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John Kerry Smooths Over US-Saudi Tensions on Riyadh Visit

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Photo Credit: Faisal al-Nasser/ReutersJohn Kerry has sought to ease recent tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia, a key strategic ally in the Arab world, highlighting enduring relations between the two countries and hailing the kingdom’s role as “the senior player” in the Middle East.

On a brief visit to Riyadh, the secretary of state said the US would ensure that its relationship with Saudi Arabia was “on track, moving forward and doing the things that we need to accomplish”.

There was much agreement between the two allies on the civil war in Syria, the Iranian nuclear programme and attempts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said.

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, also attempted to smooth over recent diplomatic differences, saying: “The fact of the matter is that the historic relationship between the two countries has always been based on independence, mutual respect and constructive co-operation.”

However, he told his US counterpart that “a true relationship between friends is based on sincerity, candour and frankness, rather than mere courtesy”.

Read more from this story HERE.

John Kerry: Damage To U.S. Image Abroad Due To Shutdown; Fails To Mention NSA Spy Scandal (+video)

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Photo Credit: AFPJohn Kerry told a liberal think tank Thursday that the recent government shutdown has hurt America’s image abroad. He failed to mention the NSA spy scandal, which at least 21 countries have condemned.

Ironically, as reported by cnsnews.com, Kerry’s appearance at a Center for American Progress conference came on the same day that German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle summoned the U.S. ambassador to warn friendship was at stake over the alleged bugging of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone.

Also on Thursday, European Union leaders meeting in Brussels discussed allegations of widespread NSA spying, and said afterwards that “a lack of trust [between the U.S. and E.U.] would prejudice the necessary cooperation in the field of intelligence gathering.”

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Gov’t ‘Buying Up’ AK-47 Rifles (+video)

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ak-47Secretary of State John Kerry signing the a United Nations small arms treaty is nothing more than empty symbolism, and President Obama will get nowhere in his latest attempt to advance gun-control legislation, says Bill Frady, host of “Lock ‘n’ Load Radio” presented by Gun Owners of America, who also noted that the U.S. government has been buying up AK-47 rifles and ammunition.

Kerry signed the U.N.’s Arms Trade Treaty this week while in New York City for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly. Supporters say it would clamp down on weapons trafficking between rogue regimes and terrorist organizations. Frady told WND it would have a restricting effect on law-abiding gun owners in the U.S. as well.

“It also dictates to the signing states that they have to impose new rules and regulations within their nations to make sure they’re able to comply with this treaty and that covers small arms,” Frady said. “Terrorists are not running around with American-made weapons. They’re running around with AKs. There’s various nations that will underwrite any cause (such as) Russia, China. The AK is the prevalent weapon on the planet. So we’re not the problem. I did notice that along the way (Obama) did manage to get in there and back Syrian rebels to the tune of $340 million.

“I’m sure he wants to arm them,” he said. “The United States Army has been buying AKs and AK magazines and AK ammo. I’m just presuming that they want to send that to our Syrian brethren, the great rebel freedom fighters, so they’ll have something they’re accustomed to.”

Like any treaty, this one would need two-thirds support in the U.S. Senate to be ratified in this country. A procedural vote months ago shows the plan cannot even draw a simple majority in the Democratically controlled chamber. As a result, Frady said Kerry and Obama embracing the treaty is just window dressing.

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Kerry Gives Assad One Week to Surrender Chemical Weapons or Face Attack

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Photo Credit: Talk Radio News Service

Photo Credit: Talk Radio News Service

The US secretary of state has said that President Bashar al-Assad has one week to hand over his entire stock of chemical weapons to avoid a military attack. But John Kerry added that he had no expectation that the Syrian leader would comply.

Kerry also said he had no doubt that Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack in east Damascus on 21 August, saying that only three people are responsible for the chemical weapons inside Syria – Assad, one of his brothers and a senior general. He said the entire US intelligence community was united in believing Assad was responsible.

Kerry was speaking on Monday alongside the UK foreign secretary, William Hague, who was forced to deny that he had been pushed to the sidelines by the House of Commons decision 10 days ago to reject the use of UK force in Syria.

The US Senate is due to vote this week on whether to approve an attack and Kerry was ambivalent over whether Barack Obama would use his powers to ignore the legislative chamber, if it were to reject an attack.

The US State Department stressed that Kerry was making a rhetorical argument about the one-week deadline and unlikelihood of Assad turning over Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. In a statement, the department added: “His point was that this brutal dictator with a history of playing fast and loose with the facts cannot be trusted to turn over chemical weapons, otherwise he would have done so long ago. That’s why the world faces this moment.”

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Putin calls Kerry a Liar on Syria

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Things aren’t exactly warming up between the Obama administration and Vladimir Putin, even as President Obama arrived in St. Petersburg for the G-20 summit.

Putin called Obama Secretary of State John Kerry a liar over Kerry’s testimony this week before Congress.

The question may be al-Qaeda’s influence on the Syrian rebels, an issue Kerry has downplayed.

Speaking to his human rights council Wednesday, Putin said, “This was very unpleasant and surprising for me. We talk to them (the Americans), and we assume they are decent people, but he is lying and he knows that he is lying. This is sad.”

Putin has criticized Obama administration claims that Bashar Assad’s government attacked the rebels with chemical weapons.

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Kerry Screws Up, Mistakenly Promises Pakistan to End Drone Strikes

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Photo Credit: Center for American Progress Action FundThe Obama administration was forced into damage control on Thursday as officials attempted to walk back Secretary of State John Kerry’s pledge to end armed drone operations in Pakistan.

During a diplomatic visit to Pakistan on Thursday, Kerry told Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that Washington plans to severely curtail and eventually end armed drone operations in the country.

The move was geared toward an overall effort by the Obama administration to forge “a real partnership” between the White House and Islamabad, Kerry told reporters after his meeting with Sharif.

“I think the [drone] program will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it,” Kerry said in an interview with Pakistani television…

The Obama administration reacted quickly to Kerry’s comments, saying his statements did not reflect a coming change in the use of armed drones against terrorist targets or overall U.S. counterterrorism policy.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Calls on Egypt to “Pull Back from the Brink” While the Muslim Brotherhood Announces the “Free Egyptian Army” Plan

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Photo Credit: Amru Salahuddien/CorbisEgypt: John Kerry calls for leaders to ‘pull back from the brink’

By Reuters. The United States has urged Egypt to “pull back from the brink” after security forces killed dozens of supporters of the deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

US secretary of state John Kerry spoke to two senior members of Egypt’s army-installed interim cabinet, expressing his “deep concern”.

“This is a pivotal moment for Egypt,” he said in a statement. “The United States … calls on all of Egypt’s leaders across the political spectrum to act immediately to help their country take a step back from the brink.”

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters were hunkered down in a vigil at a Cairo mosque on Sunday, vowing to stand their ground despite the imminent threat of a move to disperse them.

Saturday’s bloodshed, following huge rival rallies, left an unknown number of people dead. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDMuslim Brotherhood declares ‘Free Egyptian Army’ plan

By F. Michael Maloof. The head of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has declared that his organization plans to create a “Free Egyptian Army” in an effort to reinstate Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammad Morsi, who recently was removed in a coup by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, according to report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Mohammad Badie who, like Morsi, already has been arrested for inciting violence, said that the Free Egyptian Army intends to “put their viewpoints into action” to return their elected president.

Badie’s announcement to create the Free Egyptian Army mirrors action by the Syrian opposition in creating the Free Syrian Army, which has been fighting against the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Badie has been jailed on allegations of inciting the violent demonstrations by Brotherhood supporters resulting in more than 100 deaths. His announcement suggests the prospect of increased confrontations with the Egyptian military, leading to greater instability and the prospect of civil war itself, analysts say.

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood renounced violence some 30 years ago when it entered into mainstream politics, even though its goal remains to Islamize the Egyptian society by promoting Islamic, or Shariah law. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: MANU BRABO/APEgypt: Military accused of killing over 100 Muslim Brotherhood followers

By Ruth Sherlock, and Magdy Samaan, and Harriet Alexander. The Muslim Brotherhood said that 66 people were killed and another 61 were “brain dead” on life support machines, after a violent repression of a protest by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. The health ministry put the toll from the night’s violence at 72.

“They were not shooting to wound, they were shooting to kill,” said Gehad El-Haddad, Brotherhood spokesman. “The bullet wounds are in the head and chest.”

The Sunday Telegraph saw the aftermath of the violence first hand on Saturday at a makeshift field hospital close to the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where dozens of corpses were laid out in a room and blood soaked the carpets.

Hundreds of wounded lay resting and groaning on floor. Doctors and volunteers sought to treat the injured with minimal first aid kits.

Many aimed chants at Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the armed forces, saying: “The people want to execute the butcher.” Read more from this story HERE.

European Nations Lash Out at Kerry Who Maintains that “Spying on Allies is Not Unusual”

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The US spying scandal deepened today as Secretary of State John Kerry said it is ‘not unusual’ for governments to bug the offices of their allies sparking fierce retorts from France and Germany.

The extraordinary statement has angered leaders across the world after leaked documents revealed America spied on 38 foreign missions and embassies including the European Union’s Washington nerve centre.

As outrage grew across the EU over the damaging revelations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was first to lash out, declaring that ‘bugging friends is unacceptable’ before French premier Francois Hollande demanded its ‘immediate halt’.

Speaking to a press conference today, Kerry said: ‘I will say that every country in the world that is engaged in international affairs and national security undertakes lots of activities to protect its national security and all kinds of information contributes to that. All I know is that is not unusual for lots of nations.’

But the remarks did not wash with Francois Hallande who demanded an immediate explanation, adding: ‘We cannot accept this kind of behavior.

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrat Markey Wins Kerry’s U.S. Senate Seat in Massachusetts Special Election

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Photo Credit: WEBN-TV

Photo Credit: WEBN-TV

Long-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey beat out Republican newcomer Gabriel Gomez Tuesday in Massachusetts’ special election for John Kerry’s U.S. Senate seat.

Markey had an advantage of about 8 percentage points over Gomez with most precincts reporting late Tuesday, according to unofficial returns. He took to Twitter to thank voters after his victory.

“Thank you Massachusetts!” he tweeted. “I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve you in the United States Senate.”

Gomez said he called Markey to congratulate him and wished him “nothing but the best.”

In a concession speech to supporters, Gomez said he was a better person as a result of the campaign and believed Markey would be a better senator having gone through the election.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin. Says it’s Signing Gun Control Treaty Despite Congressional Opposition (+video)

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the Obama administration would sign a controversial U.N. treaty on arms regulation, despite bipartisan resistance in Congress from members concerned it could lead to new gun control measures in the U.S.

Kerry, releasing a written statement as the U.N. treaty opened for signature Monday, said the U.S. “welcomes” the next phase for the treaty, which the U.N. General Assembly approved on April 2.

“We look forward to signing it as soon as the process of conforming the official translations is completed satisfactorily,” he said. Kerry called the treaty “an important contribution to efforts to stem the illicit trade in conventional weapons, which fuels conflict, empowers violent extremists, and contributes to violations of human rights.”

Read more from this story HERE.