special broadcast by Al-Jazeera on their Arabic channel. In that program participated Abdel-karim al-Sharida (below), president of the Arabic organization for human rights from Amman/Jordan, among other participants from Beirut/Lebanon, Doha/Qatar and Homs/Syria.

Report of Al-Arabiya on May 26:

الإمارات تدعو الجامعة لاجتماع عاجل حول مجزرة سوريا

مجلس التعاون الخليجي يدين "المجزرة" ويتابع بقلق بالغ التطورات المؤسفة

The Emirates are calling the [Arab] Ligue to an urgent meeting on the Syrian massacre.

The Council of Cooperation for the Gulf feels obliged on the matter of that "massacre" and is following with increasing concern such sad development.

According to Al-Arabiya the death toll of the Houla massacre should have reached "more than 106"
[ راح ضحيتها أكثر من 106 أشخاص من المدنيين]

Turkey - Aspects of Foreign Policy

Last UPDATE: October 23

After criticizing the deposition of Egypt's elected president Mohammad Morsy in the first place, Turkey's prime minister Erdogan now finds a softer stance towards Cairo while his policy towards Palestine is shifting in favour of the Ramallah administration and which is dominated by the "Fatah" movement. As a consequence, the Ghaza administration, dominated by supporters of the radical Islamic "Hamas" movement, is losing influence in Ankara as Hamas leader Hanya now has to realize.


Hanya (left) meeting with Erdogan.

أردوغان يمنع هنية من الاعتذار لمصر و المصالحة مع فتح

Erdogan opposes Hanya with an excuse for Egypt and a reconciliation with Fatah.

القاهرة (مصر) - القدس - كشفت مصادر فلسطينية النقاب عن أن رئيس الوزراء التركى رجب طيب أردوغان منع إسماعيل هنية رئيس حكومة "حماس" في غزة من تقديم مبادرات محددة الملامح لتحقيق المصالحة مع حركة "فتح" و تحسين العلاقات مع مصر.ـ

Cairo (Egypt) - Al Quds - Palestinian sources revealed that Turkish prime minister ... Erdogan opposed Ismail Hanya, leader of the "Hamas" government in Ghaza, with the [introduction] of definite initiatives [regarding all] aspects of realizing a reconciliation with the "Fatah" movement and an amelioration of relations with Egypt.

ونقلت صحيفة "الأهرام" على موقعها الإلكترونى عن المصادر, التى لم تسمها, أن أردوغان نصح حماس بالتريث و عدم تقديم تنازلات بحجة أن الأوضاع الحالية فى مصر و المنطقة لم تستقر بعد وأن هناك إمكانية لتغيير النظام المصرى الحالى من خلال الضغوط المتواصلة اتى تمارسها تركيا و قطر و التنظيم الدولى للإخوان المسلمين.ـ

The journal "Al-Ahram", while referring to [reliable] sources, reported on its website that Erdogan recommended Hamas to exercise restraint and [not to act] on the pretext of situations occurring at present in [both] Egypt and the [whole] region which are not yet stabilized. And [Erdogan said] there was a possibility of transforming the temporary regime in Egypt on the basis of continuous pressure exerted by Turkey, Qatar and the [national] organization for Muslim brotherhood.

[Source: Al-Quds القدس, Palestinian daily quoting Egypt's daily Al-Ahram on October 21, 2013]

Along with yesterday's Al-Quds article, I found another related text, published on August 20, 2013, by the Jerusalem Post: Erdogan blames Israel for Morsi’s downfall, Egypt unrest.

As to Turkey's application for membership in the European Union EU, here are the latest news published by Al-Jazeera TV on October 23, 2013:

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Visitors from Athens (Greece) and Izmir (Turkey) at the border between Europe and Asia:



A visitor from Malta, living at the border between Europe and Africa. On the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, lots of migrant people from Africa get stranded on their way to a better future in Europe. On Lampedusa they are held in camps before being sent back to their homelands:

Egypt - Court Rule Rejected

الدستورية العليا في مصر تقرر وقف تنفيذ قرار عودة مجلس الشعب, و الرئيس مرسي يعتبرها غير مختصة

The Supreme Constitutional [Court] of Egypt has decided to stop the realisation of a resolution to recall the People's Council [i.e. parliament], while President Morsy is considering [the court] to be incompetent.

After the Supreme Court's decision, people began gathering again on Tahrir Square in Kairo. [Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic channel, evening news]

U.S. Foreign Secretary Clinton has called on all parties involved to better resort to negotiations. [different sources]

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On July 10 in its evening update, The Daily Star, Lebanon, wrote:

Headline: Defiant Egypt parliament meets amid legal crisis.

Egypt's dissolved parliament convened on Tuesday in defiance of the powerful military and the judiciary, amid a legal crisis triggered by a presidential decree to reinstate the Islamist-led assembly.

"We are gathered today to review the court rulings, the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," which ordered the house invalid, speaker Saad al-Katatni said.

"I want to stress, we are not contradicting the ruling, but looking at a mechanism for the implementation of the ruling of the respected court. There is no other agenda today," he added.

Last month, the Supreme Constitutional Court said certain articles in the law governing the parliamentary elections were invalid, annulling the house.

The military, which ruled Egypt after Hosni Mubarak was ousted in last year's popular uprising, then dissolved the house and took legislative control using a document granting the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) sweeping powers.

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Activated internet access points for visitors from West-Africa to "blueprint news" for the last 200 visitors registered on July 11: