I did not believe the official story of Hasna Ait Buolacehn the moment I saw it. The official line was that she was a suicide bomber who blew herself up when the police stormed the apartment in St Denis where the alleged terrorist ringleader was hiding out. But that story seemed to me completely incompatible with the recordings on which she could plainly be heard screaming “He is not my boyfriend! He is not my boyfriend” immediately before the explosion. She sounded like a terrified woman trying to disassociate herself from the alleged terrorist. It was a strange battle cry for someone who believed themselves on the verge of paradise.
Then yesterday the truth emerged from forensics that she was indeed not a suicide bomber. None of the mainstream media appeared to find this in any way troubling. And just in case anybody did, the BBC (and I assume all the French and major international media) then immediately did an interview with an anonymous member of the French Police attacking squad, who stated that Hasna was:
“trying to say she was not linked to the terrorists, that she had nothing to do with them and wanted to surrender”.
But he said that due to prior intelligence, “we knew that she was trying to manipulate us”.
Unfortunately this would have been a very great deal more convincing had it been stated 48 hours earlier, rather than only after the original reports that she was a suicide bomber had been corrected on forensic examination. As it is, it looks very much like a post facto justification, a new story to cover the new facts.
Besides, it is very difficult indeed to see what prior intelligence could explain if someone was genuinely trying to surrender or not. There appears to be no information available to the public that gives the slightest indication that Hasna was an extreme Islamist; what public information there is paints the opposite picture. The best the media have been able to dredge up are quotes from friends saying “if she was, then she must have been drugged or brainwashed”. Google it yourself.
But even were she an extreme Islamist, that does not mean she was not attempting to surrender. All of which is a bit nugatory if she were then killed by an explosion triggered by the terrorists themselves. But the changing story about Hasna makes me less than confident that is what actually happened.
I have no difficulty with the principle that the police should shoot people who are shooting at them. I outraged many friends on the left for example by not joining in the criticism of the police for killing Mr Duggan. People who choose to carry guns in my view run a legitimate risk of being shot by the police, it is as simple as that. Jean Charles De Menezes was a totally different case and his murder by police completely unjustifiable. In Paris it appears plain that the police were in a situation of confrontation with armed suspects.
There are severe intelligence disadvantages to killing people with profound knowledge of terrorist organisations. It also cheats the justice system. Nevertheless I can conceive of situations where simply taking out by an explosion a terrorist cell might be justified. But only if you are quite certain of the situation. The case of Hasna is to me troublingly reminiscent of the case of Jean Charles De Menezes, in that it became obvious in the days after his death that everything the police and establishment had leaked to the media about him (leaping over barriers, running through the tunnels, heavy jacket, wires protruding) was a complete, utter and quite deliberate lie.
The media could help if they were in any way rational and dispassionate, or ever questioned an official narrative. It is an urgent and irrepressible question as to why the BBC journalist did not ask the French policeman “and why did you not say this 48 hours ago when you were content to allow the story to run that she was a suicide bomber?”
Similar media manipulation is at use here by the Guardian in telling us the police stormed a “terrorist apartment”. What is a “terrorist apartment”? Are the walls made of semtex? The intent of course is to assure us everybody inside was a terrorist. It is not just the Guardian. The phrase is all over the media. Again, google it.
I am worried in case Hollande’s Rambo impersonation is steamrollering justice. It may well be that Hasna was a dreadful and bloodthirsty terrorist. I do not know. It may well be she was killed by the terrorists not the police. All we know at the moment is she was in an apartment with people who allegedly were terrorists, and died in the “battle”. But I do not trust the changing stories of the authorities.
Another key factor regarding the suspicious media hype was the fact that she was the “FIRST EVER” female suicide bomber in Europe.
The trolls like RD can argue their doggedly dogmatic little corner, but Craig is not the only one out there arguing credibly about the real media-hyped background to this whole incident that dovetails so neatly into all the current demagogic fear offensives being used to distract us from reality. Voyeurism (in its original sense) is the flavour of the age, so giving people a TV hyped, on-the-spot, be-there-yourself-right-at-this-instant (but totally safe and thrilling) “insight” into the event is perfect psy-ops material.
Nobody seems to think it suspicious that first there were only 7 involved then they were 9, when if you add up all the locations and timing you realise there must have been at least 13, i.e. the 4 on the run – the 4 who did the restaurants, were professional killers and melted into thin air … two groups, therefore, of who knows how many more groups out there waiting.
And why the haste to blame Syrian migrants as being part of the scenario? A million people moving to help out the infiltrators?
If RD & Co don’t want to believe any of this, then could they please explain what the strategy behind it all was, and looking at the larger picture how did Daesh so easily morph out of AQ, how did the Iraqi army so easily run away thereby arming them with all that US weaponry, never mind all the rest of the chain of unanswered coincidental events that led to this?
If it was all so easy for Daesh to become such a major international force, then where on earth were all the international intelligence agencies including Mossad? Or am I to believe, as I suspect, that they did know but, as has happened in the past, held back to let things happen when it presented such a useful propaganda weapon for their own agendas? The media are just their tool, but after 50 years of watching the media, it becomes all too obvious when they are not reporting the objective facts and just following the ‘official’ line.
Don’t worry though, new laws on NVE will soon be in place to close down all these wonderfully ‘pleasant’, civilised and ‘non-aggressive’ conspiratorial dialogues … I do hope RD will not be too frustrated and lonely when that eventually comes to pass… as it must …
“At least we have not had Bunny La Roche (Anon1), Alcyone (Villager) or Jemand today. For that we must be thankful.”
_________________
I suspect that is Mary’s way of indicating she wants to hear from them. LOL
MikeH; What do you make of Syrian christians choosing to remain?
Roderick Russell
Good post at 16h44, thank you for the sane voice.
““At least we have not had Bunny La Roche (Anon1), Alcyone (Villager) or Jemand today. For that we must be thankful.”
_________________
I suspect that is Mary’s way of indicating she wants to hear from them. LOL”
++++++++++++++++++
The above reminds me a little of the old joke:
Masochist to sadist : “hit me, hit me”
Sadist to masochist : “No!”
But Jemand, Anon1 and Alcyone sadists?
But ARE Jemand, Anon1 and Alcyone sadists?
I think this la Marseillaise goes very well with a nation descended from pirates, Normans Vikings and celts. Perfectly in tune with D. Camerons murderous plans for more violence in the ME.
PS questions to Craig. If our school master gets a response, his questions answered, he must be something special in Craigs life, because nobody else here gets that preferential treatment. And here I thought it was mere pity for his desperate attempts to keep his person off the record.
Thing is, everyone in MI5 knows Habby, but why send him to Wolverhampton, is he really that obnoxious?
La Marseillaise – English lyrics (love the second verse, so tailor made for colonial powers with huge cupboards full of skeletons)
Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny’s
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts
To arms citizens Form your battalions
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows
What do they want this horde of slaves
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heros
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who pitilessly
Ripped out their mothers’ wombs
We too shall enlist
When our elders’ time has come
To add to the list of deeds
Inscribed upon their tombs
We are much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining them
Drive on sacred patriotism
Support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Join the struggle with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
It was not the police that murdered C de Menezes it was two of their “delegates”
As you mentioned the case regarding the murder of Charles de Menezes, is a troubling one.
Mr de Mendezes wa shot at least five times in the head with dum dum bullets, a fate reserved for suicide bombers, not a young electrician, who didn’t match the description.
Operation Kratos, was the name of Mr Mendezes murder.
Cressida Dick, the “Gold Command” in charge of the operation that led to de Menezes being shot several times in the head after he was mistaken for a suspected suicide bomber, was in February 2007 promoted to the senior rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner.
Officers shooting ordinary citizens appear to do so with impunity: since 1993, there have been 30 fatal shootings by the Police with no police officer successfully prosecuted for any one of them.
One wonders whether or not Charles de Mendezes was the intended target, his death occured shortly after the London 7/7 bombings, and several internet sites have linked Mr de Menezes to that event, but not in aiding and abetting terrorists and terrorism.
“Would Police Scotland have been able to do better?”
Stewart Hosie has made it clear that Police Scotland have a shoot to kill policy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-34855532
” he must be something special in Craigs life, because nobody else here gets that preferential treatment. And here I thought it was mere pity for his desperate attempts to keep his person off the record.”
It is a form of sympathy for the debil, but I think it has more to do with the need to hear a discouraging word. His insincere counterpoints may seem to Craig like an opportunity. Craig is nothing if not an optimist.
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/live/2015/11/21/bruxelles-placee-en-etat-d-alerte-maximale-pour-une-menace-imminente_4814631_3224.html?highlight=206745009
12,000 March through Toulouse today in support of their fellow countrymen in Paris , yet it’s ‘ to dangerous ‘ to march through Paris on the 29th November in support of the Global Climate March , necessitating the French Government to ban it .
I suppose French Intelligence have evidence to suggest that climate change campaigners are a key target of Jihadists whilst those who march against Jihadism aren’t ??
You forgot to mention by whom?
You have been commenting on this blog for a while and by now it should be obvious to you: who is debating in good faith, and which entities are pushing the official narrative. Fact that official narrative is full of inconsistencies and proven to be a tissue of lies time and again somehow make little difference to these pushers whom wish to believe Santa is real and lives in the north pole where his elves are busy around the year to organise the Xmas presents to be delivered on Xmas eve!
In the past the only sugar coating that made the current system of rich own the world and poor get to watch the rich enjoy themselves in the hope of one day becoming rich was the notion of financial security, and the banksters greed put pay to that excuse too, hence now the only recourse is fear and more fear! The ministry of foreboding and trepidations has many arms included a tenner a day bunch of stooges and or idealogical stooges who are busy grinding their own ax for the continuation and survival a foreign entity thorough maintaining the current arrangements in our countries for the sake of perpetuation of their land of milk and honey and apartheid and shooting Palestinians incarcerated in huge concentration camps.
However, as you have put it
=================
This barely coherent outburst is in contradiction to Hasna Ait Buolacehn detonating herself claimed by you earlier in your interactions with Craig.
He really is littering up the place today. And as for Craig’s obtuseness in not seeing that the trolls are here to wreck the blog.
~~~
Here are two Labour MPs that Jeremy will have to deal with and many more. Their jackboots must be removed.
1 Ben Bradshaw Exeter C Member of the Henry Jackson Society. LFoI. Ex BBC and has a civil partner who is a BBC producer.
19 November 2015 at 9:55pm
Exeter MP: Jeremy Corbyn ‘has never had to make a difficult decision in his life’
Exeter’s Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has made his strongest attack so far on the party leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying he is “on a learning curve” and has “never had to make a difficult decision in his life.”
http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2015-11-19/exeter-mp-jeremy-corbyn-has-never-had-to-make-a-difficult-decision-in-his-life/
2 Hilary Benn Leeds Central
‘Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, welcomed a UN security council resolution – passed on Friday night – calling for “combat by all means” to be used to wipe out Isil. The resolution was passed unanimously at the UN last night.’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12008993/Britain-poised-for-Syria-air-strikes-after-Labour-revolt-against-Jeremy-Corbyn.html
Umunna
Kendall
etc etc
Snakes
Such “news reports” that I’ve had the stomach to watch are straight out of the chase scene homily at the end of Farenheit 451 – as usual.
TheyWorkForYou
How Hilary Benn voted on Foreign Policy and Defence #
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
We don’t have enough information to calculate Hilary Benn’s position on an investigation into the Iraq war.
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
Generally voted for more EU integration
Voted a mixture of for and against a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU
Consistently voted for strengthening the Military Covenant
How Ben Bradshaw voted on Foreign Policy and Defence #
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
We don’t have enough information to calculate Ben Bradshaw’s position on an investigation into the Iraq war.
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
Generally voted for more EU integration
Voted a mixture of for and against a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU
Almost always voted for strengthening the Military Covenant
“I suppose French Intelligence have evidence to suggest that climate change campaigners are a key target of Jihadists whilst those who march against Jihadism aren’t ??”
_____________________
Pulcinella
Thank you for taking the time to leave the stage and post the above.
After much serious thought, I judge your supposition to be bollocks.
Cervello di gallina!
Sad troll-tunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3j_fdSpkmE
If habba and co really are so naive and stupid to believe the official/live broadcasts/public statements, then they deserve the utmost pity. A colleague who isn’t particularly street wise and shows no interest in politics can see straight through this charade.
“I thought the French were already bombing those head chopping Muslim nutters?” he said. They were, I replied. “Why hadn’t they bombed those places already then?”. Good question, I thought.
Apart from all that, how can anyone take Hollande seriously? The preposterous dyed hair and his general Inspector Clouseau demeanour look like a sketch from the fast show.
https://uk.screen.yahoo.com/paris-terror-attacks/online-vigilante-group-anonymous-says-131108015.html
Online activists Anonymous ” take down 20,000 ISIS accounts ” we are informed .
Thank heaven for Anonymous , who have the technical abilities not yet available to Western ‘ intelligence ‘ agencies . Could some of these ‘ intelligence ‘ agency operatives be seconded to Anonymous for work experience to learn their cunning skills , or could MI6 etc be put out to private sector tender , overlooked perhaps by a Government appointed quango named something like ‘ Securicom ‘??
For Fucks Sake. Anyone else noticed that the ones who moan most about the trolls are the ones who have the most intercourse with them?
“At least we have not had Bunny La Roche (Anon1), Alcyone (Villager) or Jemand today. For that we must be thankful.”
“Did Habba say something..? (for the eight zillionth time) Oh, my pathetic trolls, you don’t even understand that what comes around goes around…”
“—–Yeah. The trolls seem not to be able to absorb the fact that Craig is humanitarian, first.—–Heh. The nuance gets them every time. If only the world were trollish black/white with no shading. Ach, for a simpler world. ——I will not be unreasonable enough to ask trolls to develop their subtle skills. I can’t condemn them to futility, but I can hope for their utility. —– Mixing the metaphors, shaken but not stirred. —— Well I’m not the scented cloud, darkly….——Nuance is only for those who think, now go have a drink.—-Craig was kind enough to say he appreciated the troll comments because you tend to make his point clearer through your confused and misdirected commentary. —– End Tutorial. Hope some absorbed the method.—— AND ON AND ON AND ON and the tutorial never ends.
The trolls only talk shite. You lot talk shite back at them, then complain about their shite. You lot are worse than the trolls, two doses of shite for every one of theirs.
Either stop feeding the trolls or stop fucking moaning about them. And whichever, keep doing it. Tomorrow it will still be shite so keep stopping feeding the trolls or keep stopping moaning about them. For fucking ever. You whinging self-indulgent cretins.
Not talking TO them, rather ABOUT them like they weren’t in the room. Now if you are capable of nuance you will see the distinction.
MikeH
ISIS didn’t morph out of Al Qeaeda – AQ still exists and they hate each other which is not at all surprising
ISIS grew in the vacuum that was created from Assad’s assault on his own people and the failure of the world community to step in and help those Assad was driving out of their own country – there were many many refugees from Syria before IS gained a foothold. Yes they have received some support from Saudis and others wanting to push IS’s distorted version of Islam, and Turkey has turned a blind eye to some of their activities – but this has been far from official policy in those states.
One way of dealing with ISIS is to deal with Assad – the majority Sunni population of Syria are not all AQ/IS fanatics (and it is frankly racist to suggest otherwise), and they have to be offered a settlement in Syria which will only be possible without Assad. The need to recognise the legitimate concerns of the Sunni population in Iraq was one of the biggest failures post Saddam – and in no small part explains the rise of AQ/IS in Iraq. The same mistake is being made in Syria on an even larger scale
IS are barbaric terrorists who seek to attack and divide western democracies – as well as being controlled by forces that are foreign to Syria and Iraq – they have no cause that is justifiable or of any value, they should be hounded and dealt with until they are destroyed. This position is now thankfully supported by the UN Security Council.
Most of those here supporting IS/developing wacko conspiracy theories are serial haters of western democracies and/or supporters of Putin’s desire to maintain a satellite state in Syria – their concern for human rights is just a rather crude front. When the refugee crisis started in Syria many were at the forefront in arguing against humanitarian assistance to those fleeing from Assad and even attacked the decent people who provided such help. The record is there to be seen.
Either stop feeding the trolls or stop fucking moaning about them.
+1
resident dissident: Syria, 7 million internal refugees (living under Assad protection), 3 million escaping the country. These statistics blow a great big hole in your Assad conspiracy theory.
Twoleftfeet
That was an interesting post and therefore I’ll postpone cocktails while I grace it with a comment (or two).
“If habba and co really are so naive and stupid to believe the official/live broadcasts/public statements, then they deserve the utmost pity.”
______________________
In your valuable opinion, do we deserve more or less pity than those who are so naive and stupid to automatically disbelieve the official/live broadcasts/public statements?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Apart from all that, how can anyone take Hollande seriously? The preposterous dyed hair and his general Inspector Clouseau demeanour look like a sketch from the fast show.”
___________________
In this instance you are correct about the connection between Monsieur le Président’s* looks and his abilities.
But I should be careful about generalising about looks and abilities. Who, for example, would have looked at the physically unimpressive and unimpressive sounding Caudillo de Espana* and thought this man will survive at the top fpor decades?
++++++++++++++++++++
* Lysias to check my French and Spanish spelling, please.
Thank you Mary for the Telegraph article with all its delectable moral panic. Corbyn, sadly, is too much of a milquetoast to go on the offensive and rub the satellite states’ nose in the text of the resolution
https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12132.doc.htm
With the facts on the ground enforcing UN Charter Article 47, Britain faces the ignominy of submitting, not just to their USA masters as usual, but to the Russian-led military staff committee controlling intervention in accord with rule of law. Britain’s P-5 status looks more ridiculous every day.
Some points that deserve attention.
* Only last month, France was proposing at the UN Security Council that UN soldiers should police the Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. [1]
* Stories are conflicting with each other about the use of suicide belts at the Bataclan theatre, as well as at the flat. [2]
* The Bataclan theatre was owned for nearly 40 years by Joel Laloux, before he sold it in September and moved to Israel.
An orthodox Jew and a raving Zionist, he used the venue to host events in support of the Israeli Army and “Jewish charities”. He still has a close relationship with the building. He even broke the usual rule of no phone use on the Sabbath to receive “details on the situation as the hostage-taking was under way” (in the words of the Guardian).
Would you get real-time information from the police if a house you’d sold to new owners got broken into?
Right.
If he was a sayan, don’t things start to fall into place? A sayan is someone living outside of Israel who is not an intelligence officer or agent but who commits to helping Mossad when they need help – maybe an office, a room, money or a warehouse – maybe only for a few hours, probably at short notice. They don’t ask questions. They just help.
(Those who want more details, please read Victor Ostrovsky – or ask the famous sayan Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France who has been charged with corruption, and who may even be the next president if Marine Le Pen doesn’t win.)
(Also…ever wondered why Marks and Spencer have premises at railway stations in Britain? That scares the shit out of me.)
In this case, did someone say “This is a big one. We’ll be in to do our stuff, and then you’ve got to sell it. We’ll see you all right, of course.”
* Time for some info about Daesh. They are apocalypticist; they believe in a final battle at Dabiq in Syria, which is why their glossy magazine (available from the pro-Israeli Clarion Project on the web) is called ‘Dabiq’. They also believe that at that time, Jesus will return. [3] They tolerate Christians who pay a special tax, but they want to kill all Shi-ites, whom they view as apostates.
Notes
(1) Aficionados will recall what happened at Utoya in Norway shortly before the massacre of the next generation of Labour Party leaders in 2011, at the hands of an insane but extremely intelligent guy who ran a curious IT services company which had offices in several countries. (Lone nut? My arse!)
What happened was that the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store visited Utoya to speak about Palestine. He called for the wall to come down and for an end to the (1967) occupation, “now”. There was also a lot of support for the divestment from Israel of money held by the Norwegian oil funds, which are some of the largest sovereign funds in the world.
If Norway did that, my friends, they would cross what is called a “red line”.
(2) One of the French police officers who stormed the Bataclan told Le Monde that “he shot (a Daesh combatant) in the chest and then his suicide belt went off, but he still does not know if it was the bullet that caused it”.
(That doesn’t sound to me at all like an adequately trained guy or a properly managed operation, if the aim was – as it should be – to save lives, and first and foremost the lives of innocents. Like Craig, I have no problem with the removal from action of individuals who are about to murder large numbers of innocents, if that is what is most likely to be successful. But if waiting a while and negotiating has a better chance, then that is what should be done. And police tasked with these sorts of operations should be trained to deal with combatants wearing suicide vests – that’s obvious. Even if they are murdering one prisoner every 15 minutes, waiting and negotiating may still be necessary, if the alternative is the detonation of explosives which could kill 100.
More than likely, this cop is lying. There were only three Daesh combatants in that theatre, so we are told. If their aim was to kill as many as possible, and to “martyr” themselves in doing so, then why not just do it? Why bother making a speech? Why bother ordering prisoners to watch the windows and report on police movements outside? Why bother talking to negotiators? Why bother allowing firefighters in to remove the wounded? Why set fire to money? Why tell prisoners to phone the media? The murder would be the message. Are Daesh stupid enough to think some of their words are going to get onto enemy media, on their own terms? Or perhaps they want survivors to spread their message, telling family and friends “Hey, y’know, I was at the Bataclan where more than 100 innocents were deliberately killed, but those Daesh guys made some good points”? No. Their commander would have told them to concentrate on the main job. This is propaganda of the deed; don’t mix stuff up – cover or block the exits, e.g. by shooting people, then detonate explosives in the middle of the crowd – all over in 5 minutes, with maximum casualties – don’t fuck about with speeches and phones, money and windows.
That’s if they had suicide belts. I’m not convinced they did. One prisoner’s statement is reported as follows:
“(Sébastien) claimed the terrorists were not equipped to blow up the venue – despite their threats.”
“Sébastien added: “They ordered us to say they had suicide belts and if the police came in, they would blow everything up. But it was a lie. I saw only Kalashnikovs, one of which was stuck together with black tape, and a bag with ammunition.”
So – suicide belts? Or no suicide belts?
That question is of major importance, as is too the question of the level of training of the combatants.
(3) Clarion Project. In its style, the Daesh magazine reminds me a lot of Al Qaeda’s magazine, ‘Inspire’, which the Iranian government said was a fake produced by the CIA.
Ben “Bull-dyke” Outraged, etc
“Now if you are capable of nuance you will see the distinction.”
_____________________
Spoken through a cloud of nuance, darkly.
Is he all nuance and no substance?
(And that’s all the attention he’ll be getting from me for this evening, he must learn not to be greedy)
Craig,
As you well know – we live in a world of gross corruption and deception. Read on…
UN human rights resolutions on Iran, Syria bitterly ironic: Zarif
Sat Nov 21, 2015 4:51PM
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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a ceremony in Tehran on November 21, 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN establishment. © Fars news agency
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a ceremony in Tehran on November 21, 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN establishment. © Fars news agency
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described as “bitterly ironic” the two recently adopted United Nations (UN) resolutions critical of human rights situations in Iran and Syria.
Speaking in a ceremony in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Saturday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN establishment, the Iranian minister said that countries which are foreigners to constitutions and elections are now talking about holding democratic elections in Syria.
He said that “those who have nurtured Daesh” terrorists are now slamming countries which are fighting the Takfiri group, stressing that these are “major concerns” about the UN structural mechanism which need to be taken into consideration.
He criticized the UN for adopting politically-motivated approaches, saying “genuine concerns” should not be overlooked due to “political considerations” by certain sides.
The Iranian foreign minister made the remarks after the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly passed a Canada-drafted resolution on Thursday criticizing the human rights situation in Iran.
The resolution, which was approved with 76 votes in favor, 35 against and 68 abstentions, accuses Iran of human rights violations. However, support for the measure has declined compared to a similar resolution last year.
During the day-long meeting, the Third Committee also approved a draft resolution, authored by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by Qatar and other Arab countries, the United States and other Western powers, on the situation of human rights in Syria.
The resolution, passed with 115 votes in favor, 15 against and 51 abstentions, condemned Syria’s alleged violations of international human rights.