Middle East Regional Watch Thread - Week of 03/25 - 03/31

[danielboon]

21:16 Syrian security forces killed 55 people on Friday, activists told Al-Arabiya television station.



To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticl...#ixzz1qd1s2q6n

[Jeffrey Thomason]

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/wife-b...7#.T3ZBzaSptIN

According to a police report dated Jan. 17 and obtained by ABC News, bin Laden's youngest wife Amal Ahmad Abdul Fatah claims that except for the eight or nine months just after 9/11 when the family "scattered" and she does not account for bin Laden's whereabouts, the most wanted man in the world skipped from home to home in Peshawar, Swat and Haripur, Pakistan before settling in Abbottabad for about the last six years of his life. In his time on the run, bin Laden managed to father four children -- at least two of whom were born in government hospitals. Far from the popular image of bin Laden holed up in a cave in the rugged Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, Fatah said the family lived in houses.

"The inescapable conclusion is that he was helped by high-level officials in Pakistan," said Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism advisor and now a consultant to ABC News.

[Jeffrey Thomason]

http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/V...aspx?id=264273

Iran and six world powers will meet in Turkey on April 13-14 for a round of fresh talks over Iran's disputed nuclear program, as Tehran faces increasing economic and political pressure.

"It soon will be clear whether Iran's leaders are prepared to have a serious credible discussion about their nuclear program, whether they are ready to start building the basis of a resolution to this very serious problem," said Clinton.

"It is up to Iran's leaders to make the right choice. We will see whether they will intend to do so, starting with the P5+1 negotiations in Istanbul... what is certain however, is that Iran's window to seek and obtain a peaceful resolution will not remain open forever," she continued.

April 13-14 huh?

North Korean Missile Launch between April 12-16...

I find this a little.. "coincidental".... to say the least.