BRITISH POLICE ARREST A MAN AND A WOMAN IN CONNECTION WITH WED'S BEHEADING OF A SOLDIER IN SE LONDON *

THE SUSPECTS ARRESTED THURS ARE NOT BELIEVED TO BE RELATED TO TWO MEN ALREADY IN CUSTODY *

TWO NIGERIAN MEN SHOT BY POLICE AT THE SCENE ARE BEING TREATED FOR NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES AT SEPARATE HOSPITALS IN LONDON *

PRES OBAMA GIVES A SPEECH ON NATL SECURITY *

THE PRES DEFENDED HIS USE OF DRONES, SAYING THE PROGRAM IS LEGAL AND THAT STRIKES HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE IN FIGHTING TERRORISTS WHO LAUNCHED THE 2001 9/11 ATTACKS *

HE SAYS THE END OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN AND U.S. SUCCESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST AL QAEDA ARE LIKELY TO REDUCE THE USE OF DRONES *

THE PRES ALSO RENEWED HIS CALL TO CLOSE THE DETENTION CENTER IN GUANTANAMO BAY *

OBAMA SAYS THERE'S "NO JUSTIFICATION BEYOND POLITICS FOR CONGRESS TO PREVENT US FROM CLOSING" GITMO *

SECY OF STATE JOHN KERRY VISITS PALESTINIAN CITY OF RAMALLAH IN A BID TO REVIVE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE TALKS *

KERRY IS ON HIS FOURTH TRIP TO THE REGION SINCE BECOMING SECY OF STATE FOUR MONTHS AGO *

NEGOTIATIONS BROKE DOWN IN LATE 2010 *

ISLAMIST HOMICIDE BOMBERS STRIKE AN ARMY BARRACKS AND FRENCH-RUN URANIUM MINE IN NIGER, KILLING 20 AND WOUNDING DOZENS *

MILITANT GROUP KNOWN AS MUJWA CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COORDINATED ASSAULTS AT AREVA'S MINE AT ARLIT AND THE MILITARY BASE IN AGADEZ *

MUJWA AND AL QAEDA'S NORTH AFRICAN WING PLEDGED TO STRIKE AT FRENCH INTERESTS ACROSS THE REGION AFTER PARIS LAUNCHED A GROUND AND AIR CAMPAIGN TO OUST TERRORISTS FROM PARTS OF MALI EARLIER THIS YR *

IRS REPLACES LOIS LERNER A DAY AFTER SHE PLEADED THE FIFTH AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING... *

LERNER WAS DIR OF THE AGENCY'S DIVISION THAT OVERSAW EMPLOYEES WHO TARGETED TEA PARTY AND OTHER CONSERVATIVE GROUPS *

SHE WILL BE REPLACED BY KEN CORBIN, CURRENTLY DEPUTY DIR OF SUBMISSION PROCESSING IN THE WAGE AND INVESTMENT DIVISION *

A CONGRESSIONAL AIDE SAID LERNER HAS BEEN PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE *

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA'S NATL COUNCIL VOTES TO EASE LONG-STANDING BAN AND ALLOW OPENLY GAY BOYS TO BE ACCEPTED INTO THE ORG *

MORE THAN 60% OF SCOUT LEADERS VOTED IN FAVOR OF EASING THE BAN AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING IN TX *

GAY ADULTS REMAIN BARRED FROM SERVING AS SCOUT LEADERS *

JURY STILL DEADLOCKED ON WHETHER CONVICTED MURDERER JODI ARIAS SHOULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY, PROMPTING A RETRIAL *

THE JUDGE SCHEDULED THE RETRIAL FOR JULY 18 IN THE SENTENCING PHASE OF THE 32-YR-OLD'S TRIAL *

ARIAS WAS FOUND GUILTY OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER IN THE 2008 DEATH OF HER EX-BOYFRIEND *

REP JO BONNER (R-AL) IS RESIGNING FROM CONGRESS TO TAKE A JOB WITH THE UNIV OF ALABAMA *

BONNER IS SIX-TERM MEMBER OF THE HOUSE AND A MEMBER OF THE APPROPRIATIONS CMTE *

HE REPRESENTS A SOUTHWESTERN PORTION OF THE STATE THAT INCLUDES MOBILE *

WASHINGTON STATE PATROL SAYS PART OF INTERSTATE 5 BRIDGE OVER SKAGIT RIVER AT MOUNT VERNON HAS COLLAPSED *

THERE ARE REPORTEDLY SEVERAL VEHICLES AND PEOPLE IN THE WATER *

NO WORD ON ANY INJURIES OR FATALITIES, OR WHAT MAY HAVE CAUSED THE FOUR-LANE BRIDGE TO COLLAPSE *

A SHERIFF'S OFFICE RESCUE BOAT WAS REPORTEDLY LOOKING FOR PEOPLE IN THE WATER *

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ANALYSIS in Jerusalem Post: is Israel waring Iran that Iran is next?

 

Analysis: Sudan strike – A blow to Iran

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

10/25/2012

Israel’s alleged bombing of Khartoum plant may be a warning to Tehran that it could be the next target.

Fire engulfs the Yarmouk ammunition factory Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

Amid the latest escalation between Hamas and Israel this week, a covert strike that is far more strategically significant may have occurred.

 

Israel has remained officially silent over Sudanese accusations that Jerusalem carried out an air strike on a weapons factory near Khartoum, but tellingly, Jerusalem has not taken the trouble to deny the allegations either.

 

If Israeli fighter jets did fly 1,900 km. to the Sudanese capital to bomb a rocket factory, the move could represent a major blow to Iranian efforts to smuggle arms into Gaza, and contain a demonstrable threat to Tehran of what may occur if it continues to develop its nuclear weapons program.

 

In 2008, defense ministers from Sudan and Iran signed a military cooperation pact and vowed to advance “defensive ties” between them. The two countries presented the move as a step to promote regional peace and stability. It likely had the exact opposite effect.

 

Sudan has been a central transit point for Iranian arms headed to the Gaza Strip for several years. According to open source reports, officials from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have loaded long-range rockets and an array of sophisticated missiles onto ships at Iran’s Port Bandar Abbas, from where ships have sailed to Sudan. From there, the weapons travel in land convoys into Egypt, and are then smuggled into Gaza via tunnels from Sinai.

 

This long route has presented Israel with opportunities to intercept the weapons.

 

In 2011, for example, at least two land convoys believed to be carrying Iranian weapons for Gaza were reportedly bombed from the air in eastern Sudan. Similarly, ships carrying Iranian arms to Gaza have been intercepted by the Israel Navy.

 

In light of this vulnerability, Iran may well have decided to construct a rocket factory in the Sudanese capital, shortening the distance between the arms’ manufacturing center and their target destination. The Iranians may have also mistakenly believed that Israel is unlikely to direct action in a foreign capital.

 

If this was indeed the case, Sudan agreed to have weapons produced on its territory that are later used to target Israeli civilians in the South.

 

The reported bombing appears to be the latest in an ongoing and gradually escalating Israeli-Iranian covert war, which spans arenas across the Middle East and beyond. In this context, an air strike that allegedly involved Israeli fighter jets flying 1,900 km. and back would also send an unmistakable signal to Tehran.

 

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