Arab League to increase number of observers in Syria

www.cnn.com/2012/01/08/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html

(CNN) -- Arab League officials decided Sunday to bolster the alliance's fact-finding mission to Syria, where thousands have been reported killed by security forces despite ongoing international pressure to halt the violent suppression of popular unrest.

In a statement, released after a meeting of officials in Cairo, the alliance once again "strongly condemned ... acts of violence against civilians."

It reiterated the league's call for Damascus to completely stop acts of violence in order to protect civilians, free political detainees, remove tanks and weapons from cities, and allow outsiders, including the media, to freely travel around Syria and document what's happening.
www.ksat.com

That includes the 165 observers from the Arab League who are now in the Middle Eastern country. That number will now increase, after the Arab League on Sunday called for more observers and more equipment for this mission.

While this effort does not have a mandate for peacekeeping or to stop the conflict, it is tasked with verifying that Syria complies with the Arab League's action plan.
malaysiandigest.com

Iran death sentence for 'CIA spy' Amir Mirzai Hekmati

An American man of Iranian descent has been sentenced to death by a court in Tehran for spying for the CIA, local media report.

Amir Mirzai Hekmati was "sentenced to death for co-operating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism," semi-official Fars news agency said.

The 28-year-old's trial last month heard he had confessed to the charges.

But Mr Hekmati's US-based family say he was in Iran visiting his grandmothers.

The US has said he has been falsely accused and has called for his release.

Mr Hekmati was accused by Iran of receiving training at US bases in Afghanistan and Iraq before being sent to Iran.

'Red line'

During his trial in December, prosecutors cited what they said was a confession Mr Hekmati had made on state TV some days earlier, in which he had admitted trying to infiltrate Iran's intelligence services for the CIA.

According to Fars, he told the court he did have links to the CIA, but had never intended to harm Iran.

"I was deceived by the CIA... Although I was appointed to break into Iran's intelligence systems and act as a new source for the CIA, I had no intention of undermining the country," Fars quoted him as saying.

Mr Hekmati's family, who live in Arizona, say the charges against him are fabricated and that he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers.

His father, Ali Hekmati, said his son joined the US military in 2001 and served in the Marines, where he was an Arabic translator.

The sentence comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West.

Tehran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - a key route from the Gulf through which 20% of the world's traded oil passes - if the US and EU introduce further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

US defence chiefs on Sunday warned that they would take action if Iran closed the strait.

"That's another red line for us and ... we will respond to them," Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS's "Face the Nation" programme.