Massive weapons shipment in full violation of UN resolutions

It's been five days since Israel seized a cargo ship reportedly carrying enough weapons and munitions for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to fight Israel for at least one month. And for the past five days, the United Nations has failed to take any action even though Iran was caught red-handed arming a terrorist group in full violation of binding U.N. resolutions.

The cargo ship originated in Iran and was headed for Syria. The Israeli army announced it found documentation showing Iran was the point of origin for some containers on the ship, with Syria as the intended destination.

Iran regularly attempts to send weapons to Syria, and from there the shipments are smuggled to Hezbollah bases in Lebanon, Israeli security officials said.

Israel last week put on full display its find of hundreds of tons of Iranian-supplied arms, including rockets – the largest-ever weapons cache captured by Israeli forces. Israel Radio reported that advanced anti-aircraft platforms were also on board, with Rani Ben-Yehuda, the deputy commander of Israel's navy, confirming the presence of "very advanced weaponry."

The Iranian arms shipment set sail in violation of U.N. Resolution 1701, a binding resolution which ended the Second Lebanon War of 2006 and prohibits the delivery of weapons to any entity in Lebanon but the Lebanese government. The shipment also breaks multiple international laws against funding and supporting terrorist organizations.

Israel's U.N. ambassador last week complained to the international body about Iran's blatant disregard for international law, but no response has been forthcoming from U.N. officials.

WorldNetDaily

Lebanese Opposition Agrees to Join Unity Government

Lebanon's opposition bloc of lawmakers, led by Hezbollah, said over the weekend it had agreed to join a unity government with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, a move that could end more than four months of political deadlock.

Mr. Hariri has yet to announce his 30-member cabinet, and a final accord could snag in coming days. But opposition officials have given their clearest signal yet that they will share power with the Western-backed bloc of lawmakers that Mr. Hariri led to victory in June parliamentary elections.

A deal, if consummated, would represent a significant easing of political tensions in Lebanon. It would also mark a deepening regional détente between two foreign powers that have exercised outsize sway in Lebanese politics: Saudi Arabia and Syria. Lebanon has long served as a battleground for bigger Middle East and global powers. The June election pitted Mr. Hariri's bloc, backed by the U.S., European allies and Saudi Arabia, against an opposition led by Hezbollah, the Shiite political and militant group supported by Syria and Iran.

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Tunisia's Ben Ali wins fifth mandate

Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been re-elected for a fifth, five-year term, with 89.28 percent of votes, the Interior Ministry announced at dawn Monday. Though still a landslide, it was Ben Ali's lowest score since he took power in a bloodless palace coup in 1987 that authorities dub "The Change." He was last re-elected in 2004 with more than 94 percent of votes — a drop from his previous victories, which fluctuated between 99.2 and 99.7 percent.

His latest score reflected the increased space allowed to the opposition. Runner-up Mohamed Bouchiha won 5.01 percent of votes, and Ahmed Inoubli 3.80 percent. Both candidates were viewed as largely cosmetic opposition. The third candidate, Ahmed Brahim of the Ettajdid, or change movement, who presented himself in the campaign as "a real opposition candidate," scored 1.57 percent of votes.

Tunisians also chose 214 lawmakers for the lower house of parliament in Sunday's presidential and legislative elections. Ben Ali's Constitutional and Democratic Rally, or RCD, which has been continuously in power since Tunisia's independence in 1956, won 161 seats. A sprinkling of small opposition and independent parties shared the remaining 53. Hard-line opposition groups and Islamists are outlawed and did not take part in the elections.

AP

Turkey Sets Condition For Ties With Armenia

One day after Turkey signed a deal the United States helped salvage to end a century of enmity with Armenia, Turkey's leader set a tough condition for normalizing ties on Sunday: Armenia must withdraw from the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. The statement appeared to be an effort by Turkey to appease close ally Azerbaijan, which said the agreement will aggravate the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian-occupied enclave in Azerbaijan.

On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the agreement to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia and reopen their border. He called such steps with a former bitter foe an "important step" that would lead to cooperation and dialogue.

However, Erdogan said the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute must be resolved to enable Turkey to take steps to normalize ties and for the deal to be approved by parliament. To take effect, the agreements must be ratified by the Turkish and Armenian parliaments, but the accord faces stiff opposition in both countries.

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Syria bans smoking in public places

Syria banned smoking inside public places on Sunday, the official news agency said. The decree, signed by President Bashar al-Assad, sets a fine of 2,000 ($46) Syrian pounds on anyone flouting the ban in cafes, pubs and restaurants, the SANA agency said. The ban extends to schools and public transport, and covers the nargile, or water pipe, a favorite among locals and tourists alike.

Tunisia ranked first in North Africa in a report on good governance

Tunisia continues to receive favourable ratings in international reports. Following the latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report where Tunisia was ranked first in Africa and in the Maghreb, Tunisia is ranked first in North Africa, in the annual report on good governance recently published by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The report credits Tunisia with an overall score of 71.5 points out of 100.

Tunisia is credited with excellent scores on the strength of its performance in terms of “human development,” “transparency and rule of law” and the “climate of security”, with scores of 89, 70.5 and 100 points respectively. Tunisia comes ahead of Algeria (7th), Morocco (12th), Egypt (18th) and Libya (21st).

The third annual report published by the Kennedy School of Governance which is part of Harvard’s school of political sciences, focuses this year on “Strengthening Governance in Africa”. The rankings were established on the basis of 57 indexes of good governance centred on such determinants as security, transparency, rule of law, participation and human rights, economic stability and human development.

The report stresses the correlation between good governance, on the one hand, and development and security of each country, on the other.

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