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August 21st, 2008

Via: MINA:

The Russian aircraft carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” is ready to head from Murmansk towards the Mediterranean and the Syrian port of Tartus. The mission comes after Syrian President Bashar Assad said he is open for a Russian base in the area. The “Admiral Kuznetsov”, part of the Northern Fleet and Russia’s only aircraft carrier, will head a Navy mission to the area. The mission will also include the missile cruiser “Moskva” and several submarines, Newsru.com reports.

President Assad in meetings in Moscow this week expressed support to Russia’s intervention in South Ossetia and Georgia. He also expressed interest in the establishment of Russian missile air defence facilities on his land.

The “Admiral Kuznetsov” also last year headed a navy mission to the Mediterranean. Then, on the way from the Kola Peninsula and south, it stopped in the North Sea where it conducted a navy training exercise in the immediate vicinity of Norwegian offshore installations.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears to be keeping his options open
Kevin O’Flynn in Moscow and James Hider, Middle East Correspondent

Syria raised the prospect yesterday of having Russian missiles on its soil, sparking fears of a new Cold War in the Middle East. President Assad said as he arrived in Moscow to clinch a series of military agreements: “We are ready to co-operate with Russia in any project that can strengthen its security.”
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http://www.alternet.org/…
By Center for Constitutional Rights
Posted on August 14

The following is a release by the Center for Constitutional Rights.

August 14, 2008, New York — The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an extremely rare order that the case of Canadian rendition victim Maher Arar would be heard en banc by all of the active judges on the Second Circuit on December 9, 2008. For the court to issue the order sua sponte, that is, of its own accord without either party submitting papers requesting a rehearing, is even more rare.
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http://www.haaretz.com/…
By Haaertz Service

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday refrained from saying the U.S. would prevent Israel from mounting a much-touted attack against Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear aspirations.
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http://www.afp.com/…

PARIS (AFP) - Lebanon and Syria said on Saturday that they had agreed to establish diplomatic relations, opening embassies in each others’ capitals for the first time since their independence from colonial rule.
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