In our Middle East roundup today, reports from Libya, Israel, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran.
In Iran, speculation is still swirling that the American hikers arrested in August 2009, may soon be released:
From VOA News
An Iranian ambassador said the U.S. hikers who have been detained in the country for two years on spying charges may be released "very soon."
In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Hassan Dannaie Fir, Iran's envoy to Iraq, said the "general atmosphere" is that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal will be freed soon from prison.
Iran's state-run ISNA news agency also has quoted the hikers' attorney, Masoud Shafiei, as saying the men could be freed soon because of Ramadan.
On Sunday, Shafiei said he expected a court to announce a verdict in the case within a week. He commented after Iran held its final court hearing in the case.
Meanwhile in Turkey:
Turkish Government Appoints New Military Leaders
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has appointed four new military commanders to replace their predecessors, who resigned last week to protest the arrests of fellow officers accused of plotting coups.
The appointments of new military commanders by Turkey’s civilian government Thursday were designed to give the country’s political leadership the edge in a longstanding power struggle with the once-dominant armed forces.
President Abdullah Gul’s spokesman, Ahmet Sever, announced the appointments of a new chief of staff and new commanders to head the army, navy and air force.
He says the president approved the nominations made by Turkey's Supreme Military Council at the end of a four-day meeting. General Necdet Ozel, who previously headed the paramilitary police (gendarmerie), was named the new armed forces chief of staff. General Hayri Kivrikoglu will head the ground forces, General Emin Bilgel becomes head of the navy and General Mehmet Erten was promoted to head of the air force. General Bekir Kalyoncu replaced Ozel as head of the paramilitary police.
The abrupt resignation by Ozel’s predecessor, General Isik Kosaner, along with the commanders of the army, navy and air force, followed years of tension between the secularist military and the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Egypt has another day of trials, today of aides of Hosni Mubarak. Following Mubarak's no guilty plea yesterday, his trial has been adjourned until later in August.
Former President Hosni Mubarak's interior minister and six police commanders have been returned to an Egyptian court to face charges of ordering security forces to shoot at protesters during the uprising that ousted Mr. Mubarak in February.
Former interior minister Habib al-Adly and the police officers appeared in a Cairo courtroom on Thursday, a day after they appeared alongside Mr. Mubarak. The judge gave the defendants' lawyers more time examine evidence and set the next hearing for August 14.
Al-Adly already has a 12-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction.
Mubarak trial adjourned
On Wednesday, Mubarak was wheeled into the courtroom in a hospital bed. He pleaded not guilty to charges that he ordered the killing of some 850 protesters demanding his ouster. The judge adjourned his case until August 15.
His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, stood next to him during the opening session. Both men also denied separate corruption charges against them.
Mubarak, al-Adly and the six policemen could be sentenced to death if convicted.
Syria:
Clinton: Syria Death Toll Exceeds 2,000
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that U.S. officials believe more than 2,000 people have been killed in the Syrian government’s months-long crackdown on dissent. Meeting her Canadian counterpart, Clinton appealed for a “louder, more effective” international response to the violence.
Clinton said the U.N. Security Council’s presidential statement late Wednesday condemning Syrian human rights violations reflects a growing international consensus against the violence, which she said has claimed more than 2,000 lives.
But she said it will take more to stop the killing and that European and Arab countries need to join the United States in imposing tougher sanctions and other penalties against the Damascus government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Clinton met with Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird after the U.S. Treasury Department added another prominent Syrian businessman and Assad associate, Muhammad Hamsho, to its list of Syrians facing a U.S. asset freeze and business blacklist.
Clinton said the United States is committed to doing all it can, including additional sanctions, to curb the abuses. But she said the U.S. effort needs help from countries with broader business dealings with Syria.
“But not just U.S. sanctions because, frankly, we do not have lot of business with Syria," said Secretary Clinton. "We need to get Europeans and others [involved]. We need to get the Arab states. We need to get a much louder, more effective chorus of voices that are putting pressure on the Assad regime, and we’re working to obtain that.”
Meanwhile, as VOA reported elsewhere, Assad promises 'reforms,' even as the killing of citizens continues.
Israel:
Following today's earlier report of Israel striking back at Gaza, the tensions have escalated throughout Thursday.
VOA reports:
Israel's air force has carried out strikes against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
The attack, late Thursday, came in retaliation for a Palestinian rocket attack on southern Israel earlier in the day.
No casualties or damages were reported in either attack.
Finally, in Libya, the bombing continues, casualties mount, and the war of words also shows no sign of slowing down:
Libyan Govt Accuses NATO Of Destruction in Zlitan
The Libyan government has accused NATO of bombing civilian targets in Zlitan, a western town that has been the scene of recent clashes between pro-government and rebel forces.
The government made the accusations through its state-controlled television station on Thursday, a day after officials denied rebel claims that opposition fighters had gained control of the town.
The French News Agency reports that Libyan officials led journalists on a tour of Zlitan Thursday, showing them a home where they said three family members were killed by a NATO airstrike.
In a separate development, a Libyan tanker arrived in Benghazi after rebels claimed they had seized the vessel from government forces.
NATO officials say they cleared the ship on Wednesday and allowed it to proceed to the rebel-held port.
NATO is operating under a U.N. mandate that calls for it to take measures other than occupation to protect civilians and civilian areas from attacks by leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
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