Iran crisis: US to apply fresh oil sanctions
Oil exports are a crucial part of the Iranian economy US President
Barack Obama has approved the introduction of fresh sanctions on buyers
of Iranian oil.
Obama has determined that there is enough oil in the world market to
avoid negative consequences for US allies of a boycott of Iranian oil.
The move would allow the US to sanction foreign banks which are still
involved in the oil trade with Iran.
Iran is facing international pressure to address concerns over its
nuclear enrichment programme.
Western countries suspect Iran of attempting to develop a nuclear
weapon. Iran insists the programme is purely peaceful.
Obama said in a statement that he would continue to monitor the
global market closely to ensure it could handle a reduction of oil
purchases from Iran.
The US president was required by a law he signed in December to
determine by 31 March whether the market allowed countries to
"significantly" cut their purchases from Iran.
A statement from the White House acknowledged that "a series of
production disruptions in South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and the
North Sea have removed oil from the market" in the first months of 2012.
"Nonetheless, there currently appears to be sufficient supply of
non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce
their import of Iranian oil," the statement says.
"In fact, many purchasers of Iranian crude oil have already reduced
their purchases or announced they are in productive discussions with
alternative suppliers," it adds.
Bin Laden 'fathered four children' while on the run
Osama Bin Laden fathered four children while on the run, the wife who
bore them has told Pakistani officials.
Amal Abdulfattah, from Yemen, was Bin Laden's youngest wife. She was
arrested after the US raid on his compound near the Pakistani capital in
2011.
She said two of her children were delivered in state hospitals, but
she stayed there just "two or three hours".
Bin Laden, 54, orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on New York and
Washington in which nearly 3,000 people died.
He evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade,
despite a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head.
According to a report of the interrogation carried out by Pakistani
investigators, Ms Abdulfattah, who came from a family with 17 children,
married Bin Laden because "she had a desire to marry a Mujahideen", or
holy warrior.
Along with three other wives found living at the residence, she was
charged with entering and living illegally in the country.
The report recommends that the 30 year old and her children be
immediately deported.
However, a lawyer for the three widows has said that they would be
formally charged for illegally staying in Pakistan a charge that carried
a maximum prison term of five years on 2 April.
Her account says she flew to Pakistan in 2000 and travelled to
Afghanistan where she married Bin Laden before the 11 September 2001
attacks.
France arrests 19 suspected Islamist militants in raids
Police in France have arrested 19 suspected Islamist militants and
seized weapons in a series of dawn raids, President Nicolas Sarkozy
says.
The raids were in Toulouse, the home of gunman Mohamed Merah, and
other cities.
Merah, who killed seven people in three separate attacks, was buried
in Toulouse on Thursday after being killed in a shoot-out with police on
22 March.
Police have been hunting possible accomplices but sources said there
was no direct link with the raids.
Mr. Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio after Friday's raids: "It's our duty
to guarantee the security of the French people. We have no choice. It's
absolutely indispensable."
The raids were carried out by the domestic intelligence agency, the
DCRI, with the help of the elite Raid police commando group, Agence
France-Presse news agency reports.
Several of the raids were in Toulouse, particularly the Mirail
quarter, sources told AFP.
But there were also raids in Nantes, which is believed to be a centre
for the Forsane Alizza (Knights of Pride) group, to which Merah had been
linked by some French media.
It is a Salafist group that was dissolved by the interior ministry in
an earlier investigation.
Merah was buried at the Cornebarrieu cemetery in Toulouse on Thursday
One of those arrested was the group's suspected leader, Mohammed
Achamlane. |