Six In The Morning

Exclusive: Arab states arm rebels as UN talks of Syrian civil war 

 

Saudi Arabia and Qatar 'supplying weapons' to anti-Assad forces, while fears mount for civilians

 

Istanbul

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Syrian rebels are being armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, The Independent has learnt, in a development that threatens to inflame a regional power struggle provoked by the 15-month-old uprising against the Assad regime.
Rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have received weapons from the two Gulf countries, which were transported into Syria via Turkey with the implicit support of the country's intelligence agency, MIT, according to a Western diplomat in Ankara.   

End of the Honeymoon

Germans Increasingly Disillusioned with Obama

Germans were ecstatic when Barack Obama took over the keys to the White House from George W. Bush. Now, though, a new Pew Research Center survey shows that disillusionment with the US president is widespread in Germany and that Obama has not lived up to the high expectations Europeans had of him.

In July 2008, in a speech at the base of the Victory Column in Berlin's Tiergarten park, before tens of thousands of deliriously adoring onlookers, then US presidential candidate Barack Obama promised a renewal of America's stature in the world. After his election that November, Germans, other Europeans and many people around the world embraced Obama in large part because he was not George W. Bush. Reversing a half-decade of profound anti-Americanism, support for the new US president and America soared to what has now proven to be unsustainable levels, especially in Germany. Obama's honeymoon with the German people is not over. But now, as he seeks re-election, the first indications of friction in the relationship are emerging. 

UN warns DRC rebellion could destabilise region

The UN's envoy to the DRC has warned that a rebellion led by an ex-warlord indicted for war crimes threatens to uproot millions of civilians.

13 Jun 2012 07:44 - Edith M Lederer 

Roger Meece told the UN Security Council it was important to quickly put an end to the mutiny by Bosco Ntaganda, who has been sought by the International Criminal Court since 2006, and another rebel leader, Sultani Makenga. He said their rebellion had led to an increase in attacks by a number of other armed groups, which has deepened instability especially in North and South Kivu, and could destabilise the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) surrounding region.

 THE ROVING EYE
 The art of war, with a glass of wine
 By Pepe Escobar
 
PARIS - There it was, magically empty, on a discreet corner, never spotted by the tourist magma; my favorite little table since the 1980s at the Cafe de Flore in St Germain. I took possession, ordered a Welsh rarebit and a glass of Chablis, and was back in business, reading and watching the world go by for the first time since the fall of King Sarko.

First impression; where the hell is my bookshop? The venerable La Hune, right across from my point of view, looked like it had been hit by a Hellfire; thank Zeus it had moved nearby. Second, and more auspicious impression; the Flore was BHL-free; that is, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, aka BHL, was busy promoting his next war somewhere else.

Iraq: Bomb attacks in six provinces 'kill 62'

 A wave of bombings in six Iraqi provinces, including 10 locations in Baghdad, has killed 62 people and wounded dozens more, Iraqi police say.

Many of the dead in the Iraqi capital were Shia pilgrims gathering for a religious festival.
In Hilla, two car bombs exploded near a restaurant, killing at least 19 people.
There has been a wave of attacks on the Shia community in recent days, as it marks the anniversary of the death of Shia imam Moussa al-Kadhim.
A man who witnessed one of the attacks in Baghdad said a car bomb had targeted pilgrims and had also hit people who were working in the city.

Child laborers rescued in raids on Delhi factories

 The Associated Press reports
  A young bonded child laborer cries as he is led away after being rescued during a raid by workers from Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or Save the Childhood Movement, at a garment factory in New Delhi, India, on June 12, 2012.
Raids on factories in the Indian capital revealed dozens of migrant kids hard at work Tuesday despite laws against child labor.
Police rounded up 26 children from three textiles factories and a metal processing plant, but dozens more are believed to have escaped. Those captured had all come to New Delhi from the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.